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Interview with Sacramento Kings’ Assistant Coach Pete Carril—Part II

© David Friedman

In his book The Smart Take from the Strong, Hall of Famer Pete Carril writes, "There is a difference between teaching and coaching. When you are instructing your team about the actual game, you are teaching them, transmitting knowledge and information to them. There are guys who don't teach their players anything or much of anything, but who go around and recruit the best players and they win - they're coaches but not teachers." One of the most important-and neglected-skills that players should be taught is the dribble. Coach Carril, in his ninth year with the Sacramento Kings after winning 525 games in 30 collegiate seasons, discussed this prior to the Kings' 128-109 defeat of the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 1.

Friedman: "You mentioned in your book The Smart Take from the Strong that it is a crime for any coach, particularly at the younger levels, if he doesn't make sure that his players know how to dribble-that this is such an important skill."

Carril: "I think that what has happened is that about 25 years ago they went into this passing game offense in which dribbling is discouraged. Maybe it was because guys were dribbling too much."

Friedman: "I was going to ask you about that."

Carril: "They might have been dribbling too much. All of a sudden, guys start passing the ball, pass and cut, don't dribble the ball. The coach is screaming from the bench, 'Don't dribble the ball' and all that kind of stuff. Now if you find a '3' man (small forward) who can dribble the ball, it's rare. I mean, if you play LeBron James at the '3,' he's going to kill everybody. He kills everybody at '1' or '2.' At '3' it's even easier. A guy like Tayshaun Prince, because he can dribble the ball-if you're looking for an outlet (pass), there he is. He can dribble the ball up the court and make the play in a 3-on-2 or 2-on-1 (fast break). It is a valuable asset (because) if you have three guys who can dribble the ball on your team then you are not going to get pressed."

Friedman: "Sure. You mentioned something that I want to follow-up, in terms of over-dribbling. There are certain point guards in the league-not to mention any names--who dribble too much and it seems like this gets the other players on their teams out of rhythm because they never know when they are going to get the ball."

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