Dee || Fen assist MAGAZINE tay eee i Bulag aaa Su mi) RUS ae y 3 Ua Sy Ley (ee | Sead ce oer ie es iF atsi fh. ddan \ hertele | BBBE | SP*rtive aS c_ carrti | cslst | Qe Ga CONNOR Garep Sports gata | cf | (65) Ee El sondkens [LIMONTA! MiKASA BLEU NAUTRONIC Penary | PHILIPS pi | = | nCtaKrs FBR gts MORNE sianuany 2008 IS APUBLICATION OF FIBA, 18-1901 PBA Technical Commission Insematanal Bosetbal Fesraion BI Avenue Laus Casa nN York, USA. CHANG ConinvGeneve Switzerland Tel 2-545 00, ax tf 60083 tivation cam/ e-mail ifoba om McouronaTON WT igor 578M Co tare. a PRRTIER WABC Word Assocation of Basketball Coaches Dusan Whawe President FEBRUARY 2008, O1g2——Startof Souh Am ue For Men APRIL 2008 (5-07.08 NCAA Final Four for Mon in San Arona, USA, NOAA Final Four for Woman 2° Estrin Chie Tapa, USA Giorgio Gandos 15-7208 Millay Work a. Charinsis or Mn in San Antoni, USA 15-0208 Etoile Carell Edtore, a tr USA V. Saliceto 22/E, 40013 Castel Maggiore 19-2604 Ohympic Test Event for (BO) ay te ssn Wore Teams ine Fax ia05 8815 ina Erma sss ateli net 1 Catal Boadin Prine nay oman thn apg 207 y BA ing, PR. of Chin ‘The magazine is published 6 times per year, raw for the Olympic Basktal ouramers in FIBA, Ctl store ad the Eaton Bein, Cina fe net response forthe opinions expressed inthe artes. Allights reserved The Natanal Federation and ther afte can reproguee any pat or llthe magaine for thet internal use tnt sel any parts allo the Iragazne to an extemal publisher thatthe witten permission of FIBA, UNE 2008 03-1505 FIBA Olyme Taurnamert for Women in city TD uy 2008, 14-2007 FIBA Oympic Qvaltying Tourament fr Man in ily TED Diamond Ball Tourament for Men and Worn in cy TD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Gaetone Marches, itee Melani, Corrado fe Bebis, Lisa Cavalli, Gerald Couzens fand Raffaele. 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SWIFT: CRBOITZBXXX Payment with credit card connecting at the website www.shop.cantell.net Pl, linthsubsrton fmt youcan ino acon, and sen cling eit BY MAIL: Canali tre Via Slices, /E HOTS Castel Maggiore (Bo) aly BY FAX: +439 051 679016 FOR INFORMATION: +439 051 622896 {trom $ am to pn Cental European Tine) Dus Dee ens pet GLC SScuChQUstl a) ay COACHES FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL Player Development by Mike Procopio OFFENSE Russia's Offensive System by David Blatt Coaches Comments The Offense of the Korean Women's National Team by Yoo Soo-Jong DEFENSE Dofensive Philosophy by Doc Sadler HOOP MARKET DVDs from the Tennessee University by Raffaele Imbrogno Issues related to the Officiating Relationships by Alan Richardson Right or Wrong? The Orlando Magic Post-Game Survey FSB 2007: a new Success for the FIBA Study Centre Village DOCTORS, CONDITIONING COACHES AND TRAINERS TRAINERS Conditioning for the Game of Basketball by Claire Dallison NEWS ‘ONE-ON-ONE. Guimaraes’ Vision for Angolan Basketball Harrower can’t wait for Beijing PLANET BASKETBALL The World in Brief ‘OFF-THE-COURT The Odd - The Funny - The Unusual ee eee DECEMBER 2007 (05-1512 South Fast Asan Games in Bangick, Thaland O32 FIBASecratary Generals Meeting in Chicago, USA Years au 18-0812 FIBA ental Board Meeting Chicago, USA 22.12 FB Alrica Champions Cop forMon in Angola 8 v 34 35 2 44 FIBA RSSIST MAGAZINE | 29 2007 PAGE 3PLAYER DEVELOPMENT Mike Procopio serves as ATT.A.CK.'s top basketball skill clinician, Some of ATTACK. Athi clients include Dwyane Wade (Miami Hea), Michael Finley {San Antonio Spurs), Eddy Curry (New York Knicks), Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia rs), Juwan Howard (Minnesota Timberwolves), Channing Frye (New York ray Knicks), Larry Hughes (Cleveland Cavaliers), and Quentin Richardson (New York Knicks) President of ATTACK. Athletics is Tim byMike Prcorio Grover, trainer to some NBA greats as Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and Hakeem Olajuwon, | have been very fortunate to learn basketball from some of the smartest basketball people. Without them I wouldn't be teaching basket- ball at the level in wiich | am doing today. | ‘would like to thank Tim Grover, Dave Hopla, Herb Livsey, Leo Papile, Buddy Oniel, George Raveling, Danny Ainge, Tates Locke, Dave Severns, and Mike Mohler. In player development the number one asset that you can have is communication with your players. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge you posses or how good your content is If you can't get your point across then you are short changing your players. Make sure you are precise and to the point of what you want them to do on the basketball court, Players want to learn and get better, but you have to understand that their know!- edge of the game may not be as good as yours is. You must be detailed and to the Point, Nobody cares that you have all of these impressive basketball vocabulary and termi- nology. Allthat mattersis atthe end of the day. can you get your point across to the players that you are trying to teach, There are count- less coaches that limit their players develop- ment because of lack of communication, you don't have to put on a coaches clinic be sim- ple with your thoughts and very short. Before you take the court with your players, first make a decision on wiat position do you ‘want to mold that player into. Once you make the decision, mold your workout around the skill sets in that position. Here isa lst of skill sots in each position. PAGE 04 | 29 2007 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE.Point Guard 'Y. Spat up ump shots rom 80,5 and §80 m (05,17, and 19 feet, YY. One dribble jump shots rom the top, wings and comers. ‘Y Two dribble pul ups from the side pick- and-rll and high pick-and-tll YY Coming of screens. Transition pul ups trom half court YY Drivas tothe baskst and floaters Shooting Guard "Y Spot up jumpshot from 4.50, 5 and 550 m (15, 17, and 19 feet) Y One dribble jump shots from the top, wings, and comers ‘Y Two dribble pull ups from the wing to cor- ner and wing to elbow, YY Creating space with jabs while facing the basket and going away from the basket Y Stop backs, Y Post ups. Y Coming off screens. ‘Small Forwards Y Spot up jumpshot from 4,50, § and 5,50 m (15, 17, and 19 fest ‘Y One dribble ump shots from the top, wings, and comers, ‘Two dribble pull ups from the wing to cor- ner and wing to elbow, Creating space with jabs, while facing the basket and going away from the basket, Stop backs. Post ups. Coming aff screens. Side pick-and-roll High pick-and-oll v v v v v v v Post Players "Y Spot ups from 4,50 m - 15 feet (elbows, short corner) ‘Y Face ups from the block. "Y One dribble hooks with both hands. YY Spin moves. Y Up and unders. ‘Y Two dribble back downs. YY Face up and go the other way. "Stop aways from the post. The goal of your workouts isto improve your players skill level. You want your them to be instructional, but also intense, There should not be alot of standing around and stationary work, Try to make it as close to game situa- tions as possible. Depending on the level and age ofthe player that you are working with itis a younger player under 18, then you may want to spend more time breaking down the basic skils, The workouts and drill work in which | am going to share with you is that of more experienced high school, col: lege, and professional players. Make sure your player is getting a lat of shots and rep: ttions up. Make small points and sugges: ‘ions to them in between drills t's important not ta have too many stoppages, if anything make your suggestions right away so the players understands what you want. If you need to obviously stop the workout as you feel fitto. Players get their rhythm and con: fidence up by getting a lt of repettions up. Players also correct mistakes after finding cout what works and what