To use a basketball metaphor, West Wing cast was a group that liked to pass as much as they liked to shoot.
We never give Al Horford the credit he deserves as a modern big.
The Spurs really are a family. They have a bunch of good guys that want to win, and the way they play is so unselfish. I’m looking forward to being involved in it. I feel that teams with players who are very close end up winning.
I think my assist numbers dropped off in Toronto with the way we were built. We played a lot of isolation basketball. I know we were in the bottom half in the NBA as far as assists go.
Passing is contagious. There's nothing better than making the pass that gives someone an easy hoop.
I just want to go out and play the right way, make sure I get my teammates the ball and then also bring the energy on defense. That's something that I know I can do each and every game, whether my shot's falling or not.
I'd much rather have guys play with each other, have the ball moving, less dribbling, more passing, aggressive and decisive. I don't want guys looking over at me to call plays; I want them out there playing.
I have a tendency, especially when I'm playing with great players, to try and get them the ball.
When the team's not playing well offensively, it's always a problem for me because I'm not an individualistic player.
When we're able to get stops, get the ball off the glass and run, you never know who's going to get the ball. Everyone takes off, runs to their spots, and the ball just finds the open man.
Al Horford is a very good player; a great team player.
The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done.
Not everyone gets to have one of the few super-dominant, all-pro, superstars in this league, and so playing with the pass and playing with space and playing quick is a really good backup.
Coach K tried to implement a style where we passing, moving the ball, the open guy gets the open shot, running in transition.
I've played with a couple good shooters, but I've never been on a team where there's been three, four, five, six good shooters. And I've always thought that nothing gets you open more than being surrounded by good shooters.
It's the little things. That's kind of what I bring to the table in terms of doing things that might not show up in the box score. Diving for a loose ball, or switching out on a guard and getting that big stop, cutting someone's water off if they've made a couple shots.
People want to see how we get teams to come together so quickly. They want to see how we get young guys to play so hard and so unselfish. I'm fine with that. I have no problem sharing that.
I play the way it's most effective for the team. They used to say I hit the ball too many times.
You'll never catch me bragging about goals, but I'll talk all you want about my assists.
If I don't need to shoot the ball, I won't do it.
There are a lot of guys who average a lot of points, but they make the game hard for themselves, and they make the game hard for their teammates, and that's why you never really see them win or get deep in the playoffs.
If you have one guy taking all of the shots, you're obviously not playing very fast, because you have to slow it down and wait for him to get to his spot in the offense. But when you just want the best shot possible, a lot of different people are going to get the ball.
The triangle itself is just an offense based on freedom of the ball to go to different places, everybody feeling involved. It's a good thing.
