Demopoulos

Dean Demopoulos joined Nate McMillan's staff as a Sonics assistant coach this summer after serving one year as the head coach at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Prior to coaching the Kangaroos, he spent 17 years as an assistant coach under Temple Head Coach John Chaney.

Alongside Chaney, Demopoulos' work helped turn the Owls into a national basketball power. Temple made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 11 consecutive trips to the tournament from 1989-1990 to 1999-2000.

Demopoulos, a native of Philadelphia, may be a rookie amongst the NBA bench veterans like fellow assistants Dwane Casey and Bob Weiss, but he is far from a stranger when it comes to doling out basketball instructions. He brings 25 years of coaching experience to the Sonics staff and has been patrolling basketball sidelines since before the time Sonics Rashard Lewis, Desmond Mason and Vladimir Radmanovic were born.

Q: How has your first NBA training camp gone?

Dean Demopoulos: I couldn't be happier with how everything has been since I arrived here. It's been a great experience so far. The players have been unbelievably focused, and that starts with Gary Payton and goes right on through. Everyone has worked real hard and all the players are very receptive to the teaching. The coaches have really helped me feel comfortable. They've given me responsibility from the beginning and have let me feel my way. They ask for me opinion and they listen.

Q: Do you feel like a rookie since this is your first year as an NBA coach?

DD: In some respects I do, and in other respects I feel very experienced. One luxury we had as college coaches was that after our season was over, we really got a chance to study the NBA game. It's isn't like going to a foreign country. I coached a bunch of future professional players at Temple. Coach Chaney ran a lot of pro-like offenses. I really feel comfortable here. I feel that way because of the staff and players. They've accepted me unconditionally, which gives me the feeling that I can be myself.

Q: What do you try to emphasize to your players the most on defense?

DD: I understand the zones very well, but the type of defense you play isn't as important as how you play it. Every good defense has things that are in common like great ball pressure, great weakside help and commitment to stop dribble penetration -- making sure that the offense beats you by shooting over you and not going through you. You have to do all those things in order to have a good defensive club. Anyone who has a defensive philosophy has to take it personally when scored upon.

Q: What would you say is your specialty as a coach?

DD: I came here having been part of an organization that for 17 years led the nation in the fewest turnovers. So, it's always been instilled in me to coach my players to take care of the ball. When I became a head coach, my team was second to Temple in that category, so that has always been something I have stressed as a coach. You always have to come with that necessary energy while taking care of the detail work. You have to listen to what the players have to say. I am always receptive to gathering information to help me be a better coach. I learned how to coach by watching players do things well and seeing how they did it and then trying to teach those things. We are here to observe players and to be a conduit to help them reach their maximum peak day in and day out.

Q: What influenced you the most to take this job with the Sonics?

DD: This was one of the most unexpected things that has ever happened to me. I had just signed a three-year contract to be a head coach at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. I had no aspirations at that moment to come to the NBA. I was actually pretty ambivalent. I hadn't had a long time to be a head coach, and I wasn't looking forward to going back to being an assistant coach. I really wanted to see those guys get into the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

When I met everybody in the Sonics management and all the coaches, I was really impressed with them as people. People only work well when they have a comfort zone. It's not where you work, it's whom you work with, and that's what makes you good or bad. It's not necessarily winning or losing, but it's how they go about their business every day. This is a people business. You can ‘X' and ‘O' all you want, but they represent human beings and they have strengths and weaknesses. It's been an unbelievable group that I have been surrounded by and that has made the transition much easier than I had thought.

Q: Other than the skill-level difference, how would you contrast the college players you coached with the Sonics players you are now working with?

DD: Most of all, it is the NBA players' ability to work hard for an extended period of time that actually surprises me. It's all basketball for these guys. College players have more juggling to do and the academic aspect makes theirs a 50-50 experience. Sometimes the diversions keep the players' minds somewhere else. It can be more complex coaching college athletes, at least on the surface, but I just got here. I loved coaching in college, and I love the group of guys that I just left.

Q: What are you looking forward to in your first year with the Sonics?

DD: I try to teach my kids that you're put on this earth for one reason, and that is to learn. Therefore, I am looking forward to learning. I have a lot to learn in this league. It's going to be a terrific experience for me. Even though I know a great deal about this game, the NBA is a different game.

Q: Are you prepared for the longer schedule and increased travel in the NBA?

DD: Sure. It's a marathon either way. I've always thought that our work ethic was pretty good regardless of the schedules and traveling. In college, the bus rides were always long, but that is one thing I will actually miss. I had a lot of fun on those bus rides, watching tapes and movies.

Q: How do you like Seattle so far?

DD: Seattle is an unbelievable cosmopolitan city with many diverse people. It is beautiful, but having said that, I love Philadelphia. I'm pretty homesick. But I was also homesick in Kansas City last year, and I don't think that will ever go away. I spent 43 years of my life in Philadelphia, so it's instinctive. I feel comfortable whenever I go back to Philadelphia.