doesn’. Yes, it helps when coaches instruct them on wat changes they have to make, but in games when they have to perform no one can help ‘thom but themselves. There is only so much we cando as coaches to correct changes in ‘thoir mistakes. At some point they need to sink and swim on their own, Players need ‘coaches to point things out, but, once a cor rection is made, they need to learn from ‘those corrections and move on in their FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE | 29 2007 | PAGE 05Se Le RU e game, There isa latof iterature, videos, and ideas on the art of shooting the basketball. Shooting isn'ta perfect science in the fact that a big percentage of players don't have perfect shooting form. Out of those players there are many players that are consistent ly good shooters even though their shooting form is flawed. In my experience the two ‘mostimportant aspects is their comfort and confidence level. I a player is comfortable and confident in their shat than that is half the battle. Making changes in a player's shotis easior said than done. tis avery time consuming project that you and the player needs to be vety careful as well as patient with. Obviously, the younger the player you are working with the better as far as ‘changing their shot. The older they are the more they wil fight change. SHOOTING In our players the two things that we look at is their jump and their elbow position. We always make sure that our players got off ‘their feet on every shot. We don't want any player at any positon tobe set shooters. We always want them to get off their feet on all shots. The second facetwe realy press nis arc on the bal, We feel as though that elbow position has direct correlation with the shooter's arc. Dave Hopla, in my opinion is the world's best shooting coach. Dave has worked with the likes of Kobe Bryant, Gilbert Arenas, and many other NBA play- ers. The one thing that Dave stresses is always have your elbow an your shooting arm extend as high as your eyebrow on your release, On the follow through you can easily check on this to see the direct correlation between good arc and elbow position. We feel as though shooters that have good arc have a better chance of being a consistent shooter than one that shoots a flat shot with mited are Shooting is a very dicate part of a player's game. You have to be very careful to drastically change a player's shot, We like to make small changes here and there that will increase arc and shot preparation. I've seen examples of coaches drastically tying to change a player's shot, The problem is that itcan impact their confidence in @ negative ‘way that can hinder them for a long time. I think whenever you are trying to improve shooting do it in small doses instead of div- ing in and making all of these big changes. Romombor these two words: confidence, comfort ‘THE WORKOUT ‘The foundation of all workouts regardless of position is the same for us. Obviously the skils that are covered will be different, but are setup for workouts are very similar. We PAGE 06 | 29 2007 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE. want to combine warm-up, spat shooting game situation shots, conditioning, ball handling, and free throws, The following is an outine of our workouts We genuinely have our workouts last in the neighborhood of an hour to an hour and fi- twen minutes. We feel as though this is ‘enough time to have a thorough workout that combines skill work, conditioning, and plenty of shots. “Y Warm up. “Y Spot shooting from 3-4 m (10-12 feet. °Y Conditioning Y Ball handling. YY Free-throws. Y Game shats, ‘Y Conditioning, Y Ball handing. ‘Y Free-throws, "Y Game shats. ‘Y Conditioning "Y Three-point shotsjlong jump shot for big men, Fr ows. General Warm-up Like any good house, the foundation i the key. You want to build up your workouts to simplistic skill work to advanced game shots. You don't want to overwhelm your players with intense hard fils ight off the bat. This can put them in harm way with injuy and als ean affect ther confidence, inallposions you wantto start the workout with lay ups and baby jumpers from 15 m {8-4 feet). Have thom start with a jog into thei lay ups or shots Te ist phase ofthis should last a fow minutes on both sides of the courtrightand left Getthem in a habit of doing drils on both sides of tho court mak- ing them understand the importance of boing consistent from bth sides ofthe oor. ‘Second phase is to start having them shoot the ball from 48 spots onthe cour, comers, wings, and the top. Make the shots 34 m (10-12 feet) spinning the ball out to them selves or you can pass the ball to them, if ‘you have one player have them make 4-5 shots from each spot, i you have mutiple playets give them a group number of shots ‘to make. The speed should increase as the ‘warm up gets older. By the end oftheit they shouldbe 75% or more. Ball Handling Try to give them something that will work ‘thom hard and work on both hands, You can work on stationary ball handing or dribble moves on the move, Generally our ball handling is done stationary to work on hand and finger strongth, We feel as though hand strength and finger strength help our players become better ball han- dlers rather than having them just go ‘through moves, although practice does makes perfect, Whatever you decide to do make sure they are gotting some type of conditioning out of it and are using both hands. Our ball handling sessions last about 46 minutes each. Conditioning Players aren'thuge fans of running with no ball during individual workouts. What we like to do i to puta ballin all conditioning dls, and that could be full court lay-ups, conditioning shooting, or some type of com- petition. Be creative to make them get an intense cardio workout You know your play- ers better than anyone, you know what will work, Free-Throws You should make sure that your players ‘ake as many free-throws as possible. I's a good idea to have them shot free-thraws= right after conditioning because it simulates taking free-throws while they are tired which is the best time to take them, Game Shots Game shots are basically working on skill sets for the player. Game shots are just what it sounds lke shots in which they will take in a ‘gama. | think the simpler the drils the better. | found wher I was younger that | wanted to develop all of these ingenious ils. At the time, | thought | was helping the player, now thinking back on it all| did was feed my own ‘ego as a workout coach. Now that | am older ‘and have more experience dealing with high level college and NBA players is that sim. plcity is the key. Give them a certain number ‘of makes per game shot and move on. | ike to obviously usa both sides ofthe court ifthey shoot 15 shots coming off a pin down screen ‘on, the right side then right after they shoot 15, {90 to the left side and do the same dil, Build ‘confidence on both sides of the floor. Make a listbefore the workoutof 8-10 game shots that you want to work them on and slp them into the diils, Don't do too many at once do a cou: ple and add your conditioning, free throws, te, Build Player Trust, AA player needs to know not only that you know haw to put them through dil, but also are an expert at all subjects of footwork and player development. Your players need to be able to look you in the eye and now that you are in charge and know your stuff. You can’t fool players, they can tellin § seconds if you are just memorizing dil out of a book or just feeding them coaching terms. They need to know that you are in the foxhole with them and are ready fight for them, Remember it's not about you i's about getting your player better! Watch the Game In an average week | watch 15-20 hours of game film a week, I want to watch how play fers get their shots