NBA Q&A: Mike Woodson

Courtesy of Steve Serby

Q: If a team takes on the personality of its coach, what should this team’s personality be?

A: Discipline ... hard work, because that’s what I’m about ... dedication ... and probably just being a pro, man. I mean, because you play in the NBA or you play sports professionally, doesn’t mean that you’re a true pro to the game. To me, that says a lot. That to me divides the teams that win and the teams that are just happy to be here. And that’s everybody. It starts at the top, and it trickles down to the coaches, and then the players, the people that you work with, your PR people ... your trainers, or the doctors ... ’cause it all goes hand in hand, in terms of making sure that the player is prepared and ready to play. If you don’t do that, to me you’re cheating the game.

Q: What’s your definition of a pro?

A: Dedication ... commitment ... ’cause if you’re not committed ... I’ve been there as a player, I’ve been there as a coach ... everybody’s gotta be on board, man. You need a little luck along the way, but if you’re not committed, you’re not gonna win. And the teams that win championships, there’s a little luck involved, but at the end of the day, they’ve done something right to position themselves to win titles. You look at all the years that the Celtics and the Lakers, there’s a reason why they won. They were talented, but from the top to the bottom, they did a lot of right things, I think, to put themselves in position to win titles.

Q: Even though you’re aware that this franchise has not won a championship since 1973, you came here to win a championship,

A: Absolutely. My clock is ticking, man. I’m not getting any younger. I’ve tasted it as an assistant coach [with the Pistons], man, and it’s hard to describe, going through something like that. Yeah, we were a little lucky, and it was a roller-coaster ride, there were a couple of series that year that we probably shoulda went home. But our players, they just were determined that, all they had on their mind was winning the title, once we got into it. That second round with the Nets, you lose a triple-overtime [game] at home and gotta go back and get Game 6 there to force Game 7 back at home, that’s tough. And they jump on you 12-2 in Game 6, and you withstand it to come out of that game and come home and win 7, to me that was our championship series, before we even got to the Eastern Conference and then the Finals to beat the Lakers that year.

Q: Do you show these guys your championship ring?

A: Yeah, I have it here with me.

Q: Do you sometimes break it out?

A: Yeah.

Q: When would you do that?

A: During the playoffs.

Q: You did it last year during the playoffs?

A: Absolutely. Me and Tyson [Chandler] both. Now you have [Jason] Kidd this year, he could break his out with us, yes (smile).

Q: Have you noticed a change in commitment from a year ago to now?

A: Yes. And a lot of that is the players that we filled in this summer to be on our ball club. We brought in some veteran guys that, their clock is ticking, too. I forgot to mention Rasheed Wallace is on this team, he has a ring, too. A lot of those veteran guys — a few of ’em — haven’t had an opportunity to win a title. Like Marcus Camby ... Raymond Felton, [Carmelo Anthony], Amar’e [Stoudemire] ... they haven’t tasted an NBA title. So, we were able to assemble guys that we thought could come in here and help us, didn’t have to worry about playing big minutes, but be a positive piece to our puzzle. And I think that’s been the difference so far this early season is the fact that we have veteran guys that are hungry ... that really believe that this team, if we stay healthy and we stay together that we got a legitimate shot.

Q: How do you get a team to believe?

A: First you gotta trust one another, and that was a big theme when we started camp. The only way you’re gonna be a team — and it’s gotta be team and win. That’s all I think about —team, win. And how that happens, you gotta trust one another and you gotta be committed.

Q: What would Red Holzman say about this team?

A: He would love this team, because there’s enough talent on this team and enough smart, intelligent players on this team that he’d be licking his chops to coach this team ’cause he’s a great coach. I gotta think that he would get the most out of these guys that he can get because of the talent and the I.Q. factor in terms of the game,

Q: What would Bobby Knight say about this team?

A: Same thing.

Q: How do you close the gap on the Heat?

A: Well ,it’s not just the Heat. There’s so much parity around the league that if you don’t come to play, you could be beaten by anybody. But on the flip side of that, I know this team can beat anybody on a given night if we come ready to play and committed. There’s not a team we can’t beat. ... My thing is just handling our own business on a night-in-and-night-out basis, and if it comes down to us and Miami in the Eastern Conference finals, so be it.

Q: You won’t fear that matchup?

A: No.

Q: Is it your intent to make the Garden a house of horrors for visiting teams?

A: That’s the only way it should be. In 11 years that I played in the league, I never won in the Boston Garden, and I never won in the L. A. Forum. Not that I was a great player or we had great teams, you just couldn’t win in those places. And those places became mega championships. You would have to go in and play an A-plus game to beat the Celtics with [Larry] Bird and that crew in Boston. You would have to play an A-plus game to go in and beat the Lakers, with Magic [Johnson] and that crew. You just couldn’t do it. And the same thing happened with [Michael] Jordan, finally hit his stride. And the Pistons would hit their stride. And the Houston Rockets hit their stride ... San Antone ... those places you don’t win. And that’s how it’s gotta be here in New York. It’s gotta be miserable for teams to come into the Garden and win. And our fans have gotta feel comfortable every time they sit in those stands in those seats, that hey, they’re gonna watch a very entertaining game, but their team’s gonna win.

Q: The responsibility, the obligation, the pressure — do you like that?

A: See, you all look at it as pressure. I don’t. To me, pressure’s getting out of the bed, starting your day. To me, that’s pressure, trying to deal with everyday life. A lot of people look at my job and say, “Man,” and I hear that a lot — “Boy, there’s a lot of pressure.” But I don’t look at it that way. I feel good about what I do as a coach, and I really feel good because we’ve been able to assemble guys that fit me ... that I think will run through a brick wall and do things that I want done ... to win.