Gator Greats Brewer and Green Return To Gainesville, Take A Trip Down Memory Lane
Thursday, August 4, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The two former Gator basketball standouts no longer are around each other daily like when they were roommates and teammates at UF, helping the Gators win back-to-back national titles.
Still, it was easy to see the strong connection between Corey Brewer and Taurean Green on Wednesday afternoon at Brewer's Back2Back Basketball Camp here at The Rock School.
Brewer recently completed his fourth season in the NBA, a journey that started in Minnesota and ended with an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks. Green got married in June – Brewer and former teammates Al Horford and Joakim Noah attended – and is preparing for another season playing professionally in Spain.
GatorZone.com caught up with both players on Wednesday. Here is a question-and-answer session with each, starting with Brewer, who donates proceeds from the camp to the “Corey Brewer Fight Diabetes Fund” at Shands UF.
Q: What makes coming back to Gainesville for this camp special to you?
A: It's a lot of fun coming back to Gainesville. So many memories. I love coming back here and the kids are good. It's great kids and the second year doing it, a lot of kids came back, so hopefully we can just keep it going.
Q: The Gators made their deepest run in the NCAA Tournament since you guys won back-to-back national titles. What did you think about last season's team?
A: I liked that team. I went to the facility [Tuesday], talked to Coach Donovan and got to see the new guys who came in. Bradley Beal is going to be really good. Hopefully this year's team makes a real deep run in the tournament.
Q: You had an interesting season starting in Minnesota, getting traded to New York, and then winning an NBA title with the Mavericks. What was that experience like?
A: My season was a roller coaster. I went from the worst team in the NBA, then going to the great city of New York, to getting waived and getting to go play with the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki and those guys and winning the world title. It was a roller coaster, but it was a good one.
Q: How do you compare winning an NBA title to back-to-back NCAA titles with the Gators?
A: It's two different things, but they are both really special. Any time you win a championship, it's always special. All three of them are great.
Q: How close do you remain with the other '04s – Horford, Noah and Green?
A: We all stay really close. I just talked to Jo. I just talked to Al. Taurean has been here at my camp, so we all try to stay close and make sure we know what each other is doing.
Q: You've now been in the NBA for four years. What kind of advice would you give players like Chandler Parsons and Vernon Macklin, who were drafted recently?
A: I would just tell them that you have to work every day. You have to go in and be a professional. Once you get into the NBA, you have to keep working, because there are so many good players. Anybody can take your spot any day.
Q: How are you approaching the upcoming season with so much uncertainty surrounding the NBA due to the lockout?
A: For me, it's just about staying ready and keep working hard, and when the lockout is over, to come back and be ready to play.
Q: You've been away from Coach Donovan for four years now, but what are some things you carry with you that he taught you?
A: Coach Donovan is great. He was all about us working hard and always working on our games. Anytime I'm in the gym, I think of those individuals I did at Florida to get better.
Q: What did you find out about Dirk Nowitzki that you didn't know before becoming his teammate?
A: Dirk is a great superstar one of those superstars that treats everybody the same. It was real cool when I got there; he just took me in with open arms. He's a good guy.
Q: What do you see your future role with the Mavericks as?
A: I can't wait until next year. I feel like I'm going to have a chance to play, and when you play with a guy like Dirk Nowitzki, there are so many open shots. So many times you get easy buckets.
Q: Mark Cuban talked about giving the players something other than rings after the Mavs won the title. What's the latest with that?
A: We hope we get rings. He was talking about bracelets and five other things. We want rings, so we hope we get rings.
Q: What is your future goal with this camp?
A: I want to keep it going. I feel like coming back to Gainesville and having this camp is going to be important.
Meanwhile, Green enjoyed being back in Gainesville as well and he and Brewer made sure to drive around town and campus to see what has changed.
Here is our Q&A with Green:
Q: What brings you back to town and can you give us an update on your career?
A: I came back here just to help out Corey with the camp and go visit Coach Donovan and the coaching staff and see some of the players. Right now I'm playing in Spain in the Canary Islands and I have one more year on my contract, so I'll be over there for about nine months.
Q: With all the talk about the NBA perhaps not having a season, do you expect to see some familiar faces in Europe next season?
A: Definitely. I've already heard of a lot of people going to Spain and Turkey, so I'm sure I'll come across a lot of guys playing during the season.
Q: Does coming back to UF stir some memories for you?
A: Definitely. I was talking to Corey yesterday just riding around town. I was like, 'Man, there are so many memories here.' It's just fun to be back and fun to talk about old stories when we were here.
Q: How close do you get to stay with the rest of the guys since you spend a lot of the year overseas?
A: We're still close. We talk all the time. We stay in touch as much as possible. During their season, they are always traveling, so it's kind of tough. But we always keep in touch through email or text messaging. We still have that bond. Every time we see other, it's the same old thing, just always clowning.
Q: What is the biggest difference to you about playing in Europe compared to U.S.?
A: I think the different thing is they love to practice over there. You usually practice twice a day, so there's a lot of practicing. But it's a great league and a great experience. The rules are kind of different. The thing that catches me off guard a lot is when the ball is on the rim, you are allowed to swipe it off and it's not goaltending. That's always weird to me.
Q: How many times have you seen the iconic image of you dribbling out the ball after the first national title?
A: I've seen that a bunch of times. I think to myself, 'Dang, I should have done a better dance than that.' It was fun. That was just all emotion. We won.
Q: What kind of keepsakes do you have from the back-to-back titles?
A: I have everybody's jerseys, the rings, and the net. I have little hats, the bags they gave us. I have everything from all those years.
