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Barry took pride in his passing abilities as a forward. Nancy Hogue/NBAE/Getty Images |
Barry: "Actually it was a very disappointing game for me, to be honest with you. I missed seven free throws. That's like a nightmare for me. Seven -- seven free throws. I didn't miss seven free throws in months. I'm not sure if we won the game or not [Ed. note: Actually Rick's San Francisco team did win, 130-126], but I do know that the thing that I remember from it is that I missed seven free throws. And that was depressing to me."
Q: Is there a game that stands out in your mind as one of your favorites?
Barry: "There's a number of games that are very important to me. Obviously winning the championship [in 1975] and what we did in every one of those games was just exciting and thrilling and very rewarding. But there are probably two games that stand out in my mind -- the game in Chicago when, and I think I still hold the record if I'm not mistaken, for the most assists ever by a forward. I think I had 19. And I figure that if I had 19 in Chicago, I probably had closer to 25 because they usually weren't very friendly to the opposition. But I'm really proud of that fact because I took great pride in my passing abilities and I loved to create opportunities for my teammates, and so that's a game that stands out as one that's very meaningful to me individually. And then the other one would be in a game when I played against the 76ers, that great team in '67 that won the title and beat us, during the regular season I remember playing against them with Wilt on that team and I was able to have 25 rebounds."
Q: After the split in L.A., who do you think holds the upper hand in this series?
Barry: "Pistons, without question, although the 2-3-2 situation I don't think is conducive for them. I think they'd be better off if it was 2-2-1-1-1 because it's very difficult to beat anybody three times in a row, even if you are on your home court. And so I don't think that plays in their favor. Obviously, had they won the second game, the odds would have been in their favor big time since nobody's ever come back from a 2-0 deficit after losing the first two at home in the history of The Finals to win. But, I still think that they have the upper hand. I think that Game 3 is a critical game for the Pistons. If they don't win this game, and I think that's going to make it very difficult for them to win the series -- not impossible, but very difficult. They're getting on their home court. They played two fine games. They gave a game away, and they know that they gave that game away in Game 2, and they have to block that out of their mind and use that as a learning experience and try to overcome that. I can relate to it because I personally screwed up at the end of the game against Chicago in the Finals of the Western Conference when we won the title in '75 and we were able to overcome that. And you just have to put it behind you and learn from those experiences, but I think if they win Game 3 and get the 2-1 advantage, they'll be in very good shape, except for the fact that they're still going to have to find a win to go back and win another in L.A. because I just don't see them beating the Lakers three times in a row, even though it's here in their building. I could be wrong, but I just don't think the odds are in their favor for that happening."
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Barry poses with the Larry O'Brien Championship trophy. Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images |
Barry: "Well, the hype around it is day and night. It's a different world what's going on now. Look at the backboards and look at all of the wiring and the cameras and the media and the European people who are all over here and the people from Asia, South America. It's astonishing what's happened with the league since the days that we played. Heck, we won the title and we didn't even get on the cover of "Sports Illustrated" because it was such a big upset, but nobody really cared back then. It's just huge right now, NBA TV and all of the exposure that they get. It's a whole different world. The guys make a whole lot more money than back when I played, they get much more recognition for what they accomplish. It's pretty spectacular. It would be nice to be 30 years old again and to be able to be a part of it. I would love to do that, and not just for the money -- I mean, obviously the money would be nice because I'd be making 15 to 20 million a year, which is beyond my comprehension -- but just for the fact of being a part of something that's so global and to get recognition for doing something that you excel at, it's really nice to be recognized and appreciated for what you do. And that's why I think the people today get a little warped perspective of just how good the players were in the olden days because most people didn't hear about it, they didn't see it, and there weren't the ESPN highlights and Fox Sports and everything else that's out there -- ABC and whoever. We were lucky to get on television, the games were delayed, it was amazing what took place back then. So, these guys are so very fortunate in a lot of aspects of it. It's amazing. Now, unfortunately they don't all know how to play the game as well as they should. I've looked at some of the talent out there and I just shake my head in amazement at the physical capabilities that these young men have and yet they'll never be as good as they should be because they really don't understand what to do with this great talent that they have. And that's the sad part about it for me to watch, and that's one of the reason why I really wanted to get in to try coaching because I really think that there's a great need for teaching here to try to let these young men know what they can do to maximize this potential and make the game even greater than what it is. Because as exciting as basketball is today, it could be so much more exciting if they really knew what to do with this talent."
Q: Your son Brent is a free agent. Where do you think he be playing next year? Any teams where you think he would be a good fit?
Barry: "There's a lot of places that he'd be a great fit. He'd be a great fit in San Antonio -- if they had him this year, they wouldn't have lost to the Lakers. They needed somebody who could shoot the three-point shot. He'd be a good player for the Lakers. I'd like to see him go to a team where he could get a four-year deal and make the kind of money that he's deserving to make, but also have a chance to be on a championship team because that's really something very special. I'd like to see him get an opportunity to experience that. And I would say that another possibility would be here in Detroit. I think he could be very helpful to this Detroit basketball team as well. But teams where they have a chance to win, and I would say probably those three teams would be the teams he could be very helpful to. Even Indiana would be another team he could be very helpful to as well. He could help other teams, but they don't have a chance to win."