off and why. | also want to know what works and why and also what doesn'twork and whit didn'twork. Don'just ‘think of a move and say “Yeah” that will work, watch players that have similar skil sets that your players have and see what works for them. |have an extensive video library of aver 75 players in the NBA. I want to know them inside and out, sal can answer any questions fon who uses a specific move and wiy it works for them. You have tolove to watch and ‘wach the game, Go Both Sides and Both Hands Like | said, whatever you do to one side ‘always to do another. If you do a drill where your player is taking one dribble right, then repeat the drill going left Ifa post players tak ing a shot over their right shoulder with their left hand then repeat the drill going over their left shoulder using their right hand. Get your players in the habit of going both ways, using bth hands, and shooting on both sides of the floor. Youwant to make them the most precise, skilled, and complete player that you can. Group Workouts If you have @ group of 7-8 players, make sure you are having al the players partic- ipate in the workout and not standing around. We like to put our players through group shooting drills from ditfer- ent parts ofthe floor. We keep the drills moving as woll as tho players moving We never want to just work with one player and leave 5-6 just standing in Watching, nothing gets accomplished. BE CREATIVE! Its a dilemma that | finaly am comfortable with. you have posts and perimetersin the ‘workout startthe workout with many of the same shots that both positions take. Spot up jumpers, one dribble pull ups, and coming off angles and shooting. After you get them ‘warmed up start putting them in situations lke a big man on the wing and a perimeter player on the block The coach has two balls in their hands up top. Have the big sot a screen and have the guard come off the screen and shoot. After the post player set the screen, have them flash to the other block, feed the post and have them finish Keep the workout going and be creative and game specific. Don't make stuff up where they wont do in a game. You can work on feeding the post, pick-and-ral dribble hand- offs, ete, Again creativityis the key, Player development is the key to imprav- ing your players and also your team, Keep your players excited about getting better. Don't have them dread coming to the gym and working out. Create a workout that challenges, instructs, and prepares your players to get better. Remember this isn't about you it's about them, Of course you cant baby your players and making them happy, but you have to find away to keep them focused and challenged in the ‘workout. Get your point across as simplis- tic as you can, No one's impressed at your ability to use big terms and your knowledge they are only impressed with results. Groat playor development coach- es can find away to getit out oftheir play- rs. Don't make the workout too easy, but also don’t make itto difficult. Atthe end of the day you have to got your players bet- ter, if they fight instruction then you have a problem. Player developmentis a much needed skil in all coaches. We all have the fire inside us to win games and be the best game coaches as we can, but with- cout having players that can execute and make the big shot that you diagram then what is the point of having that master offense, FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE | 29 2007 | PAGE 07RUSSIA'S 2005. He is currently the coach of Efes Pilsen Istanbul (Turkey). Blatt began coaching in Israel's Under 22 Men's National Team. He also coached Dynamo St Petersburg Russia) tothe FIBA Europe League championship and won the Coach of the Year award in Russia. Coaching Benetton Treviso, his team won the Italian SuperCup and Championship in 2008 and the Italian Cup in 2007, The first change | had to make when I took cover the coaching of the Russian National Team was not technical, but rather psycho- logical. We had to create a team mentality and awilingness to putthe team’s goals first, tobe ‘matched with the dedication and quality nec essary to be winners, After losing a game against Belgium, | entered the lacker room yelling atthe players, telling them that | under- stood why we were considered losers in qual- ification tournament. | wasn't angry just because of the loss, but I was upset by the poor mental approach of the team, | felt we had lost the game because we had not shown any team pride and mentalty on the court, Having the players all understand the reason for my anger was an important first stop that led us to eventually winning the European Championship, Without a total change in play- cer mentality, self-belief, confidence, and hard work in physical conditioning and al practices sessions, we would never would have achieved that glorious resut. Francesco Cuzzalin, the strength and condi- ‘ioning coach | had worked with during my ‘wo seasons at Benetton Treviso, played a big part too, as woll as my other assistants Evgeni Pashutin and Daniel Gutt Cuzzalin designed a physical conditioning workout program that stressed quality over quantity, which used basketbal/-specific dlls that would translate ta better on-court performance for all of the players. When players had finished their reg- Ular basketball season with their own clubs, ‘they began following Cuzzolin's workouts With the players in shape and ready to play, | ‘thn limited training to sic weeks. In addition, PAGE 08 | 29 2007 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINEall exhibition games, against high level oppo- nents, were scheduled abroad, which alowed me to create a powerful team spirit as well as test the players out oftheir natural habitats. How important isthe psychological aspect? It plays a big role. Andrei Kirilenko, who plays for the Utah Jazz, put himself at the complete disposition of the national team, accepting the psychological, physical, and technical work. He was our vocal leader. Victor Khryapa, who plays for the Chicago Bulls, became our silent leader, doing the right things in the right moment. And then there was J. R. Holden, the American-Russian who plays for CSKA Moscow, another leador, who was able to read what happens in the game and then react. These three leaders played with the PAGE 10 | 29 2007 | FIBA RSSIST MAGAZINEFIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE | 29 2007 | PAGE Iean PAGE 12 | 29 2007 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE winner's mentality, which certainly was not ‘easy in the final against Spain, the pre-tourna- ‘ment favorite that was playing for the champi- fonship against us in front of nearly 15,000 ‘Spanish supporters. From a technical standpoint, the plays wo designed for EuroBasket were simple and based on the technical and physical character- istics ofthe players. On one hand, our offensive terminals were Andre Kirilenko and Victor Khryapa, two athletic, versatile, and tall for- wards who are able to pass, dribble, and shoot. Moreover, they played well together and looked for each other and for the teammates. Morgunov and Savrasenko were two great players for the pick-and-roll We used Holden as both point guard and off-guard and our “go- to player” for individual offensive isolation plays from the perimeter. (MAN-TO-MAN HALF-COURT OFFENSE | will now focus our simple half-court game against man-to-man defense, In all of the games, we always tried to maintain perfect spacing among the players. | consider this to be the foundation of a good offense. We start the set with two big men, 4 and 5, on tho elbow of tho frae-throw line, a guard, 2, a small forward, 3, atthe half court corners, and ‘a point-guard, 1, in the central part of the court. 