The Official Site of Jermaine O'Neal

Fri, Oct 26th 2007, 12:22

"Up Close With Jermaine O'Neal"

Jermaine recently did an interview over at HoopsWorld with Joel Brigham that everyone should check out. Following are the highlights:

Alright Jermaine, after all the silly trade rumor crap that went around all summer, you’re still in Indianapolis. How does it feel to still be here?

“It feels alright. I don’t pay much attention it, but I understand the business end of things. The team understands my views and I understand their views about where we’re going, but that part of it is behind me.

“I’m kind of reluctant to even do an interview about trade talks because this is about the scenario at hand—and that’s me being here. This is probably the most fun I’ve had in the last three years.

“Coach O’Brien is a hell of a coach. I mean, I’ve been fortunate enough to play for a lot of good coaches. Rick Carlisle was a good coach, but he had a very structured system. The system Coach O’Brien has is a lot more wide open. It allows other people to make plays, and that makes my job a lot easier because I don’t have to go down and get beat on every single play and get double- and triple-teamed. I can catch the ball in transition and make the kinds of plays that I used to make.”

I was going to ask you how the new coach is working out, but clearly it’s going very well.

“Absolutely. He’s a guy that is very intense; he yells a lot, but after every yell he can come back and smile. Guys respect his mentality, his philosophy. We buy into it. Everybody in pro sports knows that if you’re going to have a successful system, everybody has to buy into it.

“This team is really focused in and responding. We were down 25 points the other night—I didn’t play, Kareem Rush, Troy Murphy didn’t play—but we showed a lot of character. We came in, and coach didn’t really yell; he just told us what he had to do to get back into the game and we did it. Those are the small signs you want to look at, especially from a young team.”

I know last year was a really emotional time for a lot of players on this team, and there were times when you really wore your emotions on your sleeve. I know it hurt you to think about leaving Indy because of all the city has done for you. What does Indianapolis mean to you, this city?

“It means a lot to me, man. Obviously when things get bad everybody gets a little frustrated, and it’s easy to nitpick and point fingers. But you can’t just be willing to accept the good times; you have to be willing to accept the bad times and make the adjustment to get back to the good times.

“The city has been great to me and my family. They’ve given me the opportunity to establish myself as a player, and also get some of the finer things in life for me and my family. Donnie Walsh and the Simon brothers didn’t have to take a chance on an unproven guy that didn’t play that much. But they took a chance on me, and that’s why I have so much respect for them.

“That’s why you didn’t hear anything from me all summer about trades, because I respect them to the point that I feel like if it’s necessary to move me to a different team to improve this team’s situation, then so be it. I’ve been here a very long while, I’ve had a heck of a time, and I’d like to retire here. But my respect for the city and the organization means that I’m willing to stand behind any decisions that they make.”

What are your impressions of the new guys—Kareem Rush, Travis Diener—what are they bringing to this team that wasn’t here last year?

“You know what? It’s funny—everybody’s talking about how bad we are, how we didn’t really make any moves this summer, and the only moves we did make were guys nobody cares about. Sometimes those are the best guys to bring in, because they have such intensity, and such a focus to the team.

“I’ve got to give Larry (Bird) and Donnie (Walsh) a lot of credit, because when [Rush and Diener] originally got signed I was at home rehabbing from knee surgery, and I didn’t know much about them until I got a chance to go work out with them.

“To get into camp and see the types of things that they can do, it’s perfect for our system. Jim O’Brien has a system that’s equal opportunity, where guys do what they do best. Andre Owens is a guy that gets at the point guards. He can score, he can defend. Travis Diener is a guy that can really push the ball up the floor, set the tempo, make big-time shots, and distribute the ball. Stephen Graham is a guy that can really go out and put the pressure on twos and threes with his size.”

“It just really fits into what we’re doing. We all work well off each other.”

You’re a guy who’s very accustomed to being in the playoffs, obviously. What’s your approach to leading your team back there this year?

“Well, not to cheat ourselves and look down the road, but we’ve got to take things one game at a time. We’re not in a position to look down the road at all. We’ve got to stay focused.

“Obviously not making the playoffs is a reality check… We’ve got to get back to winning games, getting the fan support back, and getting that winning attitude. That’s why these preseason games mean so much to us. Trying to win those tough games is going to build our character, and I think we’ve done a great job so far this year in the preseason of running with that attitude.”

“We still have some things to work on, but if we continue to grow at the rate we’re growing now, we’re going to be fine.”