Bits from Sidney Lowe Interview, 1/15

Are there adverse ramifications to Enes Kanter playing so few/fewer minutes, and does that affect his development?
No. No, not at all. I mean, he’s too young right now for it to affect him. You know, right now his mindset, Enes’ mindset has to be to continue to work and continue to get better. And the time is gonna come. You know, he’s a young guy, and we knew he’s going to have some ups and downs…

The thing we do and we have to do is to continue to be patient with it and continue to develop, continue to work with him and develop. Certainly playing, playing in the game itself certainly speeds up the process, but you know, he just have to continue to work and stay positive…I think it’s just a matter of time for him to continue to get better and continue to work at it.

Does the same hold true for Alec Burks?
Oh, same thing. Absolutely. Same thing. You know, you see games where Alec, you know, plays well and does a great job, and you see a game where he might struggle a little bit, and that’s just the way it is with young guys. You know, that’s why very seldom have you seen young teams in this league win. And I mean win big, other than unless you have extraordinary players like a Kevin Durant, Michael Westbrook.* But those guys took a couple of years as well…

It’s the same thing with [Burks]. Just a matter of continuing to work, continue to improve, continue to learn. Not only learn about the positions, but learn the game, learn the personnel, the players he’s playing against. You know, all those things are factors.

*Not a typo.

On what the Jazz have to do to be successful
I think we’re on track right now. We just have to continue to play hard and play smart. I think that’s the biggest key for us. If we play hard and we play smart, especially if we play smart, then, you know, we’re pretty tough. When we don’t turn it over, when we execute, when we share the basketball, you know, we’re pretty tough. And so we just have to continue to improve and get better.

On playing aggressive defense
The biggest thing is, you know, you’re gonna play against some teams that aren’t very aggressive defensively, and they might let you just run your action. But then you gonna play against good teams. They’re not going to let you run freely. They’re gonna bump you; they’re gonna hold you. And that’s the time when you have to be mentally tough and able to continue to run your offense.

You know, like we’ve had situations where, you know, talking to Alec Burks, and Alec said, “Well, coach, he was holding me.” And my response was, “Don’t let him hold you.” So, you know, so, and that’s the mentality that you have to have when you playing against the best teams.

On the possibility of Alec Burks playing point over the long term
I don’t know that point guard is a long-time position for him. You know, just by being able to play that position, I think he’ll be able to do it. How many minutes, long term, I don’t know, because, you know, being a point guard is a very difficult position. And once again, you might be able to do it against some teams, but in big games and against great teams and guys are putting all kinds of pressure on you that’s used to playing that position, you know, now that’s a little different, you know.

And I played that position, so I know it’s a very difficult thing to go from being a 2-guard to being a point guard…Long term, just as a point guard, I don’t know. I can’t say. I will say that he’s done a great job for us coming in and bringing the ball up the floor and getting us into our offense, but I don’t know if that’s going to be his long-term position.

On NC State’s win over Duke
Now when I see the Dukies who are in the league, you know, I’ve got the upper hand on that. (1280)