New St. John’s coach Mike Anderson takes a timeout before the Red Storm’s season tips off for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: What are your favorite motivational or inspirational sayings?
A: Coach [Nolan Richardson, Arkansas] used to talk about, “Be the best you can be today ’cause it’s not promised to you tomorrow.” And then, “If it’s gonna be, it’s up to me.” And one of the things he taught me also was, “Be who you are.” I can’t be Nolan Richardson, I can’t be Roy Williams, I gotta be Mike Anderson. … I want to be better than all of ’em, that’s my motivation right there, I want to be better than all of ’em. … I want to win me a championship. I’ve had a chance to be a part of all the ones that Coach Richardson won. I lost to him in the junior college championship. The next year we won the NIT championship, beat Syracuse here at the Garden, and then we won the NCAA championship. As a head coach [at Missouri], I’ve gotten to the Elite Eight. So my quest is to win a national championship. I think I’m good at what I do. I think I’m real. I like to win.
Q: Describe the traits of the ideal Mike Anderson basketball player.
A: Winner. I like aggressiveness. Toughness. I like talented players, too. I like athletic guys that are very versatile. I like guys who … play to win. There are some guys who play to play.
Q: What’s your definition of playing to win?
A: I think you do all the little things. If it takes me scoring five points a night versus I average 20, I’m gonna do that. If it takes me getting 20 rebounds in order for us to have a chance to win, I’m gonna do it. One of the things I could do, I could draw charges. That’s one of the most unselfish plays you can do, because you’re taking it for the team. Most times, a team will reflect the coach. The little things that you do as a team, they add up to be big things.
Q: It sounds like the fans are going to see your players take more charges than they’ve probably ever seen.
A: They’re gonna do all the blue-collar things, and I think that’s what we’re talking about — loose balls, deflections, taking charges, hunting balls down — we’re gonna be a small team in stature, but hopefully we’ll be big in heart.
“We’re gonna be a small team in stature, but hopefully we’ll be big in heart.” — Mike Anderson
Q: Who nicknamed you Mighty Mouse?
A: Coach Richardson’s wife. When I played against Coach Richardson’s junior college team [Western Texas] in the [1980] championship game … I was with Jefferson State out of Birmingham, Alabama, that’s when I first met Coach Richardson. When I was in there, we were up. And then when I fouled out, it just went the other way. One of the things she tells me was, “I was up there praying that something would happen to you, and who is this little-bitty guy doing all of that stuff? You were just going everywhere.” They beat us, then I joined him at Tulsa.
Q: What made you so tough?
A: Growing up in Birmingham with my brothers, I’m the sixth kid on that pole. I’m peach No. 6. If I’m gonna play with them, on the playground and the recreation center … they knocked me around a few times. But if I want to get out there, I had to fight. I was always a scrapper.
Q: You took six charges in the last five minutes against Creighton.
A: Whatever it takes to win. And back in those days, you shot free throws. I can anticipate pretty good and get in spots. I probably got Oscars for acting, too (smile).
Q: What is the most unfair criticism you’ve heard?
A: People got opinions, and that’s OK. But at the same time, I’ve always strived to be the best version of Mike Anderson, so I don’t get caught up into ‘they can say this and say that.’ Obviously we dream of playing at the next level, and that didn’t take place. So now I got an opportunity to give back to a game that’s been good to me. So how do you do it? You impact lives, and that’s what coaching is all about. So when the criticism comes, you know what? There’s a saying, You make your haters your elevators. So I just step up on ’em, and just keep rising.
Q: How do you motivate?
A: I try to be straight up with them, I try to be real with them. I want them to be who they are. The motivation is pushing them to be the best that they can be.
Q: How do you do that?
A: I’m a worker. They want to strive for some greatness. So if the motivation is getting up at 5 in the morning to win five, six extra games, guess what? They’re there. But I’m there, too. And I think, more important, I’m real with them. I talk straight to them, I don’t talk around ’em, I talk right at ’em. And I talk the lingo.
Q: So you’re hip.
A: I’m in tune, how ’bout that?
Q: What about when they need a kick in the butt?