1 passes to 4 or to5) and then goes tothe wing (diagr 1). As just gets the bal, screens for 4, and then rolls tothe basket, while 3 comes up ‘and goes tothe wing. 4dribbles tothe right and has two options: passing to 5, who rolled to the basket alter the screen, or passing to 3 (diag 2). n tis play, with 4 and 5 onthe elbows and in the comer, 3 aways sets himsof near the baseline 4 screens for 3, who comes up and receives the bal from 1. At the same time, 5 sereons for 1, just after the pass from 1 to 3.1 goes to the wing spot (age 3) ‘An option: witha direct pass from 1 to 4 and thon with the folowing screen ofS for 1, who 408s tothe wing spot diagr 4), 3 can pass to4, Who has cutin the lane, or 4 is overplayed,3 receives a screen from 5 and dribbles in the ‘opposite direction ofthe screen (diagr 8. 3.ean shoot or pass to 5, who, just after the sere0n, ols tothe basket He can also pass to 4 Idiagr. 6). 14 cannot shoot, he passes to 5, who kopthis position under the basket (éiag. 7} Again, starting from the set mentioned before (with two players in the corners and two big men on the elbows of the free-throw lane, ator the pass of 1 to one ofthe big men, 5, in this example, 1 cutsin the lane and sts himself near the baseline (diagr 8). 3 begins the cut along the baseline taking advantage of T's screen, whilo 4 gets open and receives tha ball from 5,If3is free, he can receive the ball from 4 (age). Just aftr 3's cut goes screening for 1 (soreen-the-screener action) and then {go0s to tho low-post. 3 does not got the ball, ie goes out to the comer and 2 goes to the wing spat. 4 passes to 1 (diagr 10) F1 cannot shoot, 4 and 5 begin the action of two sereens ‘onthe elbow. 4begins moving to screen I, and Sto screen (diagr. 1) 1 dribles tothe three-second lane, § screens for 4, and then rolls tothe basket, while 4 goes tothe wing. 1 can pass to or 4 (age. 12).COACHES COMMENTS We asked to some of the top European national and club coaches from different countries for their opinions about rule changes, and if they had suggestions they would like to se Aito Garcia Reneses was head coach and general manager of Barcelona (Spain) for many years. His teams won three Division | championships, three Spanish Cups, one Cup of King, two Cups of Europe, and two Korac Cups, ‘Since 2003, he has been head coach of Badalona, the Division | Spanish team. 1. Tdon't think it’s necessary, Teams don’t have problems with the three- second lane. 2. am against moving the line. The ‘most important aspect of the three-point line is that it opens the defense so that offensive players can drive to the basket, and it gives centers enough room to play. I yau move the line, there will be fewer players able to shoot from that distance, so the defense will jam in the lane, and allthe play will suffer. No, itis notimportant, We have the rules and | think they are certainly adequate. There is no need for change, but we must simply apply the rules we have. Thisis very important. That said | think t would be good to get rid ofthe travelling violation for the player that falls on the ground while recovering a loose bal, Dirk Bauermann, coach of Bambi the division | German team, winner of the 2007 title, was formerly an assis- tant coach at Fresno State University. He then was the head coach of Bayer Leverkusen, winning six German titles and three German Cups. He also from 1994 to 1888. In addition, Bauer mann also coached Sunair Ostende (Belgium) and Apollon Patras (Greece) He is now the head coach ofthe Ger- man Men's National team, which won the silver medal at the FIBA 2005 EuroBasket 1. No. | would not change the lano, but Im in favor af having the same three-second lane everywhere in the world. For me, it doos not matter fitis a squared ora trapezoid lane. No, basketball is game played around the world and rules have tobe the same at both professional and youth basketball lovel. The NBA is a different case. | think that the three-point ling is good where we have itright now. 3. Not really. Our rules are too complicated. Rules have to be simple. The rules we have rightrnow are fine implemented. Here are th answers to these four questions. 4. Ithinkwe are going inthe right direction for European and FIBA, basketball around the world. Perhaps, the courts should be wider and longer, because players are stronger and more ath: lotic. Making the courts bigger might be a good thing David Blatt won the gold medal at the FIBA EuroBasket2007 withthe Russian Men's national team, which he has ‘coached since 2005, He is currently the coach of Efes Pilsen Istanbul (Turkey). Blatt began coaching in Israel as the assistant coach of Galil Elyon (Israel). He eventually became head coach and was voted Coach of the Year, He was also head coach of Israel's Under 22, Men's national Team. He also coached Dynamo St Petersburg (Russia), win- ning the FIBA Europe League championship and the Coach of the Year award in Russia, While coaching Benetton Treviso (Italy), he won the Italian Super Cup and Championship in 2006, andthe Italian ‘Cup in 2007. 1. Yes, ike the squared lane with the 90-dagree angles. 2. No, | would not lke the three-point line at the same distance ‘as the NBA. Ithink the three-point ine should be at a distance between the NBA and the one we use, | amin favor. Ithink a player should have control ofthe game 4, Ithink extra fouls should be awarded in case of overtime, the unsportsmanlike flagrant fouls calls should be re-evaluated, and thera shauld be, in case of a blatant flagrant foul, a penal ty such as direct ejection, In addition, the alternating ball pos: session rule should be reviewed. Ramunas Butautas, coach of the ASK Riga (Latvia), is also coach of the Lithuanian Men's national team. Coaching the Lithuanian Junior nation- al team, he won the FIBA U21 World Championship in 2008. 1. No. lassume that if the throe-soc: cond zone would become larger, so the ball will be played further from the bas ket We don'tneed tis. 2. Yes. There are probably too many tall players (2,10 or 2,15 cm/6-11 or 7: 2), who prefer taking long distance shots than playing near the basket. If ‘we move the line further away, | think big guys will shoot closer PAGE 13 | 29 2007 |FIBR ASSIST MAGAZINECe arn ‘tothe basket and then shooters will be truly real shooters, 3. No. Isee it in NBA and I don't lke it. | think it must remain the coaches’ job to decide when and if to call a time-out. Other- wise, if you managed+to create pressure on the player with the ball, he always can escape the trap or a difficult situation by calling time-out, It takes away from the defense and credits the offense, and | think right now the balance between these ‘two phases of the game is justine, 4, Iwould lke to have @ more definite definition of whats it really ‘an “unsportsmanlike foul” Too much freedom is given to the referees to decide what kind of foul has actually occurred. ‘Sometimes, you watch two similar situations and see two dif forent calls: ones called unsportsmanlike and the other is not. ‘JEAN-PIERRE DE VINCENZ Jean-Pierre de Vincenzi won a gold medal as head coach of the Junior Men's French national team at the FIBA European Championship in 1992, and a silver medal at the Olympic Games in 2000 with the Men's French national team. He is currently Technical Director of the French Basketball Federation. 