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Lionel Hollins talks championship, says New York makes Memphis look like "the stone age"

By Net Income
Kevin C. Cox

Lionel Hollins isn't thinking about what pundits --and even some fans-- say about the Nets' window having past.  He told Lenn Robbins in the second part of his interview, posted Thursday, that he believes all the "possibilities" are in place for a championship.

"I believe all he possibilities for being a champion are in place," Hollins said. "And we just have to do our job to make it a reality, as both players and  coaches. Then, we can all celebrate together."

At another point in the conversation, Hollins said the Nets have merely the "possibility of being a good team," adding, "You know, everyone you talk to, you go to restaurants and they're 'Aw, you know you got a challenge there. They're old.' But I see a team that really has some youth and has a nucleus outside of KG, outside of Paul Pierce, as we go forward, they develop. Deron Williams is 29 (actually 30) and in the prime of his life; Brook is young and Joe Johnson is in the prime of his game. Then, we have some younger players. who've come on board."

He said he wants the team "to add some toughness, add some discipline and by discipline I dont mean fining someone for being late, but discipline for doing the right thing on the court, be where you're supposed to be, make the rotation, be in the right spot on defense, make the right passes, those type of things. That is discipline!"

Hollins also confirmed he has commitments from Paul Westphal, John Welch, Joe Wolf and Tony Brown as assistants and said he's still looking for a player development coach and two video coordinators. His job, "I'll be the tough guy," he smiled.

One other thing that caught our ear was his dissing of Memphis, where he lived and worked for 12 years, at least in comparison to New York.

"I'm pretty comfortable with New York. I just never thought I'd be living here ... especially after being 12 years in Memphis," he said smiling, adding, "Memphis is like, compared to New York, it's back in the stone age when you didn't have electricity or something. That's not a knock on Memphis, just a contrast in how developed and how unbelievably electric New York is versus Memphis. People are laid back, they move slow, they talk slow, drag their words out.  Here everybody talks too fast."

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