Will the Euros come after NBA coaches?

[GSH]

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Q&A-w-Olympiacos-Assistant-Coach-Manos-Manouselis-2973/

I haven't seen this posted elsewhere, but it is a very good interview about the recent Josh Childress signing, as well as other players they have pursued, and their thinking about paying big salaries to NBA players. I think it's interesting that they have an assistant coach fielding questions like this. They obviously think they can build a competitive product to the NBA, and are in it for the long haul. And they are clearly willing to throw a lot of money at players they think will add credibility to their league.

There is one thing I think they are overlooking - the coaches. There is no questioning the impact that the coaches (some more than others) have on NBA teams. I wonder how long it will be before one of them throws a lot of money at a big name NBA coach? I can see Phil Jackson living in Greece for a few years. What do the rest of you think?

Would they hire an American coach for a Euro team?
Would the players and/or fans over there embrace or reject the idea?
Would a coach with NBA experience make a Euro team better?
Would the differences in the game (FIBA rules) frustrate the hell out of an NBA coach? Or could one even be effective given the different style of play?

[Slomo]

I think it would be very good for European basketball. My personal opinion is that Euro coaches are very good at developing players and fundamentals, NBA coaches are better when it comes to Os and Xs. If the right combo of NBA/Euro could be put together in any team, I think it would have a serious impact on the team's results.

I've heard about methods being different and about stuff that one or the other side doesn't do, but I think it's nothing that two smart coaches couldn't overcome. It would be an experiment I for one would follow very closely.

[whottt]

Hi slomo. Did you hear that I am retiring as a poster?

Please don't try and stop me.

G'bye.

[stéphane]

Hmmm honestly I'm not that impressed by US coaching...
Pop is the perfect example of a euro coach style.

[Russ]

Let's see, America has the most talent but can't win internationally.

How does that counsel for them hiring our coaches?

[Bartleby]

Good question. I'm surprised they didn't go after D'Antoni, especially given the fact that he played in Italy.

[jag]

http://www.draftexpress.com/gallery/General/1217303104.jpg

What the heck kind of a handshake/handgrip is going on here?


As far as the interview goes, I think manouselis is delusional if he thinks players believe his pitch about the Euroleague having similar levels of competition.

Guys are going over there right now for the two year Euro-vacation and the Euro.

[Sissiborgo]

Euro coaches ar very good they train players much better nab coaches my opinion!...

[Sissiborgo]

http://www.draftexpress.com/gallery/General/1217303104.jpg

What the heck kind of a handshake/handgrip is going on here?

HAHA!

[jag]

Hmmm honestly I'm not that impressed by US coaching...
Pop is the perfect example of a euro coach style.

I think pop's a great coach...but i don't at all see how you think he's a Euro-style coach.

For the most part, he runs a slow pace, half-court offense that thrives in low scoring games. Defensively maybe, with the physicality and hustle, but offensively it's nothing like the European pace.

D'Antoni is more along the lines of what the Euroleague is about, and he's the Anti-pop.

[GSH]

Let's see, America has the most talent but can't win internationally.

How does that counsel for them hiring our coaches?

If you really believe that, there's not much point in trying to talk you out of it. We'll see what the Olympics brings in a few weeks.

I'll say this - FIBA rules make it a different game (*). And sometimes a very peculiar game. After Greece beat the US team 101-95 in the '06 Worlds, Greece went on to lose their next game to Spain by a score of 70-47. And Spain was playing without Pao Gasol. The guys who lost that game to Greece would have been skinned alive by their NBA coaches for the effort they put out that day.

From what I read on Euro websites and blogs, it seems like there is a widespread perception that their players are just as good, and that their coaches are much better. Some of that, I am convinced, is because their "great" players have come over here and played like stiffs - and that must be the coaches' fault. I know that there his a huge belief that Spanoulis' only problem in the NBA was Jeff VanGundy. I think that's an image their league wants to keep intact, too, which is the reason I asked the question. I really doubt that the owners, players, or fans would accept an American coaching one of their teams.
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(*) For those that don't know, the FIBA court is shorter, which means less running over the course of a game. The 3-point line is closer, and you can imagine what that would mean in the NBA. They also call fouls a lot differently, which doesn't favor big men in the paint.

In the EuroLeagues, very few players log more than 28 minutes per game. In fact, the Euro player with the most minutes this season only averaged 33.9 mpg. That would have put him in 68th place in the NBA - in other words, every team in the NBA had 2 players with more minutes per game than any player in the EuroLeagues. One of the reasons the pace is different is because those guys don't have to keep it up for nearly as long. (There were only 22 Euro players over 30 mpg, and 16 of them were, not coincidentally, American.)

When people start trying to adjust Euro numbers to the NBA, because their games are only 40 minutes long, they always fail to take into account the fact that those guys don't have to pace themselves. They also fail to recognize that the shooting percentages are higher in part because of the short 3-point circle.

I try to picture Tim Duncan playing a 40-game season, and only putting in 30 minutes per night. My God, what a monster he would have been over there. And I guess he could have played until he was about 50. The Euro fans have no idea....

[Slomo]

Good question. I'm surprised they didn't go after D'Antoni, especially given the fact that he played in Italy.

We had D'Asani over here long enough so that everybody knows how much he sucks :lol

Guys don't be homers and look at what good NBA coaches do during games, how they adapt the tactics to the game at hand - we rarely see that in Euro games and even rarely to the extent it's present in the NBA. One of the most common complaints from Euro players is how difficult it is to learn all the sets and plays from the coach's playbook.

OTOH US coaches rarely work on the fundamental skills of their players. It starts in High School but good coaches (and programs) at that level are rare. After that fundamentals are often confounded with athleticism.

[GSH]

We had D'Asani over here long enough so that everybody knows how much he sucks :lol

Guys don't be homers and look at what good NBA coaches do during games, how they adapt the tactics to the game at hand - we rarely see that in Euro games and even rarely to the extent it's present in the NBA. One of the most common complaints from Euro players is how difficult it is to learn all the sets and plays from the coach's playbook.

OTOH US coaches rarely work on the fundamental skills of their players. It starts in High School but good coaches (and programs) at that level are rare. After that fundamentals are often confounded with athleticism.

I don't understand people using that as criticism of American coaches. Maybe, by the time a player is a professional at the top level, the coach shouldn't need to teach fundamentals? (Can you imagine Pop's response to a $Million-per-year professional who didn't know how to play the game?) And I'm pretty sure none of the Euro coaches are able to teach their players the athleticism they need to play in the NBA. Just a thought.

This is a 2006 article about the training/development programs in Russia, Serbia, and Lithuania. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600712_pf.html They are teaching them fundamentals from the time they are young children, and many have professional contracts in their early teens. Why would their EuroLeague coach need to teach them fundamentals?

If EuroLeague coaches really have to spend that much time teaching their players how to play basketball, it doesn't really support the idea that the EuroLeague offers the same level of competition. That sounds like the job our college coaches perform. So maybe NBA coaches wouldn't be a good fit for the Euros.

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

NBA coaches is terrible. Only some good ones like Popovich, Adelman, Jackson this is all that come to mind as good NBA coach. European coaches understand game much more.

Coach like Jeff Van Gundy is consider "great" in NBA and he will be consider horrible in coach in Europe. NBA have better and more players than Euroleague but NBA coaches is much worse than good ones in Europe.