1. | should begin the answer with a LS question: Do we want tonarrow the gap botwoen the NBA and FIBA? If wo de cide to do that, we have to change several rules, such as the three-point line, This question is strictly linked to the three-point distance. If we change these rules, we must have a professional league like the NBA for show and business. In the future, we could have a professional Euroleague with teams playing only inthis league. Like in the US. whore they have different rules for NBA basketball and NCAA basketball, there should be rules for high-level profes sional basketball and rules for the rest ofthe teams in Europe, 2. To have players shooting from that distance, they have to be very athletic, with sound fundamentals 3. No, it's the coaches’ responsibilty. It's @ coach who must de- cide when to call a time out, not a player. A player could call it sohe won'tlose the ballin a tight defensive situation, 4. No, Ido not have any particular suggestions. ‘JOSE VICENTE HERNANDEZ José Vicente “Pepu” Hernandez started his head coaching career in 1994 with Estudiantes Madrid hea (Spain), leading Estudiantes to one final of the spanish championship. He won the Cup of King tit! 2000. In 2005, Hernandez became head coach of the Spanish Men's national team, winning the gold medal at 2006 the FIBA World Championship in Japan, and the silver medal at the FIBA EuroBasket 2007 in Spain 1. No, because | think the trapezoid three-second lane is fine for this type of basketball 2. Notnaw. Maybe it could be convenient for improving the level of ‘the game to move the three-point line, but in a progressive way, nat immediately. Atthe same time, we should start to consider it itcould be a good move ta increase the size ofthe court. FIBA RSSIST MAGRZINE | 29 2007 | PAGE 14 3, Lam in favor. | would like to see extra time-outs, with some of them shorter, such as 30-second time-outs, for example. 4, No special suggestions, but | am very interesting to listen to the opinions of the other coaches on the rectangular thres- second lane and the new distance for the three-point line DUSAN IvKOviC Dusan Ivkovic, started his coaching career in 1978 with Partizan Bel- grade (Yugoslavia). He then coached Radnicki Belgrade, Sibenka Sibenik, Vojvodina Novi Sad (Yu- goslavia}, Aris Thessaloniki, PAOK Thessaloniki, Panionios Athens, Olympiacos Athens and AEK Athens (Greece), CSKA Moscow and Dy- namo Moscow (Russia). He won one Yugoslavian championship and one Yugoslavian Cup, two Greek Cham- pionships and three Greek Cups, three Russian championships; and one Russian Cup; one Euroleague, one Saporta Cup, two Korac Cups, and one ULEB Cup. He also coached the Yugosla~ vvian national team, winning three gold medals at the FIBA Eu- ropean Championship, a gold medal at the 1990 FIBA World Championship, and two silver medals at the 1988 and 1996 Olympic Games. 1. Like it. The shape of the lane should be changed, simply bo- cause itwill give more space for centers, providing them mare room to play. We lost the play around center position; the lane is now very congested. Changing the shape would also get more spacing on offense because players will not be able to help and recover that easy. The key issue is not height as ad- vantage, but the body shape of players; how much space they occupy, such as Shaquille O'Neal and Sofoklis Schortsianits. Also, during the free-throw, the offensive players have an ad- vantage because of the current shape ofthe lane, It we move the three-point line, the scoring will naturally be lower in the beginning. | think we would see a minimum of 10 points less per game, We would need to change the style of the game (more fastbreaks and points from transition) and for these reasons we would need more athletic players, able to run, Quickness will be one of the mst important elements of the game. Then, the teams will play more zone defense and lot teams shoot as much as they want. However, most teams don’thave enough good shooters from that long range. In Eu- ropean basketball, much more emphasis is placed on defense compared to the NBA, They also have different rules when it comes to the charge interpretation. There is a semicircular line near the basket and this line actually helps the offensive player going to the basket. If we move the line to 7,25 m, what will happen with women and junior basketball? For those groups, the line should not be that far, The NCAA is not going to the 7,25 line, but it has a 6,75 line for men and 6,25 for ‘women, In general, | would like to have one set of rules, Right naw, lam notin favor of moving the three-point ine without deeper analyses and studies that also takes in consideration ‘women and youth basketball playors. Tam not in favor of a change like this. The NCAA and NBA let players call time-out and they do so whenever they get in rou- ble on the court. Players need to find solutions when they are Under pressure and find the best possible option in tough situa- tions. They should nat be allowed to escape with a time-out. 4, Thave no other suggestions.Oktay Mahmuti was the head coach of Etes Pilsen Istanbul (Turkey) from 2000 to-2007. He won two Turkish Cups, four Turkish Division | League titles, and ‘one Turkish President Cup. He is cur rently the head coach of Benetton Tre- viso Italy). 1. No, the lane like we have now in Eu- rope is fine, Itprovides more space and more opportunities to play as a team. 2 Its only a border between what we have now and what they have in the NBA. The games between NBA teams and European teams are getting closer every year, so there should be no differences about the three-point ine No, its coach's job to calla time out. But on the other hand, the NBA and Europe should have the same rules. However, | don't think thatthe NBA has any intention of changing ts rules. ‘When it comes to rules, there can be differences between the rules as they are written on paper compared to the rules as they are interpreted during a game, What | mean is that the impor- tance of the content ofthe rules. Shaw is important, but we don't have to lose the content, Here's an example: there are a lot of spectacular mavies, much mare spectacular than the “The God- father,” but “The Godfather” is stil the classic masterpiece, The ‘example about rules is prety similar We don't have to lose con- tentto gain show. Ettore Messina began his career as a head coach in 1989 with Virtus Bologna (Italy), the team he led to ‘one Italian Championship, one Euro- pean Cup, and one italian Cup. From 41983 to 1587 he coached the Italian national team, winning the silver medal at the 1997 FIBA European Championship and the gold medal at the Mediterranean Games in 1993. He then wont back to Virtus Bologn: winning two more Italian Champi- ‘onships, two Euroleague, and three Htalian Cups. From 2002 to 2005 he coached Benetton Treviso, winning one Italian Championship, three Italian Cups. Since 2008, he has coached CSKA Moscow, winning the Euroleague in his first year, and also two Russian Championships, and two Russian Cups. He was named 2005-06 Euroleague Coach of the Year. 1. Lam in favor, bocause this rule can improve overall play. The role and the technique ofthe post players would change and they would have more impact on a game, 2 | would lke to see this rule applied, but, with the three-point ling set at the 7,25 m, shooters could adapt to this new dis- tanco, Tho quality of the play could got better bacause there will be a balance between the inside and outside play and the games wil notbe decided by the three-point shots. 3. No, | would not like this new rule, because | want clarity on the role ofthe coach and the role ofthe players. The players must know how to solve @ certain technical problem an the court and not solve it by asking for a time-out, For example, if they were in trouble on an out-of-baund play, a player would be able to call atime out. lam notin favor of ths. 4, do not have any particular sug- gestions. Zelimir Obradovic, coach of Panathi- naikos Athens (Greece), has won six Euroleagues (one with Partizan Bel- srade, Yugoslavia, one with Badalona and one with Real Madrid, Spain, and three with Panathinaikos Athens, Greece). He also won one national and ge one Yugoslavian Cup with Partizan, ‘wo Saporta Cup, six Greek tiles, and four Greek Cups. With the Yugoslavian, and then the Serbian, Nation- alteam, he won a silver medal at the 1896 Olympic Games, one gold ‘medal and one bronze atthe FIBA European Championships, and one ‘gold medal atthe FIBA Worid Championships. 