A: As a coach, you gotta know when to push and when you don’t. I’m old school in a lot of ways, and from that standpoint, I don’t veer away from some of that, but at the same time, I know how to pick my battles.
Q: Old school in what ways?
A: Well, I just think in terms of the things I demand. I’m a disciplinarian. I want my guys to be on time. There are things that they probably get away with at other places, they don’t get away with here with me. I’m a stickler for guys academically, you don’t miss class. I couldn’t afford an education, so basketball was my avenue of getting out. So I used basketball to open up doors for me, and I want the same for my kids.
Q: What won’t you tolerate?
A: Guys being disrespectful. To coaches, to teammates, I won’t tolerate that. Pointing fingers and all that stuff. You win as a team, you lose as a team. And we’re gonna be as strong as the weakest link. When I recruit them, I’m recruiting you with an opportunity to come and be all you can be, on the floor, off the floor. And so I think I give those opportunities to do that. That’s a form of motivation for guys, and they come and they bust their tails, and we’re gonna win, we’re gonna play a style of basketball that’s … I’m gonna give you the freedom to play basketball where you play instinctively, and that’s why we recruited you.
Q: How hard were Coach Richardson’s practices?
A: Probably the most difficult practices I’ve ever been in. You had to be mentally tough. In practice, you never touched the ball for the first 40 minutes. You did laps, you did sit-ups, you did push-ups, you did a medicine ball, you did a water ball … you never even touched the ball. You ran in weight jackets. It tests your heart and it tests your endurances. Even when you talk about just the practices, I mean, it was war. No blood, no foul.
Q: How does that compare to your practices?
A: There’s some semblance to it, but not to that extreme.
Q: Did you ever think about quitting?
A: There were times where I had to go and visit one of the assistant coaches, and that led to visit with Coach. I can sense what’s real and what’s not real, and I thought it was fair.
Q: What did Coach Richardson tell you?
A: Talked about obviously with a team, there’s a lot of different parts and different roles for guys, and I may be doing some things to hopefully help this guy help us. You’re just as valuable whether you start or you don’t start. That went in my mind right there, it was about the playing time. You gotta remember now, he brought four guys off his junior college team, and I was the one that came from another team. So that being said, I’m the new guy on the block. But I thought between the coaches and Coach Richardson did a good job of really encouraging or fitting me in with that bunch.
Q: Richardson was known for his polka-dot outfits?
A: One thing about Coach, he was always ahead of his time.
Q: He wore the shirts during games?
A: Oh yeah, with a jacket on. It became his brand, really. And we used to have polka dot nights. We even had polka-dot twins — clowns — grown men, dressed up, that were like our mascots.
Q: Your emotions winning the 1994 national championship with Arkansas as Coach Richardson’s assistant?
A: To me, it was an unbelievable journey because as we went through that journey, we were one of the top-ranked teams but no one gave us a chance because we’re playing Duke right there in Charlotte [N.C.] in their backyard. Matter of fact, we played Michigan in Reunion, it was the Fab Four, minus Chris Webber, to go to the Final Four. And it was such a sign of disrespect that they had already printed the shirts up, and they had Michigan going to the Final Four, and all that did was add fuel for our basketball team. That was better than bulletin-board material.
Q: Do you use bulletin-board material?
A: No, I don’t. … In this day of social media, everybody sees it. I bring up some things every now and then. There’s some signals out there that the disrespect takes place. To me, that’s motivation. … But I think the motivation is that you want to be a champion.
Q: Who are coaches you’ve admired?
A: Capp Brown [high school coach], Nolan Richardson, Dean Smith, John Thompson, Pat Riley.
Q: Who are leaders you admire?
A: Obviously Coach Richardson’s a great leader. Paul Pressey, who’s on my staff. You look at Magic Johnson, you look at Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Clyde Frazier … Bear Bryant. I used to work the Alabama-Auburn games at Legion Field in Birmingham. I was a little hustler, so I would go sell cokes and popcorn and all that stuff. So here I am, sitting up in Legion Field, watching some of the great, great players — Tony Nathan, Anthony Musso, [Jeff] Rutledge, Pat Sullivan.
Q: Describe Coach Lou Carnesecca.
