DMR Interview with Floyd (good read)

[ISUFan22]

DMR link

Ames was OK, but USC job fun in the sun

varUsername = "ribrown@dmreg.com";document.write("By RICK BROWN");By RICK BROWN
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

Tim Floyd remembers his last trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA basketball tournament.

"Seems like yesterday,'' Floyd said. "It's been 10 years. How about that?''

In 1997, Floyd coached Iowa State to the regional semifinals, where it lost to UCLA in overtime in San Antonio, Texas.

Now he's got Southern California in the same position. The Trojans (25-11) face top-seeded North Carolina today in East Rutherford, N.J.

"I'm having a lot of fun with them,'' Floyd said.

Floyd's career has taken many twists and turns in the last decade. He's gone from Iowa State to the NBA and back to the college game.

"This is my last job,'' Floyd said. "I say that with all honesty.''

His coaching style also has evolved, from a defense-first approach to more of an up-tempo attack.

"We're playing a lot faster now,'' Floyd said. "We were third in the Pac-10 in scoring, and it's always been an up-and-down league. I think we're still guarding people pretty well. We just have more people who can score more.''

Floyd is in his second season at USC. He's got a stable of recruits in his own back yard. The Trojans play in the Galen Center, a $147 million facility that opened this year. His wife, Beverly, loves Santa Monica, where they live.

"And the weather sure is great,'' Floyd said, thinking back to the Iowa winters he went through for four years.

But Iowa State always will have a warm spot in his heart. Floyd was 81-47 in Ames, with three 20-win seasons and NCAA berths. But the rebuilding job at Southern California is, by Floyd's admission, easier.

"At Iowa State we went in there with no ability to find top 100 players,'' Floyd said. "Nobody knew my name, and I was recruiting against Roy Williams, and Norm Stewart, and Eddie Sutton. We had to fill the roster with junior college players and transfers so we could make it happen quicker.''

Iowa State's starting lineup on March 23, 1997, against UCLA in the Sweet 16 consisted of one player recruited in high school, Jacy Holloway; a transfer, Kelvin Cato; and three junior college transfers in Kenny Pratt, Shawn Bankhead and Dedric Willoughby.

The Cyclones had a one-point lead in overtime when Cameron Dollar drove to the basket, collided with Holloway and then lofted a shot over Cato's fingertips, off the glass and into the basket with 1.9 seconds remaining. Floyd left Iowa State a season later to become director of operations for the Chicago Bulls, then replaced Phil Jackson as coach. He had a 93-225 record in his three-plus seasons at Chicago and one as coach of the Charlotte Hornets.

"I got a taste of it, and I learned a lot,'' Floyd said. "I didn't get an opportunity to really enjoy it, because we didn't win. The losses were one thing I could never get away from. I still find today that the wins don't compensate for the losses.''

Floyd said the NBA experience has changed him as a coach.

"I have more patience now," he said. "I'm more tolerant with officials and players. And I'm getting more in return.''