Interview: Al Westover

Hoops fan and Punting Ace stalwart Nick Tedeschi travelled to The Cage this week to interview Melbourne Tigers coach Al Westover in the throes of the all-Melbourne NBL Grand Final series.

Nick Tedeschi: This season is set to be the last for the NBL with the premier basketball competition in Australia set to take on an image change. What are your fondest memories of the NBL?

Al Westover: Well, I guess my fondest memories are our championships. You remember those the most. I can remember back to when the NBL started and I used to play for the Tigers and we were in the state league and we didn’t go in and we wanted to and it was a new exciting competition and those first few years we struggled a bit to get that identity but it definitely evolved into the top competition in Australia. I’ve been fortunate. I’ve had twenty years in the NBL playing or assistant coaching or coaching and it’s just great to be involved in the top competition. This year is no different. We’re in the grand final in the last year of the NBL and that is something to be proud of in itself and I think we are all intrigued and excited about what can happen next year.

NT: How do you envisage the new league looking like in terms of size, structure? What must happen for the new league to be a success?

AW: Well, I don’t really know. I know they are talking about maybe less teams or something. I don’t know if that’s the way to go myself but I’m not involved in those decisions. I definitely think we have enough talent to expand, however, and have more teams with the kids we have playing overseas and the talent we have coming up through the juniors. I think less teams could possibly hurt the sport. People might look elsewhere to go play and kids might say it is too tough to make an NBL team and go to footy or rugby what have you. I think that is something we have to be concerned about. But if it goes to less teams and they have a plan to increase it later on, well, you know, that’s fair enough. But I’m kind of on the outer and we will just have to wait and see what eventuates and everybody is waiting for this season to end to find out what is going to happen. 

NT: What have been the greatest failings of the NBL in recent times?

AW: Well, I don’t know if it’s the NBL or what and it’s probably a financial thing, a catch-22 type situation but marketing is the key, being on TV is the key. This year we haven’t had much television coverage. One game a week maybe and on Fox Sports and that’s great but I don’t know how many people watch Fox Sports. Everybody talks about the heyday in the nineties but I really think that the league has evolved and gotten better since then but in the mid-nineties we were live on Channel Ten and more people were aware. So somehow either the teams or the league have to market what we are doing. Once you get it out there into everyone’s living rooms, I think the sport will grow again.

NT: Will the proposed new Fox Sports deal have a major impact on the league if their proposal to show every game live goes ahead?

AW: Oh yeah, I think that would be huge if that happens because at least we are on TV more and more people are getting to see it. I know in New Zealand it has really taken off amazingly because they have had everyone of their games shown live throughout the whole country so it is huge over in New Zealand right now. TV is the key. The NBA struggled years ago. Many people might not remember that but once they got on TV the NBA took off. People have to see it to get them to come.

NT: Which coaches across basketball and other sports have been your primary influences, the ones that shaped your love of the game and how you approach attempting to win basketball matches?

AW: I probably haven’t had too many in the basketball that I really idolise or anything. I kind of like Phil Jackson of the Lakers, George Karl of the Nuggets. I’ve liked those guys. My favourite coach of all-time was John Madden. He coached the Raiders and they were my team so I probably try to copy his style a little bit. He was a real players coach and was very successful. They were a tough team and he allowed his guys to have a little bit of freedom but when they came together they really meshed well. I try to incorporate some of his coaching philosophies into what I do. But that all kind of just evolves from one year to the next. You find your own identity. One of the most important things I realise when I first started coaching was just be yourself, don’t try to be somebody else.

NT: You said you are a players coach, you kind of give of an intense demeanour on the sidelines but you seem very relaxed during practice. How would you describe yourself as a coach?

AW: [laughs] I’m a bit of a psycho, you know. Normally I’m a very laid back guy, an easygoing guy but I get very competitive with the sport. I like to be intense during games and at training sessions. The game does that to me. I get excited, I get emotional. I try never to get too personal. I’ll go off on tirades but I’ve never put anyone down individually. My philosophy a lot of times is when guys get mad they play better so you have to get them to that state and get them all fired up. When you’re mad you don’t think about it, you just do it. Really, at this time of year, in particular, you just want to play on your instincts.

