Friedman: "From a coaching perspective, what is the biggest difference between college basketball and professional basketball?"
Carril: "I'd say that I agree with the assessment that the NBA is a players' game--the players have more to say about what they are doing than the coach does, for the most part. There are a few exceptions to that--most of them are very successful coaches who have some sense of control about what goes on. Most of these guys (NBA players) are darn good players who think that they know exactly what is good for them."
Friedman: "When you say 'sense of control,' you mean control that is given to the coach by management, right? The players know that the coach is going to be there and that they have to listen to what he says."
Carril: "Right, right."
Friedman: "From your perspective as a coach, do you think that defense is emphasized more in college, more in the pros or about the same in each?"
Carril: "I think that it's the same. It varies with the coach, when he makes an assessment of his team. If he comes to the conclusion that he does not have the kind of players who are good shooters or good scorers, that in turn dictates how he's going to play on offense. At the same time, he might have some guys who don't defend very well--he works them and he works them and he works them and after four or five months they still don't guard. Then he's got to tailor his defense to that. A lot depends on personnel-defensive stoppers, when you have them, you notice them, because when the other team comes into town, their high scorer hardly ever scores."
