I used to cover Princeton basketball when I was with The (Newark) Star-Ledger and they were coached by future Hall of Famer, Pete Carril, inventor of the Princeton Offense. I got his phone number and called him. He's 84 now. We talked about Jeremy Lin, the Princeton Offense, and Byron Scott. Carril told me he copied the Princeton Offense from watching two teams: Bill Russell's Celtics, and the (1969-70) Knicks with Bill Bradley.
NATHAN GOTTLIEB: Would you have recruited Lin when you were coaching at Princeton?
PETE CARRIL: Absolutely, no doubt about it. The thing I like about him is he comes to play every night, and he's always happy to be on the floor doing anything he can to help the team win. He's not a superstar, but he's awful damn good. He had so many things to overcome and he did it. It's not easy to make it to the NBA.
NG: What is your opinion of him as an NBA player and as a person?
PC: I've always liked Lin. I actually met him once in California. I was coaching a team in a summer league and we lost three straight to this team from Taiwan. Lin played with them and he was killing us.
NG: Byron Scott said in training camp he was going to run your Princeton Offense with a few changes. Have you seen the Lakers play, and do they run the Princeton?
PC: Yes, I've watched them, and so far I haven't seem them run the Princeton. In today's NBA, people say you're running the Princeton if you make two passes (laughs). If you watch the Spurs, they come close to running it with the way they pass, the way their players move. But they run more than I did at Princeton. The thing I did as a coach with my offense is after I'd seen what my players can and cannot do, then I'd adjust my system to them.
NG: What do you think of Scott as a coach?
PC: Well, he made the Finals twice with the Nets. But the thing with Byron in New Jersey, he had players like Kidd who could run, pass, and move the ball. Byron knows how to do it (uptempo). But when you have ball stoppers you can't do it.
NG: Kobe Bryant is a ball stopper, don't you think?
PC: (laughs) I take the fifth (amendment) on any controversial questions. (laughs)
NG: Some of my Lin friends want to see him sign next year with the Knicks. The Knicks run the Triangle Offense. Would Lin fit in the Triangle?
PC:That's hard to say. He's really good in the open court, so to the extent they'd get him the ball in open court, he'd be fine. It's not a perfect fit for him, but Lin can fit in any system. He's a winning type kid, that's why.
NG: Do you think he'd fit in with San Antonio?
PC: Yes, I do with the way they play.
NG: Anything else you'd like to say, Pete?
PC: If you see Lin, tell him I hope he keeps doing good work.
