Tag: Buzz Peterson
Former Vol head coach appears in ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’
Former Vol head coach appears in ESPN documentary.
Former University of Tennessee men’s basketball head coach Buzz Peterson made a cameo appearance in “The Last Dance.”
The ESPN documentary is chronicling the Chicago Bulls’ 1998 championship season and Michael Jordan’s basketball career.
Chicago won six NBA Championships in eight years between 1991-98 with a cast of characters including Jordan, John Paxson, Ron Harper, Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, head coach Phil Jackson and assistant coach Tex Winter, who was the architect of the Bulls’ triangle offense.
Chicago won three straight titles between 1991-93 before Jordan retired from the NBA to pursue baseball for two years. When Jordan returned, the Bulls were NBA champions between 1996-98.
Jordan and Peterson were roommates at the University of North Carolina.
Peterson coached at Tennessee from 2001-05. With the Vols, he compiled a 61-59 record and finished above .500 twice.
Peterson went 17-12 in 2002-03 and guided UT to the NIT. He went 15-14 in 2003-04 and guided the Big Orange to a second consecutive postseason appearance in the NIT.
Now you are working for Michael Jordan …
Now you are working for Michael Jordan as his assistant GM. Some Hornets fans are skeptical he has the same drive to win as an owner that he did as a player. What would you say to those who aren’t convinced? Buzz Peterson: They need to take my cell phone and answer my cell phone after a game one night. That’s what they need to do. Or during a game. Or sit with me during a ballgame when I’m sitting with him. They’ll know what a competitor he is. I mean, my left knee, my left shoulder. I’ve sat up there (during a game) before, and his mom would turn around and look at me and says, “Are you OK?” I said, “My shoulder is numb; I only feel it now.” I told her, “My knee is numb.”
Buzz Peterson: That’s what’s so unique …
Buzz Peterson: That’s what’s so unique about what he has. He can see a lot of things that a lot of people can’t see. That’s why I always tell him, “You would not make a very good coach. You wouldn’t. Because your expectations are just tough.” And this is what may be hard for people to understand what the documentary is about. He may be tough, the way he’s driven, the way he sees things, because he sees it through a different lens sometimes. I’ve always said this: Coach Smith, Larry Brown, some of the gifted coaches I’ve ever seen, you just let them have four or five objects out on that floor, and what they do and what they see before it even happens is just remarkable. And I always thought that Michael, I mean he’s like that. He sees things a whole lot different than a lot of people.
Now you are working for Michael as his …
Now you are working for Michael as his assistant GM. Some Hornets fans are skeptical he has the same drive to win as an owner that he did as a player. What would you say to those who aren’t convinced? Buzz Peterson: They need to take my cell phone and answer my cell phone after a game one night. That’s what they need to do. Or during a game. Or sit with me during a ballgame when I’m sitting with him. They’ll know what a competitor he is. I mean, my left knee, my left shoulder. I’ve sat up there (during a game) before, and his mom would turn around and look at me and says, “Are you OK?” I said, “My shoulder is numb; I only feel it now.” I told her, “My knee is numb.”
Buzz Peterson: But listen, the guy …
Buzz Peterson: But listen, the guy wants to win, and no matter what. And he is such a competitor. To say we are trying to work with these young guys, get them better and work and develop these guys — at the same time, Michael says, “I hear ya. But let’s win. I want to win.” And he wants to win in the worst way. It just drives him crazy when we don’t, and so when we don’t and when he thinks we should’ve, that’s when the cell phone rings and he wants a lot of questions answered right away. And sometimes that doesn’t help, either. He don’t want to listen.
How much does it burn him up that he …
How much does it burn him up that he can’t necessarily control what happens results-wise with his team on the court? Buzz Peterson: That’s sometimes where the underlining comes in our conversations. I say, “Can I say this to you, Michael? You say all this, let me say this. You see the game totally different than a lot of other people do. Your eyes, your vision, what you see, a lot of people can’t gather all that, Michael. And that’s the gift that God has given you, and then sometimes you have to understand that.” Because when you are on the floor with him, you’re one of those four other guys, you better be playing as hard as him and running with him. But not only that, you better be thinking like he is. He’s not just a guy that runs up and down the court. He thinks the game on both ends.