1. Laminfavor ofa change lke this because itwillhelp the offense. It will open up the defense, which will then give more space for an organized game, and more options forthe centers. 2. think this would be a bad rule. twill decrease overall scoring and shooting percentage willdecine significantly the rle wentin, all teams would switchto a zone defense. The distance from the bas- ketisabig problem, even forthe best senior ments level players, ts certainly notrealistc for women and junior catogory players. 3. am notin favor of players calling time out Ths sa punishmentfor good defenders. allows the offense to escape from a troubled situation by calling a time-outon the court 4, Tothe maximum possible extent. | would ike to abolish free will or interpretation of rules by referees during the game. Rules have to be clear and interpretations need to be ‘thosame atalltimes. ‘Ales Pipan, coach of Anwil Woclawek Polish Division | team, won one Polish Cup and one Polish Supercup. He has en coach of Slovenian teams of Mati hor, Lasko (one Slovenian Cup), Novo Mesto, and Lubjiana. Since 2003, he is the head coach of the Slovenian Men's nationalteam. 1. | would like a rule ie this because it valimprove basketball at every level 2. Itwould be nice to move the lin. I think the spectators would tke the show, too, In Europe there are many great shooters So think we could move the three-point ine and realy see how they do, 3. lamagainsthaving a player cal atime-outits coach’ job. 4 Idonotthinkthatthe coaches have to change the rues Carlo Recalcati guided Bergamo (italy) from A2 to A1 Division, He then maved to Canta, Reggio Calabria (winning an A2 championship), Am- brosiana Milan, and then back to Bergamo, He won with Varese the Italian championship. He then moved to Fortitudo Bologna, winning the Italian championship again. He has been coaching Montepaschi Siena, inning the 2004 talian championship and the Italian Supercup in 2005. PAGE 15 | 29 2007 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINECe arn ‘Since 2002, he has been the head coach of the Italian National ‘team, winning the bronze medal at the 2003 FIBA EuroBasket, the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, and the gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games. 1. Yes, [think this would be a good change, although | don't have any data to support this. 2. lam absolutely in favor of a change lke this. think the present ‘three-point ine is too close tothe basket, and practically every: body is able to shoot from that distance. The existing three. pointline has distorted the game in Europe, 3, No, | do not like this suggested change because there are too many time outs called already. | think itis fine that the coach calls time-outs from the bench. 4, The unsportsmanlike foul should be better decided. As it now stands, itis totally based on the judgement of the referee. In the same game, you can see different calls on similar un- sportsmanlike situations, Why not get back to the old “inten- tional foul”? Twa free-throws are given if the team is nat on bonus, while giving two free-throws plus the possession of the ball if the team is in bonus. Another rule change | would like to see added is to eliminate the basket if the shooter is called fora charging foul ‘JASMIN REPESA ‘Jasmin Repesa was the head coach of Cibona Zagabria (Croatia), Tofas Bursa (Turkey), and Split (Croatia) before going to Fortitudo Bologna (Italy) in 2002. He won three cham- pionships and two national Cups in Croatia, and two championships, two national Cups, and one Presi- © dents cup in Turkey. With Fortitudo Bologna he won one Italian champi- d lel passes at this point, because it would in- crease opportunities for run-throughs for us, and if we get a deflection on it, we have a (great chance fora lay-up. Once our opponents come across the mid- court line, we can increase the defensive pressure, especially in the corners (diagr. 3) The other big guys can now come up and double-teamthe ball. We especially like to be able to trap in those corner spots since we have the half-courtline as a “back defender and the sideline as aside defender Obviously, when our defensive player comes FIBA RSSIST MAGAZINE | 29 2007 | PRGE 23een up the floor for double-teaming, we are go- ing to be in a situation that is important for, players to recognize (aiagr. 4). We have to have a rotation on the back end from the Iane tothe perimeter We do nat ike having to rotate out that way, but we need to be able to do that a this pont, because othr wise it puts the opponent in a scenario where thoy can burn us with one simple pass, wo call it» habit pass Al ittakes is making the passtothe nextguy, whois closest to the basket and inside the scaring area, hich is where wa do not want the bal, and thon they have an advantage, because we have two payors back where the trap oc curred. Obviously there isa greater chance that we can now give up ether a lay-up, or @ wide-open shot If we can trap correctly and rotate, that forces the oponentto make a parallel pass, and thatis wnat we want, bocause we have a greater chance to pick taff and get aun through for a steal or a deflection. So we have to stop the one pass, but we have to use the rotation from under the basket. Ideally, when a secondary ball-handler comes across mid-cour, we can gethim go- ing too fast before he figures out that he needs to slow down. When he comes, across the mid-court line and picks up the ball, in those two dead spots toward the cor- ners, it becomes an automatic double team because we actually have a “triple team withthe mid-cour in. At this point we have three players guarding the other four opponent players, but the back end offensive player across the court is out of play because the passing angles, are dificult from where the secondary bal handler is throwing from, We stil have to take away the short diagonal pass because itisthe easiest one they can make ifwe trap inthe middle ofthe court between the elbows (basically extended vertically from the lane}, we ar just tying to be realy aggressive and square them up, We are nat ‘trying to force them to a sideline, but we are not trying to give them angles either. We are just trying to square thom up in the middle because then now we are closely guarding and squared up to where they can only go, left or right. Also, if we are within three feet, thon we also have the fve-secand count on as anothortacti Even i we do not end up with a steal from forcing the trap or the pressure, our oppo- nents are far away fromthe basket that the next pass they make is the first pass to try to stint their ofonse.Atthis point, we have increased the long ofthe frst pass to start the offense, so what they will probably have to do now is go more toward mid-court PAGE 24 | 29 2007 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE (away from their basket) tomake ta shorter pass. Now we have their offense starting outside the 3-point line, They are not com fortabl there. Again the promise isto take more time off the clock and start their of fense as faraway trom the basket as poss ble When they do make the first pass to start the offense, we want them to make the catch outside the scoring area. Now we have to pressure and keep him pushed further out than he wants to be. If we do a good job pushing them out, then they start further away from the scoring area. It breaks down thar offense, making thom pass to the wing and dribble more, and even when they finally have to drive, they