NBA Q&A: Sam Cassell

Courtesy of Wolves Now 

WOLVES NOW: What do you recall about the process of coming to Minnesota before the 2003-04 season?

Cassell: “The good-old days in Minnesota.

Once I got traded from Milwaukee, once I knew the trade was going to go through, I called Kevin Garnett and I asked him how he felt about it. He was the franchise right there and I asked him how he felt about it. He was so excited to get me. I wasn’t shocked, but I was unsure how enthusiastic he was about it.

He was like, ‘man, I need you. I need you to help me get out this first round. I need your fourth-quarter scoring. The intangibles you bring to the ball club. And we can do some things.’

Then three or four days later Flip (Saunders) called me and said we got an opportunity to get Sprewell. How well did I know (Latrell) Sprewell? I told Flip that I know Sprewell pretty good because Sprewell lived in Milwaukee during the offseason.

Once I asked Spree how did he feel about coming with Ticket and myself, he was all aboard. He was all aboard. He needed to get a new start from New York.”

What do you think the reason was for the slow start to the season? I know you were 9-8 to start the year after November.

“I’ll tell ya what happened. Flip called me, Spree and Kevin into his office one day. He said, ‘guys, we will continue to win one game and lose one game, win two games, lose one game until the three of y’all hold each other accountable.’

For instance, he said, ‘If Sam take a bad shot, Spree you got a right to say something. Kevin, you got a right to say something. And vice versa. Sam, if you don’t like something that KG is doing, you can say something.’

At first we were so busy trying to stay out each other’s way and not rub each other wrong. After December came, when Flip had that conversation with us, it was over. We rolled. We held each other accountable.

If I took a bad shot, Ticket said something. If Ticket did something bad – and he didn’t do too much stuff bad [laughs] – but when he did. It took him a while to do something bad, but Spree and myself said something to him.

After we got over that hurdle, we had some injuries to Wally Szczerbiak and (Michael) Olowokandi and we inserted Trenton Hassell and Ervin Johnson into the lineup and them guys knew that Spree, KG and myself were going to take all the shots. … Once our guys realize that was how it was going to be, we rolled.”

What about playing with KG and Spree catapulted you to your only all-star season? Was it just the fact that you were on a winning team since the beginning of your career? Or did they bring something out of you?

“I always had good numbers. 18 (points) and 7 (rebounds). … When I got to Milwaukee, people really saw what I meant to a basketball team and how important my leadership was. …

My play was basically the same play that I had in Milwaukee for the previous five years. I didn’t have a Kevin Garnett on my side. I played with Ray Allen and Glen “Big Dog” Robinson, but no KG, who does it all.”

Fred Hoiberg talked about you being the Wolves’ Mariano Rivera, in reference to the Yankee’s HOF closer. What made you so cold-blooded?

“It’s so funny that you said that because Fred would be in the game with us down the stretch, majority of the times. … We ran one play down the stretch, a high pick-and-roll, with me and Kevin Garnett. Fred Hoiberg was always to the right because I was always going left.

And Fred said if you don’t have that jumpshot, swing it cross-court and I’ll promise you I’ll knock it down for you. Fred always gave me that confidence that, ‘Hey, you are going to get the shot. You are gonna make the shot. Take the shot, make the shot.’

When teammates give you that kind of confidence and sometimes when I missed a shot, Fred and the guys would say, don’t worry about it, that’s your shot. We’ll get it back.

Our team — people don’t realize — how close our team was. We had lunch after every practice. We catered it. We would sit there for hours. Not some of the guys; all the guys. We would sit there in the training room and eat and just reminisce and talk, man. We had each other’s back on the basketball court and that is what separated our team from a lot of teams during that time. We were real close together.”

You started 81 games in that season, dropped 40 points twice in the playoffs and then … you go hurt. Tell me about getting hurt and how much of a setback that was for you and the team?

“That was a major setback because I knew for a fact that if I was healthy, we would have won a championship. We would have definitely won a championship that year. Detroit won it that year and they beat the Lakers, (the Wolves’ opponent in the Western Conference Finals). I knew for a fact – and just to play not even 38 minutes, but if I was healthy enough to play 30 minutes, we would have won a championship that year. I know in my heart. …

I got hurt. I tore cartilage in my hip and everybody thought it was my back, but really my hip. It was a great run.

To this day, I talk to Kevin. We are still great friends and always talk about that. If only Troy Hudson was healthy to take some minutes away me. Down the stretch, I was logging like 41 minutes a night.”

When you two are talking about it, are you lamenting the fact that it ended as soon as it did after that?

… I wanted a contract extension. I helped the organization do something that it never accomplished. We didn’t see eye to eye on certain situations and I got traded to L.A. Spree decided to quit basketball after that.

It put a bad taste in my mouth for at least a year. I didn’t want to leave Minnesota. I liked my situation in Minneapolis. I enjoyed playing with Kevin. I had a great bond with certain guys on the ball club. It was sad that it ended the way it ended, but we live and learn. We can’t dwell on the past. I just want to say that I really enjoyed my two-year stint in Minnesota. It was great.”

Are you able to take things you learned from Flip that help you coach now?

“No doubt about it. No doubt about it. The things that Flip did as a coach, he allowed his players to figure it out. That was a big attribute that Flip did for me as a coach. … He had a veteran team and he allowed his veterans to be veterans. Point blank. He allowed us to be men and veterans.

Flip very seldom had to call a play for me. I knew what plays he wanted to run. I know what transition offense he wanted to run. I knew what he didn’t want. [Laughs] And he didn’t have to say anything. Half the time, our timeouts would be just communicating about the little things that transpired before the timeout occurred. It was never you have to run this play or that play. It was OK. You know what time it is and lets go get it done. Flip is definitely a big reason why I’m coaching the game of basketball today.”