Where Are They Now: Greg Foster

What are you up to?
I’ve been with the Milwaukee Bucks for the past two years as an assistant coach on Jason Kidd’s staff. You know, prior to that I was with Philadelphia for a year with Brett Brown, so he gave me my start. So yeah, up here in Milwaukee having a good ol’ time.

On John Stockton
There’s a big misconception with John when it comes to [his scoring ability]. I mean, I, if you ever had the opportunity to watch him play summer ball, or if you’re just playing, basically playing street ball, the, I think the misconception comes with, you know, everybody thought he needed the pick and roll. He needed the system.

I’ve seen him annihilate guys just playing pickup ball. Getting to the basket; handling the ball; no real pick and roll; playing one on one. So yeah, I’ve seen him do that, so I always knew, but you know, when it came time, came down to execution and winning basketball games, you know, he was selfless in that way.

What do you remember most fondly about your time in Salt Lake?
Well, there’s no doubt that, you know, my time in Salt Lake City was, were the best years of my career. You know, I had a home finally after bouncing around. You know, I felt like I belonged somewhere, so that was big for me. And, you know, we’ve got a lot of great friends. We just met so many wonderful people out there that we know to this day and we stay in touch with.

So, you know, the camaraderie of the team, the discipline of the team, and then being able to, you know, get the chance to take that next step. Even though we came up short in winning a world championship, you know, we played the right way, we played hard, and I think we all had fun doing it.

So, you know, I still, when I run into those guys, you know, like Howard [Eisley] and Bryon [Russell] and you know, Karl [Malone], you know, we all have fond memories, laugh about those successful years that we had.

On Jerry Sloan
He used to say that, when I would give him a hard time, that is, that someday when you guys are gonna be coaches, you’re gonna be dealing with guys just like yourself. So I always used to get a chuckle out of that, and I’ve never forgotten that.

You know, he was a tough-nosed guy. He was a disciplinarian. We butted heads quite a bit, but at the end of the day, he was the kind of guy that you could have a beer with after the fact and it was all over. And you came back to work the next day, and you guys had a common goal.

So, was he the easiest guy to play for? No. But he got the m–absolutely most out of me, and in hindsight and looking back, I really don’t, I don’t try to do it any differently. Even though kids today in the NBA are a little different — you know, you’ve gotta be creative in how you motivate them and how demonstrative you can be, which can be frustrating from a coaching perspective at times, but it is what it is.

But I have a lot of respect for Jerry Sloan, who, we did some special things together.

What could have happened differently in the Finals years that would have led to a different outcome?
Well, you know, I mean, [the Bulls] were pretty good. You know, I think the first year we might’ve been just excited to get there. But that second year, you know, we really tried to go ahead and win that thing.

I think a couple plays here and there — you know, the one that comes to my mind obviously is when [Michael] Jordan double-backed on Karl and was able to get that steal. And there were some free throws that we missed, you know, that could’ve probably, you know, turned the momentum in our favor and maybe got us one.

But hey, you know, again, there were some great runs. No crying over it, and just some wonderful memories from those years. (KALL)