One-on-One with Alan Henderson
When the Cavaliers made their much-acclaimed off-season acquisitions of Donyell Marshall, Larry Hughes and Damon Jones, one name came in under the radar. But that's the way it should have been with Alan Henderson. He is one of the team's leaders in a quiet, intelligent, professional way.
After seeing the ups and the downs of the NBA in Atlanta and Dallas, the 10-year veteran brings invaluable experience to the Cavaliers. This season, he's been one of Mike Brown's first big men off the bench on most nights and gives Cleveland the interior toughness and versatility that they'll need to get through the rough-and-tumble Eastern Conference.
Henderson took a minute to sit down with Cavs.com to talk about his role on the Cavaliers, his days with Bobby Knight and his plans for the Super Bowl. Check it out ...
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Cavs.com: Your role on the court is pretty obvious. What's your role off the court and in the locker room?
Alan Henderson: I think I try to set a good example for the guys. Try to come to practice and work hard every day. Try to be professional and be ready to play because I’ve played anywhere from one minute to 20 minutes in a game, so you just never know.
I just try to be a good professional and stay as positive as I can with everybody. We have a good time as a group. We have some good card games on the plane. Everyone’s pretty good natured and likes to joke a lot. And usually I’ll do something to make the guys laugh – even if it’s unintentional. (Which it is most of the time.)
But everybody enjoys each other, so it’s been fun.
Cavs.com: How is the Cavaliers' chemistry compared to other teams you've played with?
Henderson: It’s good chemistry. Off the court it’s really good chemistry. I think on court, the more we play together, it’ll get better and better. Just from practicing, playing and knowing each other’s tendencies even better. I think that everyone likes each other and everyone’s just trying to win ballgames.
We’re a bunch of veterans. It’s not like a situation where we have a lot of free agents who are worried about other things. Everyone in that locker room is worried about getting wins. And that’s when you have team success.
Cavs.com: What made you choose Cleveland as your destination as a free agent?
Henderson: I think everybody in the league took note of the moves the Cavaliers made. The owners were moving the team in a positive direction and they made a lot of changes that showed that they were committed to winning. I’ve really enjoyed it so far.
Cavs.com: How did you get the nickname "Hendu" and when did people start calling you that?
Henderson: People have been calling me “Hendu” since high school. It just came about – I don’t even know who the first person who called me that was. They just started calling me that. In high school, they’d show highlights from the game and the announcer would say “Hendu, this or that” and it just stuck. Everywhere I’ve been they’ve called me that.
Cavs.com: Do you have a good Bobby Knight story?
Henderson: I have a lot of good Bobby Knight stories. I loved playing for Coach Knight. We got along really well. We still talk. Actually, I think it’s my turn to call him. He left me a message, I left him a message. We’re kind of in the middle of phone tag, so we still keep in touch. I think that’s my favorite thing, where he’ll just reach out to you out of the blue and give you a call to say hello or offer some encouragement or just see how you’re doing.
I got to see his team play when Texas Tech played in Dallas last year (against Ohio State) and I got to hang out with him the night before and get some dinner. It was a great time. I have a lot of stories.
But mostly I appreciate what he did and how he does what he does and at the heart of what he does, he’s really trying to help all the kids that come through his program to be better people and get their degrees. So, I’m a big fan.
Cavs.com: So he's not the taskmaster he's portrayed as on TV?
Henderson: I’d be surprised if he’s that much more different than any big program college coach. They all go hard. They all have tempers. Sometimes Coach Knight gets caught more on TV than others, but coaches are intense, especially at your bigger programs, so some of it is that he just gets caught on camera.
Cavs.com: You're a huge Indianopolis Colts fan. Are they going to the Super Bowl?
Henderson: I sure hope so. I’ve been rooting for them since they came to Indianapolis. We’ve been close before. We were really close back in 1995. And these past few years, we’ve had trouble getting past New England. I’m going to be positive here: I will be in Detroit to watch the Colts win the Super Bowl.
Cavs.com: You played high school and college ball in Indiana. What is the phenomenon with hoops in Indiana?
Henderson: It’s just part of the culture. It’s hard to explain if you didn’t grow up there. We played in front of sellouts every night. Many times, they’d move the game to Hinkle Fieldhouse, where Butler University plays, for big games to accommodate the fans.
For our high school championship game, we had 40,000 people in the dome. When I was coming up, there were no classes of teams. The movie “Hoosiers” had just come out. And actually, I went to a small school. We ended up losing the championship to a bigger school.
Cavs.com: Who's the best card player on the team?
Henderson: I think I’m the best card player on the team. I got off to a slow start but I’ve been hot as of late. We play boure (boo-ray). It’s the official card game of the NBA.
