BROWN SERBY’S SUNDAY Q&A WITH ... Hubie
Longtime NBA analyst for ABC/ ESPN and former Knicks coach Hubie Brown takes a timeout for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Describe Rick Pitino as a Knicks assistant in the 1980s.
A: Rick Pitino came to us with excellent success at Boston University, and he came to us as a teacher, because we saw him all those years in the Five-Star Camp, of a player, to a coach, and then to a lecturer. He was perfect for what we were doing.
Q: Your 1985 Knicks season.
A: Bernard King was carrying us. He was averaging 33 points a game. We’re playing in Kansas City. There’s 20 games left. We’re still going to make the playoffs. So 2 o’clock in the afternoon I get a phone call. It’s the athletic director at Providence College [Lou Lamoriello]. “I have an opening for the head coaching job at Providence, and I want to know if you will allow me to interview Rick Pitino.” So I said, “Well, he’s a perfect guy for your school, but we have 20 games left . ... I’ll let him go to interview, but if you like him, you got to give him the job, because this is going to be a big loss for us.” Rick leaves us, and naturally he gets the job. That night,
Bernard King chases down Reggie Theus on a layup on the fastbreak in the fourth quarter. He blocks his shot from the rear, and as he lands, he blows his knee out. So not only did we lose Rick Pitino that night, we lost Bernard King for a year-and-a-half.
Q: What kind of respect did Rick get from the Knicks players when he was your assistant?
A: First of all, by this time, he was experienced as a coach. And, he had presence. So that when we would put him ... shooting drills, he could demonstrate and do the drills. And he still does that today. And he had a very high IQ for basketball, and then also in teaching and commanding respect. You have to prove to them that you can teach, that you can communicate, and that you can accept everything that we’re doing IQwise. And then, when he teaches a station at practice, the respect factor comes out by the teaching methods. He had all of that when he came.
Q: What do you think he will be able to do for St. John’s basketball?
A: I think he’s already changed the atmosphere and the talent level. It will come down to, because these are all new people except for the couple that he brought with him from the school that he was at [Iona], there are only a couple of guys that are used to this type of regimentation, this time of the accountability on a daily basis. For the players right now that have not involved with him from where he just came from, they are getting a culture shock. Because I don’t care how good the coaches were, they’re going to go through a whole new level of expertise, because he’s won — he did it at Providence, he did it at Kentucky, he’s done it everywhere, OK? Just give him a couple of years so that he can: a) develop the talent that he has, and b) recruit the better athlete back to the days of St. John’s, because everybody wants it to be back like when Looie [Carnesecca] had it, and all the games were in the Garden, and the success of the team was incredible in the Big East . ... It doesn’t happen overnight. It could, if everybody buys into the style — the style of play, the style of practice. Then, how do you accept the coaching in the games, while
it’s on the floor, pregame, halftime, and then after the game? How do you accept all this? With this crazy rule now that you can transfer at the end of the year and be eligible someplace else — worst rule in the history of college basketball, or college sports, because now the player can immediately go someplace else and possibly play — so you have no idea who’s going to stay anymore, which I know has to be a tremendous burden on every coaching staff in every sport. So, as far as preparation, as far as understanding talent, as far as teaching, as far as game coaching and then after the game the evaluating with his assistants, he’s at the top of the coaching ladder with everybody else. How many guys in college basketball can match what he has done? He can explain to them the difference in the levels, and how much you have to improve, and he can get you there.
Q: Describe recent Knicks trade acquisition OG Anunoby.
A: At the defensive end of the floor, you’re getting an all-NBA defensive player, plus the fact that at his size, he can rebound and he’s a great athlete and he can make the pass. You can’t have two guards and a wing guy that can’t defend off the dribble at the NBA level the way the game is played today. January and February are the dog days of NBA. This is where you can steal games, and this is where the Knicks have got to make a good run here now. You have to beat the sub-.500 teams, and then you have to catch the upper class of the schedule and get games that you’re not favored.
Q: Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.
A: I don’t think he has to make any excuses about what his record has been, and the fact that he’s had them in the playoffs, and he’s done a great job. But it’s difficult when you’re doing in-season trades of importance.
Can the people coming ... accept basketball, accept the critiquing in the newspapers, accept the critiquing on the radio and TV? Not everybody is built to play and coach in New York City. He has proven that he can develop the product. I’ve always been a big fan of his because he did such a fantastic job with being an assistant every stop of the way. Nobody that ever had him on his staff didn’t say he was outstanding. And then when he got his chance to coach, he proved that he could coach and win.
Q: Describe the ’85 NBA Draft Lottery.
A: It was a great time for the organization, because of Patrick [Ewing] coming out at that time, where he had that incredible career at Georgetown. People underestimated him as a scorer that first year.
Q: What are the traits of the ideal Hubie Brown basketball player?
A: First of all, you want basketball IQ. The athleticism is right there with that, but basketball IQ is [No.] 1. Now, if you’re not quick and you’re slow, shooting makes up for a multitude of sins. Then, it’s are you coachable? Larry Costello says to me, “Now look, you’re in charge of players 9, 10, 11 and 12. We’re only going to play eight guys. Players 9, 10, 11 and 12 are all great college players ... some of them AllAmerican. But they’re not going to play.” I said, “OK. But why do I have to take care of them?” He said, “Because there are no minutes, no shots, no assists, no rebounds, and they will be coming up within a few years of new contracts. So we want them to be happy. Because, see, every day, they’re pissed off at me because I’m not playing them. It’s the first time in their lives that they’re not playing.” So I said, “Boy, when I get my team, I’m going to play 10 guys,” and I did.
Q: Describe your 2005 Hall of Fame induction.
A: That’s the highest honor that you can get in your life in your profession. You never think of yourself. You think of all of the people that helped you get this notoriety. It’s just like I always say about all the television things you win. No, it’s a team. It’s the announcer and the analyst. And then it’s the director and the producer. The announcer and the analyst are out in front getting all the pub, but the guys that make the telecast are in the truck ... it’s a team. And then when you coach, it’s not just you.
Q: Does life begin at 90?
A: (Laugh) It’s like I say a lot of times: You don’t think you’re 90 if you have things to do . ... See, people say, “Do you feel 90?” Well, if you have something to do, and then you’re still doing television, no, there’s always something to do and you’re always looking forward naturally to the action.