The last time former NBA guard Robert Pack served as a New Orleans assistant coach, he played a prominent role in helping launch the pro careers of Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton. Despite both guards receiving bench splinters for the then-Hornets early in the 2009-10 season, Collison landed on the All-Rookie first team, while Thornton was a second-team pick. Other than Anthony Davis in 2012-13, that’s the last time a New Orleans player has appeared on either NBA All-Rookie squad.
“They weren’t playing much at the start of the year,” Pack, a New Orleans native, remembered of Collison and Thornton. “As a coach, it was about getting those guys to buy in to getting prepared for when their opportunity came – not if. Because it’s going to happen. Things happen in the NBA. Guys get hurt. Chris (Paul) got hurt and Darren had to step in. He was prepared.”
Although the current Pelicans roster does not include any rookies at the moment, Pack is looking forward to working with a cast of players who are primarily in their early- to mid-20s. In between his ’09-10 New Orleans season and his arrival on Alvin Gentry’s staff this month, Pack was an assistant for the Clippers and Oklahoma City, respectively. The former on-ball defensive force, who played in the league from 1991-2004, helped develop young point guards such as Eric Bledsoe and Reggie Jackson.
“The whole roster, regardless of position, you see guys who are talented but still have room to grow and want to get better,” Pack said of the Pelicans, the NBA’s fourth-youngest team in ’14-15. “That’s a big part of the situation here. That’s very important, to have guys who allow you to coach them. They accept it and will take your input. We have a group of guys here who want to get better and are open to adding things to their games, to take them to the next level.”
At 46 years old and looking physically like he still could give an NBA team some minutes, the 6-foot-2 Pack has taken a hands-on approach to working with guards. It was a tactic he began while instructing Collison and Thornton during his NBA coaching debut in the Crescent City.
“It’s very important to get out there on the court with them,” Pack said. “Early in my coaching career, I realized some of these guys need a little resistance, a little challenge (in practice). Not that I’m playing all-out, one-on-one against them, but you’re physically showing them different things.”
Pack, who was a ball-hawking guard during a more physical NBA era, smiled.
“I tell them that when I’m guarding them, we’re playing with 1990s rules,” he said, laughing. “I’m putting my hands on them (and hand-checking). We’re playing by my rules. They always tell me, ‘You would foul out of every game playing like that today.’
“Especially guys like Russell (Westbrook) and Bledsoe, physical guys who thrive off contact, it allows them to practice against me like they’d play in the game. They play with physicality and feel like they got a good workout with me.”
Gentry describes Pack as a rising talent who has carried over his defensive expertise from his playing days into coaching. One of New Orleans’ primary objectives in 2015-16 will be to improve defensively as a team, after finishing 22nd in efficiency last season.
“Robert was a great defensive player in this league, one of the best at his position,” Gentry said. “I think he thoroughly understands the game and the point guard position he’s played. He’s got an understanding of what needs to be done, fighting over screens and things like that. He’s a guy who has a bright, bright future in coaching in this league. I’ve been following him since he was a free agent (as an undrafted rookie) trying to make the league. He’s a guy who I’ve always thought would be a great coach in this league and I’m really happy to have him on our staff.”
Pack believes one of the first steps for a team to become fierce defensively comes from a mental standpoint, making it a priority to develop into a cohesive unit that believes it can prevent opponents from scoring.
“I was a worker,” Pack said, who played 552 career NBA games despite going undrafted out of USC. “The pride I took on the defensive end was big – I didn’t want guys to score on me. I studied the game, and that’s something that can always help any player defensively. When you study and know tendencies, you’re prepared for your opponent, as a team collectively and individually. You have to create that mindset of being prepared. Those are the things I will help these guys with, if it’s lacking. That mindset is something I always had. I took pride in it. It’s the mentality as a group and individually, the mindset that, ‘We’re going to get this done.’ ”