can only get tothe elbow instead of in middle ofthe lane, because they are start: ing so far out. Thats not as big ofa deal to Us (gating tothe elaow) because we have time to got back to our midino in the lane and close backup defensively. Hour opponents get to the mid-court tine and there is only 225 seconds onthe shot clock, from that point we have about 12-15 seconds that we have to play strong be cause most teams have a sat offensive play that they wil run when they get down to 10 seconds or under, They have to have a set play to run that will get them a shot from a player that they want. Coaches are woried about getting a shot off because itis embar- rassing they donot te primary ball-handler is worried about getting one of because that is their job. As a result, our opponent is speeding up with only 10 seconds lefton the shat lock. Our opponent is scrambling and we are guarding things they do not practice be- cause they are out of their comfort zone as well and under the pressure of the shot clock. It may cause them to do things they do on the playground and apen gyms, trying tamake plays happen, but since they do not have a definite action plan to follow, there is 2 great chance that they will go to 1-on-1 play, They are probably going to be driving at that point and we are going to have all that help in the lane, and we will be set up better tobe able to take more charges. HLF COURT PRESSURE Promise: Once the opponent gots in their half cour (scoring area, we want to pres- sure but at same time we are driving them to the elbow and not giving them “paint touches." This ereates even more pressure onthem to score from further outina shorter amount oftime In their haf court, which we consider the 3- point ine and in, we want to guard from 1-2 steps above the 3-pointine and we want to be sald (diagr 8). The goa is thatwe do not want to give up any points inthe three- secondlane We tak with our players about paint touch- es’ We want 2 or less pain touches fora game (which includes 40 minutes}. This means that we want the basketball going into the thrao-second lane 22 times or less iva game. That total includes dribbling the ball into the lane, passingitn, and offensive rebounds, We ae tying to sea off the lane and make our opponents score outside the paintares, When they catch the bal on the wing, wo are pressuring the ball. We tr to contain,without forcing it to the middle or to the base- line and not allow any penetration. Ifthe ball- handler does drive, he has to drive toward the elbow ofthe lane, the only place that we will al- low an offensive player to dribble We are trying to play hard on the wing, but if they do drive and make a penetrating dribble, it has to go toward the elbow, where we have help side assistance on the elbow and have the rest of the defenders playing inta the midline One thing people may not think aboutis that we are not denying the pass from the wing back to point, Thats not a penetrating pass, so we are going to let that pass occur. However, we will not allow any passes toward the basket, nothing vertical. Everything needs to be played outside the 3-pointline for as long as possible by us ore ating great pressure on the ball-handler, but the other four defenders have to be in the lane or ableto recoverto the lane quicklyif needed. We make specific adjustments dependent on who we are playing. Ifthe opponenthas a great player on the one side, we are still going to guard him and will not sink back tothe lane, but We are not denying that pass to him either un- less itis just a special feature we are having for ‘that player from our specific scouting report. We are not trying to help-and-recover on the players, who do not have the ball. Ifthe player, who starts the offense with the first pass, ‘comes tothe top ofthe key, we do not fool like a defender can deny the point, drop in to help on the ball, and then slide off and run out and re- cover. If we do that, we are asking guys to go ‘wo different directions; they are being asked to run, stop the ball, and run back to stop another guy. Thats asking too much, so we take that situ- ation out of the equation. We do ask that if our guys are not guarding the bal, we want them in ‘the paint PRACTICE DRILLS TO HELP TECHNIQUE We need everyone to be able to apply ball pres- sure with hands up and in a good stance, We do lot of stance drills and react-and-recaver drills to help get it to the point where it’s second nature so that it only comes down to effort When the ball gos up on shot, it needs to b ‘come also a second nature to box out, make contact, pursue the ball with two hands to get the rebound, and then make a quick outlet pass to start the transition. All five guys have to re- bound and remember that we are not on of- fonse until we get the ball Fake and Drop inthis dil, one playeris a defender and anoth- cris on offense (diag). The defensive playor is retreating back, anywhere from 1-2-3 steps, while the offensive player dribbles the ball ‘coming up court. The defender's purpose is to drop, fake forward, and drop again. He can stop, fake, and then come up or any comb nation with the purpose to try to get the of- {ensive player to pick up the dribble, We get throo sets of the defenders faking forward between the free-throw line extended and the mid court. The defender drops three steps, the offensive player comes up 2-3, steps and the defender comes up 1-2 steps before dropping back again. We then do the aril on the other side going back down the floor. As we talked about with our full court dofense, wo are pressuring the opponants’ primary and even secondary ball-handlers. We will guard them, but we will have other primarily big quys come up there so they can ‘rap. We do not ike to trap where the oppo: rent can see us coming because when we play teams with bigger and stranger players, they willbe able to throw it over the top and our first goal is to stop vertical passes. We do not want to allow that pass. We are look- ing to fake at times, making them think we are going to come running up, and getting them out of rhythm to not so they will not, know when we are coming up the floor. Again, the point itto make the opponent use time off the shot clock. Zig Zag ‘We will do zig-zags with two players starting inlane facing the baseline (diagr. 7). Slide out, sprint to middle, and touch hands. We are fo ccusing on fundamental pressure to sideline and then getbackto recover in middle. We do these a lot in preseason, and without basket. balls to emphasize fundamental techniques. ‘We spend time during the whole year in prac: ‘tice doing this dril at least three or four times perweek FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE | 29 2007 | PAGE 25Cee aan Break Open We also do alot of 2-0n-2,3-0n-3, and 4-on-t defensive practice as well because there are many times in a game that not all five players willbe involved inthe play (diag. 8). Inthe 2- on-2 drill the offensive player wil try to get open however they want to, and the ball de- fender will provide pressure. The player cov- ering the ball needs to stay with his man while the second defender comes tothe mid- fino, while knowing whore to recover for his man. The defender on the ball needs to make the offensive player dribble, without giving penetrating passes up the floor. The othr defender has to learn to come back and play a two-man defensive game, covering the mid-line. When they are guarding the ball, we have one rule: "pressure, but contain’ and donot alow a free run tothe sideline, We al- ways teach players to force the ball back to the middle. We do not want any vertical passes because it puts our defense ata dis- advantage and puts us in a situation to have to rotate someone ahead, which we do not want to do. We do not want our oppanents to havo the sideline as that will allow them to geta free runtothe scoring area, SPECIAL DEFENSES ‘When we have a really talented player that we have to defend, we may putin a special wrink- le on defense to tryto eliminate what they are good at. We cannot always plan to stop them completely, bt we have to limit their ability to score in different ways, only giving them one way that they can beat us, 1, Post player. The biggest thing we try to do against a great post player is seal the post (diagr. 