NT: Bob Knight said that the parts he enjoyed most in coaching basketball were the practice sessions and the preparation for a game. You have been coaching basketball since you were an assistant at the University of the Pacific and have been in charge of the Melbourne Tigers since 2005. What do you find to be the most enjoyable part of coaching?

AW: [laughs] You’ve done your homework. There are a lot of things I really like. I like being part of the group. I’ve been at all levels from a player to assistant coach to head coach and it’s great being part of something. It becomes a family. Coming out here from the States with no family here, the Tigers have become my second family. I enjoy being around the fellas. I enjoy the highs and lows that come with it. I enjoy the competition. I also enjoy the preparation. Probably the thing that I pride myself on the most is being organised and always having a game-plan and a training plan trying to follow that. I really enjoy that aspect as much as anything.

NT: What about the toughest aspects of coaching?

AW: I guess one of the hardest things after a hard loss is facing the media. Sometimes you just want to get out of there as quick as you can. A couple of hours after the game or the next day I’m alright but right after a game sometimes it is hard to go in there and answer questions. But that’s part of the job, dealing with the media and the sponsors and the members. A lot of the time those things take time and patience and sometimes you’re not in the right mood for that but you have to take the good with the bad.

NT: Does the upcoming series against the Dragons hold any extra importance because this is the last NBL finals series and because you are facing off against your cross-town rivals?

AW: Not so much in that sense. We kind of look at the greater picture. This is a chance for our club to win our fifth title which would make us the most successful club in NBL history. Since I’ve been at the club so long, that would be a real honour to be part of a team that is the best team in the league’s history. I think that is motivation in itself. I know for [the Dragons] the last-to-first thing and their first grand final are motivating factors. They are riding that wave of emotion and it is a great thing for them. I guess we are kind of going after it in different ways. They are trying to get their first one and develop an identity and a reputation. We’re kind of sitting their on top and it’s probably harder to stay on top than it is to get to the top.

NT: This is your fourth straight grand final series. Does it get any easier or like you said it is tougher to stay at the top.

AW: It’s never easy. When you look back four years ago when we won in three, every game was just a battle and I think we were losing at half-time in every game but we won and we won. Every time you get into a grand final series you just hope to get a win and then if you do you hope for another one. None of them have been easy and this one will be no different obviously. We dug a hole last night, losing that first one. It’s a challenge, it’s an opportunity and I always tell the fellas to not be nervous about opportunity. Just go out there and make the most of it. Our challenge now is to come from behind and win a grand final against a very good team. It’s going to take a little better effort and we will have to perform a little bit better [than in game one].

NT: You came from behind last year and you are going to have to come from behind again this year. How tough is it going to be to come from behind this year and what are the keys to overcoming that one game deficit?

AW: The next game is huge. We play here [tonight] and we have to win that game. We were able to do that last year against Sydney and then put pressure on them going into the third game up there. This game is the biggest game we have had all year. If we can get them on our home court, we can put some pressure on them for the rest of the series. If we can’t get them here, it is going to make for a very difficult series.

NT: The Dragons have plenty of match winners in Mark Worthington, Joe Ingles and Donta Smith. Which player is it most important for the Tigers shutdown?

AW: I say Donta right now. I think the last two times we’ve played him he has been the key guy. He has slipped under the radar because they bring him off the bench and he came in late in the season but he is definitely one of the best players in the league, no doubt about it. Really, the last few times they beat us he was the difference. Prior to last night they beat us in a three point game and he had a big drive over Chris [Anstey] and last night he hit two big threes in the fourth quarter plus he has some great passes. He had a great all-round game so he is the one we have to curtail, I think. Worthington is pretty constant and steady and you definitely have to be aware of him being their leader and such. Ingles had a great game [one] and he is a very talented kid. He’s capable of doing that. But the one we have to be most concerned about at this stage is Donta Smith.