Link
When the Cavaliers made their much-acclaimed off-season acquisitions of Donyell Marshall, Larry Hughes and Damon Jones, one name came in under the radar. But that's the way it should have been with Alan Henderson. He is one of the team's leaders in a quiet, intelligent, professional way.
After seeing the ups and the downs of the NBA in Atlanta and Dallas, the 10-year veteran brings invaluable experience to the Cavaliers. This season, he's been one of Mike Brown's first big men off the bench on most nights and gives Cleveland the interior toughness and versatility that they'll need to get through the rough-and-tumble Eastern Conference.
Henderson took a minute to sit down with Cavs.com to talk about his role on the Cavaliers, his days with Bobby Knight and his plans for the Super Bowl. Check it out ...
---------------------------------------------------------------
Cavs.com: Your role on the court is pretty obvious. What's your role off the court and in the locker room?
Alan Henderson: I think I try to set a good example for the guys. Try to come to practice and work hard every day. Try to be professional and be ready to play because I’ve played anywhere from one minute to 20 minutes in a game, so you just never know.
I just try to be a good professional and stay as positive as I can with everybody. We have a good time as a group. We have some good card games on the plane. Everyone’s pretty good natured and likes to joke a lot. And usually I’ll do something to make the guys laugh – even if it’s unintentional. (Which it is most of the time.)
But everybody enjoys each other, so it’s been fun.
Cavs.com: How is the Cavaliers' chemistry compared to other teams you've played with?
Henderson: It’s good chemistry. Off the court it’s really good chemistry. I think on court, the more we play together, it’ll get better and better. Just from practicing, playing and knowing each other’s tendencies even better. I think that everyone likes each other and everyone’s just trying to win ballgames.
We’re a bunch of veterans. It’s not like a situation where we have a lot of free agents who are worried about other things. Everyone in that locker room is worried about getting wins. And that’s when you have team success.
Cavs.com: What made you choose Cleveland as your destination as a free agent?
Henderson: I think everybody in the league took note of the moves the Cavaliers made. The owners were moving the team in a positive direction and they made a lot of changes that showed that they were committed to winning. I’ve really enjoyed it so far.
Cavs.com: How did you get the nickname "Hendu" and when did people start calling you that?
Henderson: People have been calling me “Hendu” since high school. It just came about – I don’t even know who the first person who called me that was. They just started calling me that. In high school, they’d show highlights from the game and the announcer would say “Hendu, this or that” and it just stuck. Everywhere I’ve been they’ve called me that.
Cavs.com: Do you have a good Bobby Knight story?
Henderson: I have a lot of good Bobby Knight stories. I loved playing for Coach Knight. We got along really well. We still talk. Actually, I think it’s my turn to call him. He left me a message, I left him a message. We’re kind of in the middle of phone tag, so we still keep in touch. I think that’s my favorite thing, where he’ll just reach out to you out of the blue and give you a call to say hello or offer some encouragement or just see how you’re doing.
I got to see his team play when Texas Tech played in Dallas last year (against Ohio State) and I got to hang out with him the night before and get some dinner. It was a great time. I have a lot of stories.
But mostly I appreciate what he did and how he does what he does and at the heart of what he does, he’s really trying to help all the kids that come through his program to be better people and get their degrees. So, I’m a big fan.
Cavs.com: So he's not the taskmaster he's portrayed as on TV?
Henderson: I’d be surprised if he’s that much more different than any big program college coach. They all go hard. They all have tempers. Sometimes Coach Knight gets caught more on TV than others, but coaches are intense, especially at your bigger programs, so some of it is that he just gets caught on camera.
Cavs.com: You're a huge Indianopolis Colts fan. Are they going to the Super Bowl?
Henderson: I sure hope so. I’ve been rooting for them since they came to Indianapolis. We’ve been close before. We were really close back in 1995. And these past few years, we’ve had trouble getting past New England. I’m going to be positive here: I will be in Detroit to watch the Colts win the Super Bowl.
Cavs.com: You played high school and college ball in Indiana. What is the phenomenon with hoops in Indiana?
Henderson: It’s just part of the culture. It’s hard to explain if you didn’t grow up there. We played in front of sellouts every night. Many times, they’d move the game to Hinkle Fieldhouse, where Butler University plays, for big games to accommodate the fans.
For our high school championship game, we had 40,000 people in the dome. When I was coming up, there were no classes of teams. The movie “Hoosiers” had just come out. And actually, I went to a small school. We ended up losing the championship to a bigger school.
Cavs.com: Who's the best card player on the team?
Henderson: I think I’m the best card player on the team. I got off to a slow start but I’ve been hot as of late. We play boure (boo-ray). It’s the official card game of the NBA.
Link
