I do realize that it's important to be a threat at the 3-point line.
I have an incredible amount of basketball knowledge, and I think a lot of that is derived from having a Hall of Fame college basketball coach who was very knowledgeable of the game and I had a great high school coach who was also very knowledgeable.
Defenses had to play us, obviously, out to the arc, but it was really, to me, my mid-range game that was probably more dangerous than my 3-point shot.
When I was younger, I was a guy who always wanted to get to the rim and attack the rim and just dunk the basketball.
Obviously I think offensively, spacing for me as a guy that puts a lot of pressure on the rim is going to make it harder on a defense. They're going to have to make tougher decisions, and space is going to be way more open for all the guards, too.
When you move into becoming more of a shooting guard, you get more catch-and-shoot three's, lot of pin-downs and things like that where you shoot the three a lot more.
With all the pick-and-rolls in the NBA, getting in the lane and shooting floaters or pull-ups will help a lot.
When you put pressure on the paint, you not only score but you force the whole defense to collapse and you can make easy plays to hit shooters.
In Atlanta, we ran a motion offense, so, obviously, I was on the move a lot.
Mike D'Antoni is one of the best offensive coaches in the whole game of basketball, by far.
The triangle offense is more for slashers and people who like to take the ball to the basket.
It's a different animal when you're in the NBA. You come in this league and you've got 7-footers who play 7 foot who are going to protect that rim come hell or high water.
I'm working on everything, especially staying balanced when I shoot the ball. That's the biggest thing, as well as taking good shots within the offense.
It's tough for a jump shooter, especially in a triangle offense.
Once the Hack-a-Shaq works once, you know I'm going to see it again. The only thing worse for basketball than that defense is the Lack-a-Shaq offense, where I have to go to the bench because of foul trouble. There is no fun in that.
Obviously, Ray Allen is a huge threat, Eddie House coming off the bench is a huge threat, as far as three-pointers go.
I can't tell you the difference between the triangle offense and the Princeton offense.
For bigs, we usually have three simple moves - and the hook-shot is one of those moves that's a forgotten art. But it's always been an effective move in our league.
In the NBA, if you can't defend your position, they're going to go at you over and over again.
The bruisers and the bump-and-grind guys, use your athleticism on the floor, try to wear them out - run them through a lot of pick-and-rolls, run the floor, do a lot more athletic stuff just to try to wear them down.
When I'm playing the 1-guard, teams do a great job of just loading up and preparing for my drives and preparing for my three-point shots.
I'm not gonna try to force to look for threes, but if the three is open, I'm gonna shoot it.
My thing that I can do is score the basketball.
I think I'm a good enough ball handler to bring the ball up the basketball court, and my teammates do a great job of getting open.
My brain never stops thinking about basketball, and even when I'm asleep, I'm thinking about basketball. I love it; I love the Xs and Os and the preparation of it.