NT: You have stated before that you are very close with Brian Goorjian, that he is “like a brother to you”. Do you two talk at all off the court during a series like this or is it a case of back to your respective corners?

AW: Yeah, pretty much back to your corners. We don’t talk a whole lot throughout the year. When we run into each other we talk and we’re friends and what have you but at this time of the year, it’s hard to talk because what are you going to talk about? [The grand final series] is the main thing on our minds. We just kind of stay away from each other. I’m sure after it is all over and give it a bit of time and we’ll get together at some stage.

NT: If the Tigers happen to win the championship, how will you celebrate?

AW: I’m not real big on the celebrations. I’ll have a couple of drinks after the game and then rest for a few days. It is a real nerve-racking experience. The years that we have won, it has just been a great relief to know that you can kick back and say that we were the best team in it and to know what you are doing is working and to know that you are on the right track. I think the crazy celebrations for myself would be over but just knowing that we got the job done again will be a tremendous feeling.

NT: I’m just interested to know your thoughts on gambling on basketball. Do you think it increased the popularity of the sport? Do you have a problem with it?

AW: I don’t get involved with any of the gambling. I know a lot of my friends do the sports gambling and I have no problem with it. You just hope it doesn’t have any negative side effects for the game because there could be temptations for officials or players to make a quick buck. That would take away from the whole integrity of the game [if something like that were to happen]. Hopefully that doesn’t happen and it doesn’t creep into the game. It’s something that is outside the game.

NT: Have you ever encountered any betting scandals/problems like the Tim Donaghy fiasco in your time in the NBL?

AW: Well, not that I know of but there have been a few times I think some referees might have some side bets running, just quietly speaking [and laughing]. But nothing that I can verify.

NT: Do you live and breathe basketball 24/7? How do you relax and get away from basketball?

AW: I get away from it. I walk everyday, a couple of hours after training and that clears my head. I’m an avid reader, I read a lot. I like to watch movies. But [basketball] is always there. You might get away from it for an hour or so and you might be watching a movie or be out for dinner and all of a sudden a new play will hit you and you lose track of the conversation you were in or the movie you were watching. Though I like to get away from it a bit, basketball is always there ready to pop up. It’s always a constant thing. You think about something that we could have done at training or a play we could have run or should I have tried that group or should I have rotated differently. So there are things there that are always right beneath the surface so you can never totally get away from it.

NT: Do you have any aspirations to become Boomers coach once Brian Goorjian has finished with the job?

AW: I haven’t really thought about it and not at this stage. We’ll see how things unfold and what have you. Personally, I have never got involved with that side of the coaching with state teams or ITC teams or national teams. That’s a whole different side of basketball that I’m not really aware of. All of my coaching experience has been in Victoria either as a state league coach or an ABA coach. Having said that, if the opportunity did eventuate, it would be pretty exciting and it would be an honour to get the chance to represent your country.

NT: Finally, you said you followed the Oakland Raiders earlier. Do you follow any other sports teams around the world or here in Melbourne?

AW: Well, I grew up in the Bay Area, so it was the Raiders and A’s for me. I’ve never really had any basketball team. I’m still an A’s and a Raiders fan but they have both fallen on hard times so I’ve been forced to go with back-up teams [smiling]. We’ve been there with Al [Davis] before so hopefully we can return. Things haven’t looked good with the Raiders so like I’ve said I’ve had to go with a back-up team to keep my interest alive. They are probably the only two teams I really attach myself to but I do follow a bit of all sport. I’ll watch a Storm game or some footy games but I don’t really have [an AFL team] per se. If I were to pick a rugby [league] team it would be the Storm and definitely the Victory in the soccer. With so many AFL teams in Melbourne, I don’t know which one to choose.

NT: Thanks so much for your time Al.

AW: My pleasure.

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