Learning from Randy Pfund

Conversing with former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Randy Pfund proved to be a fruitful learning experience. He was recently in town to attend a friend’s wedding and made time to visit the Faith Academy campus and deliver a lecture before an audience that included several PBA coaches at the Meralco Auditorium last Friday.

After the lecture, MVP Sports Foundation executive director Patricia Hizon brought me along to sit with Pfund over lunch. Pfund, 66, shared his insights on a lot of topics. Since he served 13 years as general manager of the Miami Heat, Pfund has the perspective not only of the man calling the shots on the bench but also of the executive making decisions with the big picture in mind from the front office.

Pfund said he’d heard about the PBA from players who’ve come over to see action and his friend Tom Randall. He asked who were the NBA veterans now playing in the PBA and said he was familiar with both Mike Harris of Alaska and Henry Walker of NLEX. Pfund wasn’t surprised that several NBA players who suited up when he was with the Lakers and the Heat had seen action in the PBA, like Billy Thompson, Wes Matthews, Mike McGee and Earl Barron. He said he also knows Mychal Thompson’s brother Andy, now a production executive with the NBA who played for Tanduay back in the 1980s. Mychal, currently a radio commentator, is a long-time NBA veteran whose son Klay is with the Golden State Warriors. Randall is from Illinois like Pfund and has worked over 30 years as a basketball-playing Christian missionary with a focus on the Philippines. Randall even played as a MICAA import in the pre-PBA era.

“I know about your outstanding coaches like Chot Reyes and Tim Cone,” he said. “I’ve interacted with a lot of Filipinos, too, when the Lakers did their summer training and Magic (Johnson) conducted an executives camp in Hawaii. In 2006, coach Pat (Riley) and I went to Saitama, Japan, for the FIBA World Cup. So while it’s my first time in the Philippines, I’ve been exposed to Asians before.”

Pfund said the trend of naturalizing players for a national team is a positive. “I don’t think it’s a racial or ethnic issue, it’s more economic,” he said. “In my opinion, anyone who stays in a country for at least five years should be eligible to play for the national team of that country.” He also said college players should receive remuneration for bringing revenues to their schools. “Education and sports don’t mix,” he said. “If a player or a team brings in revenues to a school, why not be compensated? It’s only fair. The school should share the revenues with the athletes who are responsible for bringing in the income. I like the international model where kids can play at the club level as pros even if they’re enrolled in school. Why deprive an athlete of earning money?”

Pfund said the movement of superstars to join forces for an NBA championship is disturbing. “LeBron James is clearly the best player and has every right to choose his team for a ring because it’s within the rules,” he said. “It’s the same with Kevin Durant. The stars go to teams to win championships and it tips the balance of the league. Michael Jordan would never think of playing for a team other than Chicago during his prime. He’d never leave to go to Detroit. It’s the same with Larry Bird or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Magic.” 

As for learning from losing compared to learning from winning, Pfund said there’s no question players learn a lot more from losing. “When you win, 100 guys will claim they made it happen but when you lose, you analyze what went wrong and figure out what could’ve been done to avoid it,” he said. “In the NBA, you’ll know by the half of the season if you’re in a sinking ship and guys start thinking of jumping out. It’s not fun to work with a team that isn’t competitive and won’t contend. It’s not fun to coach a team with no talent. It’s a challenge to work with a team that has enough talent to contend and the chance to win.”

In his lecture, Pfund gave tips on how to coach and play at a high level. “Value the ball is a large part of success,” he said. “In college, I played uptempo and it was important to always take care of each possession, to go for rebounds and loose balls. Motivation is key. Coach Pat is well-read and watches a lot of movies to get ideas on how to motivate players. On my part, my first movie was in junior high school watching 2001 Space Odyssey.  After the Lakers won the title in 1987, coach Pat guaranteed another title in 1988. That was some kind of motivation for the team and in 1988, we beat Utah, Dallas and Detroit each in seven games. It was the first back-to-back titles in the NBA in 20 years.”

Hard work pays off to win championships, said Pfund. He went through several principles in practice, like taking shots in game situations. “Don’t practice shots that won’t come during a game,” he said. “Practice the quick release, catch and shoot, eyes on the rim, do your best fake and sell yourself as a threat to score. Half the shots should be reloads, practicing realistic moves. Know what you want in offense, going through first, second and third options. Know your best spot on the floor, practice your best move and counter-move.”

As a coach, Pfund said handling failure is crucial. “Don’t let losing overwhelm you,” he said. “Find out why you lost. Was it a lack of effort? Could rest be a solution? Was it lack of mental toughness or execution or finishing or talent matchups?  When there are problems with players, confront the issues with a good talk. You don’t want to break someone’s spirit. Be conscious of what you’re doing. One mistake and it could change your life forever. One slip-up and you could regret it for a long time. Fight off the demons and always stand on the good side.”