3). Against a big post guy, ‘when he has the ball below free throw line, we will guard on the low side or baseline side, We will have help side defense on midline. When the ball goos into the offensive player on the pass, we will automatically double team the low post offensive player (diagr. 10). The post defender has the low side and his rule is that he is not to let the post player go basoline, We do not want any drop- steps. The help-side defender's rule is that when the offensive post guy cat- ches the ball, the defender has to be there on the double team to form the double-toam. Then we have the rotation behind the help-side defender to cover the backside, The point is that we are ‘trying to make sure the low post player cannot score, If he is a great natural scorer but not a great passer, then we would run this special defense because he can not turn to baseline to score and he cannot score to middle, In that soo- PAGE 26 | 29 2007 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE nario, he is most likely to force a throw back out to the original entry spot. You can do the same when the player is also a good passer, but you have to be a litle more careful when he can see the floor wall, and rotate the basketball to the open players for open shots. Point guard the point guard isa pene trate-and-ptch guy, he isthe one setting the tone and tho one thoy run the whole offense through him. Ihe stars the plays and gets the offensive players where they need to be, we wil pick him up after we score and will face-guard him. We will notalow him o touch the ball faco-guar ding him all way down te cour. When he does touch the all, we are vary aware of his poston. there i onthe ball screen, ‘then we will automatically trap it to make him get rid ofthe ball immediately to an offensive player that is a lesser scorer. This is because he is a good offensive player, but really unselfish. So he is not going to force a bad shot and wil pass it By doing this we are taking their bost player out of the play and trying to get one af their other players to set the offense, something they are not comfortable or used to doing. Limiting his touches helps mess up the rhythm of their offense and takes a key offensive player for them out of game Two players, When a team has two great offensive players, our goal is to give each ‘one of them only one option and take away everything else. Ifitis a big guy, we will play between him and the basket, making him shoot directly aver top of our dofonse. If he wants to score 25 points, he has to figure out that's what we wil give him, We will not give him angles, and any dunks or rebounds because af a dou ble box out, He will have to turn around and shoot the ball aver us as the only way to getiit done. The other player is usually a guard and when we are already making the post man go over us, we will take away touches from outside for the guard, We want to limit his offensive touches in the scoring area and make him a driver. If he can really shoot it, we do not give him outside shots butinstead make him come to the lane where we have help. If we cannot guard him straight up or face guard him, we will not worry about the ball but just make it hard for him to catch it. When he does catch it, the only ob will be to take way his 3-point shot and force him to middle, That wil make him drive to the middle where four other defenders are waiting,DVDS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE by RaffasleImbroone Raffaele Imbrogno has been coaching since 1980. He is an Instructor for the Italian National Coaches Committee of the Federation and has been Director of the Italian Ba sketball Federation Study Center, Imbrogno is also the author of several technical basketball publications. Writing these brief notes about technical products for teaching and training basketball players, | have come to realize that most of these items are in English and come from the United States. Personally, | don't believe that all the best basketball teachers/coaches/players live in the U.S. Actually, as we can see by the results of the U.S. na- tional teams, both youth and senior, great and beautiful basket- (EO MueeL ae ball has been played in the other continents, too. In Italy, as well in other top basketball coun- tries, such as Spain, Serbia, and Greece, there are many great basketball teachers. However, in Europe, we don’t produce much in the way of technical material. The few things that are mado are rough, although they have great quality from a technical stand point. Moreover, the DVDs pro. duced in these countries are not accessible to a large num: ber of coaches. The fertility of a movement and its maturity has to be verified by recording its own ideas, creating material for comparison, study, and me mory. As the Beatles once said, we're walking on a “long and winding road” in Europe. And so, | am stil waiting for other countries to catch up to the United States in basket- ball DVD output. In the United States, there is a better culture of sharing different basketball ideas on fundamentals. Most appear now in DVDs, a quick and inexpensive way to improve the basketball knowledge and share basketball concepts and philosophy. | will now focus on many of the DVDs I have received from the U.S. in the past few months. Amang the PAGE 28 | 29 2007 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE TRUS eC er In this section, we introduce the latest books, videos, CDs, and ‘other tools that are primarily aimed at coaches, but certainly useful ee te ee ee Sr i be eeu es DVDs released between August and September 2007, the ones from Bruce Pearl and Jason Shay, two coaches from the University of Tennessee, desorve particular attention. Peatl is the head coach of the University of Tennessee. His, first DVD, made some times ago, is entitled “1-2-1-1 Full Court Pressure.” Championship Productions has now released se- veral new DVDs by Pear! EERE “Quick Scoring Transition eee eer trea Game,” “High Screen Op- tions,” "OB Nuggets,” and “The Encyclopedia of Full Pressure Defense” The first DVD presents Pearl's offensive system philosophy: attack when the defense is weak. Mo- reover, Pearl shows in this 57-minute DVD, the diffe ront drills for building this, offensive approach that brought the Vo- lunteers {the nickname of the players from the University of Tennessee) one of the most prolfc offenses of the NCAA The second DVD is the perfect sequel Pearl presonts and analyzes shooting situations he recommends in the last seconds and at the end of the game. He uses two initial sets: 1-4 and the Box Pearl’ other DVD completes the expla- nation of his up-tempo basketball by presenting his full-court prossure do- fensive system, Jason Shay has been an assistant coach, working with Bruce Pearl for seven years, In the first of his two 40-minute DVDs, "33 Porimetor Play Development Drills & Moves,” Shay pro- sents an interesting drill series for improving movement with the ball. He also reviews some cut moves and the use of screening the ball Inhis second DVD, "18 All-Purpose Post Moves,” he presents low-post moves for the big men. Shay describes how to get, the best position, focusing on proper balance and taking ad- vantage of the defense, POST MOVES