A: He come to see some of my workouts, and the thing that he said right off the bat, “I love the energy.” … Energy, enthusiasm and effort, that’s something you’re gonna see with our team.
Q: Chris Mullin.
A: He got to the Tournament last year, so hopefully we can take it to another level. But obviously he’s a legend here. I’m looking for the next Chris Mullin, too (chuckle).
Q: You drove Coach Richardson’s 13-year-old daughter Yvonne from Fayetteville, Ark., to Tulsa and back for her leukemia treatments.
A: Yvonne was like my sister. Whatever Coach needed me to do, I would do it, so that he could do his job. And she was so ahead of her time. He didn’t really want to go to Arkansas, but she said, “No dad, you worked all your life to get to a school like this right here.”
Q: How heartbreaking was it for you when she passed?
A: It was real heartbreaking. But one thing about her, she never complained one day. Though she was going through quite a bit, she was real strong, she was really ahead of her time. She had such an impact on me that I named my daughter Yvonne.
Q: What was it like taking over for Quin Snyder at Missouri.
A: It was a mess going in there, and I had to go in there and clean it up and get that program back on track and we were able to do it.
Q: Who was your boyhood idol?
A: Reggie King, played at Alabama, and played in the NBA. From the neighborhood I was from, we used to watch at the Rec Centers and all that stuff, he was phenomenal.
Q: Biggest influences?
A: I would say my parents, my mom.
Q: Your mom was called Peach.
A: She raised eight kids. She started out as a nurse. Didn’t have a whole lot, lived in a three-room house — not a bedroom house — a shotgun house. So in the front room is mom and dad, in the next room there’s eight kids, and then you got the kitchen. It was tight, but it was a lot of care and share. Poor, didn’t know we were poor, always had meals. And my mom was the matriarch of the family if you want to call her that. She didn’t have to say much, she’d just give you a look, and you knew that she was kind of agitated about you ’cause she’ll call you your middle name, and my middle name was Andre. So when I heard ‘Andre,’ that got my attention (smile).
Q: Why was she called Peach?
A: She was light-skinned and she’s just a peach of a personality, I think. Our house, with all of those people, it was like where everybody would come to. It was like the stopping spot. And everybody in the neighborhood knew her. When they walked the neighborhood, they’ll see her sitting on the porch. One of her mottos, do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. She wasn’t one of those people that scream or yell. And I think I get some of her personality.
Q: Who are coaches in other sports you admire?
A: A guy by the name of John McDonnell. He was one of the great track and field coaches at Arkansas. He won championships after championships.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, my mother.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Scarface.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Denzel [Washington].
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Angela Bassett.
Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?
A: Teddy Pendergrass.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Thanksgiving meal — turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, potato salad.
Q: What drives you?
A: Probably the ones who say “he can’t.” You’ve gotta have something that pushes you.
Q: Was being fired at Arkansas part of what pushes you?
A: That’s motivation.
Q: What would you say to St. John’s basketball fans about their team?
A: They’re gonna see a team that’s gonna mirror this city. It’s gonna be a blue-collar, in-your-face, hard-nosed, true team playing for each other, just giving their all.
Q: Describe New York City.
A: It’s alive, man! It’s vibrant here, and everywhere you go. And they love basketball. They loooove basketball.
Q: How long will you take to win a championship here?
A: My third year at Missouri, I’m in the Elite Eight. My second year at. UAB, I’m in the Sweet 16. The Big East is really, really good. Hopefully that can prepare for any tournament you play in. … It’s gonna be a process of getting this team to play at that high level we want to. So where they are right now, they won’t be there in January. But my teams typically play some of the best basketball hopefully late February on into March.
Q: Can your team surprise people?
A: As we get guys back, and get guys healthy and how quick our guys pick up on the things we’re doing, there’s no question about I think we’re different than anybody else. We’re gonna play a style of basketball that’s very different. So we’ll see if we can make that impact on Year 1. That is the goal … to make an impact this year.
Q: Richardson’s teams were known for their 40 minutes of hell. How many minutes of hell are fans going to see this season?
A: Right now, it might be more like 25 minutes of hell.
Q: And by February and March it’ll be …
A: It’ll be even closer to 30 and 35. It’s gonna be an entertaining team, let me put it that way.