Del Harris: 'I hope Jason Kidd will get Doncic off the ball' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images Credit Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images

Del Harris has been around basketball almost forever. Now 84, the current Texas Legends executive and former Dallas Mavericks assistant coach has done a lot more throughout his career than being Magic’s last coach and Kobe’s first or appearing in the original "Space Jam" movie.

Luka Doncic

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The 2020 recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, given by the National Basketball Coaches Association in memory of the Hall-of-Famer and head coach of the original Dream Team, could be succinctly described as "an encyclopedia of basketball.” Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki has called him that.

He coached his first game as an NBA head coach with the Houston Rockets against Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics in 1979. The complete list of all the Hall-of-Famers - not to mention All-Stars - he has coached is almost endless. Harris was an NBA head coach for 14 seasons with Houston, Milwaukee, and the Los Angeles Lakers, forging a record of 556-457 for his career. In 1981 he led the Rockets to the franchise’s first-ever NBA Finals series.

Harris reached his 500th NBA win as head coach in 1997. At the time he was only the 19th coach to hit such a milestone. He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1995 with the Lakers. Eight of his assistant coaches went on to become head coaches and two others became NBA general managers. He was an assistant coach for 18 seasons and his teams averaged 55 wins over his last 11 years (2000-2011) as an assistant, seven of them with the Mavericks.

A native of Dale, Indiana, Del Harris had a lot to say about the Olympics, Team USA's chances of winning gold, Luka Doncic, and the Mavericks in the first part of his interview to BasketNews.

What's your view on Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics? They had a rough start against France, but they seem to have found their composure and they've made some good second halves. The USA have started to hit their rhythm and Durant is almost impossible to guard. They have good outside shooters, like Booker who can make shots from anywhere. Holiday was key to Milwaukee winning the championship. Not only because of his scoring, but because of his passing and defense. That's why Giannis and Middleton needed one more guy and that's why the Nets failed to get there. With Lillard, Tatum, LaVine they're going to score. Draymond Green doesn't shoot well at all, but he's a magnificent passer, sets really good picks for shooters, and finds rebounds. They are the team to beat, but you never know.

When the US got beat by France, that was kind of understandable. France have five NBA players and they're all pretty good. I mean, if you have EuroLeague or ACB players, they're going to be as good as most NBA players.

Spain has had a wonderful run in the international ball for a long time. Their key players got older and other than Rubio, they had problems in scoring. Historically, Rubio has been a distributor for Minessota and he was terrific against the US.

Which are the main strengths and weaknesses of this squad?

It's cohesion. Every one of those players is a star, the No. 1 option on their teams. In the NBA you have about 450 role and 50 top players. When you put together an All-Star team, they got to play together. Those superstar players often are not committed on defense because they don't want to get into foul trouble in order to score their 20-35 points.

Do you think that participating in the Olympics after a long season can take a toll on NBA players, especially on those who had previously been playing in the Finals?

Absolutely. I think it's a risk. I've spent most of the last 20 years associated with the Mavericks. I know that Mark Cuban has always preferred that his players did not play in the Olympics. Owners are paying millions of dollars to players and risk the injury that can happen in a highly competitive atmosphere. But players prefer to be loyal to their own country and are thankful for the opportunity. But if you're the owner of the team you can't allow it.

What can be the future of the Dallas Mavericks-Luka Doncic collaboration?

I think he'll likely have a great future, but I'm hoping that Jason Kidd will use him a little differently than he has been used since he got here. The way he's been playing with the Mavericks is that he has the ball most of the time, he penetrates and tries to get to the basket or passes the ball out. When he gets into the scrum, it's almost like rugby. He ends up hit and knocked down on the floor. I hate to see that because anything can happen.

What I would like to see is for Luka to be a point guard, but also be the off-guard and let one of the other players run him off some picks and give him the ball for a shot. The problem he had last year late in games was that he would bring the ball up the floor and they would trap him on the other side of the half-line. He'd have to give the ball up and then they'd try to keep him from getting it back. At the end of the games, he was a bit fatigued, probably from all the banging. They knew that they could double-team or triple-team him and make somebody else shoot the ball.

The Mavericks didn't have enough consistent other shooters. They got Reggie Bullock and he's a 40% three-point shooter for his career. He can help. They've got to have a little better shooting and get Luka off the ball, keep him fresh at the end of the games.

Would he be equally effective if he played off the ball?

Yes, because he can shoot the three-ball and when he's off the ball, he's not going to stand there and be a catch-and-shoot guy. He could come off down or cross picks and turn-out cuts. It's easier that way than when he just dribbles the ball down the court and tries to thread his way through the entire team.

If you had to choose one player to build your team on, would it be Dirk Nowitzki or Luka Doncic?

Well, they're totally different players. I want Dirk on my team. We had him for 20 years and it were great times. It's hard to build a team around a forward. You got to have a forward, like Durant, Dirk, or Larry Bird. When you're starting with a player, it either be a center or a point guard. Without these two things, it's hard, even now when they say that the big man is no longer important. Part of that is because they don't utilize them.

If Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Bill Russell, or Shaq were to reappear as 21-year-olds you would have to have them and build around them. They wouldn't have to shoot three-pointers, but they'd have to score inside and draw double-teams and pass to the open guy. Defensively, they'd have to defend the paint. A lot of teams now are dependant on somebody to guard their rim.

This is something that the Bucks did. Giannis does everything, he even makes threes for them. A lot of people think that if you can't make the three, you can't be one of the great players. Giannis is not making a lot of threes. He's not a really good three-point shooter, but he's OK. He makes them when you don't think they would go in. Lopez was a good addition and a big factor. He's a 7-footer who can muscle up with the other 7-footers, like Gobert and Jokic. He'll also make a three and he'll pass.

So, I would be happy to have either one of them to start with. Giannis, Durant, Curry, Tatum are all so good. It always takes a while till you figure out how to build a team around them.

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