FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE FOR basketball enthusiasts everywhere september / october 2009

assist40

ettore messina
lele molin
pecora-kelly
man to man defense
neven spahija
weak side offense
richard stokes The CSKA Moscow
Offensive System:
eight qualities of a great
referee
amanda carlson
the ten nutrition rules
to live
Season 2008-2009

tables of contents

2009-10 FIBA CALENDAR COACHES

2009 FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL

october 2009 Man to Man Defense 4

09 - 18.10 FIBA Africa Championship
for Women in Madagascar
by Tom Pecora and Michael Kelly

november 2009
24.11 Draw for the 2010 FIBA
OFFENSE
World Championship for
Women in Karlovy The CSKA Moskow Offensive System: 16
Vary (CZE)
Season 2008-2009
december 2009
FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE 15.12 Draw for the 2010 FIBA by Ettore Messina and Lele Molin
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july 2010 Drills From Around the World 32

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Republic (Ostrava, Karlovy
acknowledgements Vary and Brno)
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Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | page 3


COACHES - FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL

Man to Man
by Tom Pecora by Michael Kelly

Defense
Tom Pecora will be entering his nineth Day 1 Stance
season as the head coach of the Hofstra On the first day of defense, we intro- At Hofstra, when we talk about de-
Men's Basketball program in 2009-10 duce our "Stance" drill to the team. fense, we begin with our "Stance" drill
and his 16th season at Hofstra overall. One-on-one, man to man defense is the (photo 1 and 2). "Stance" refers to the
He was named the 10th head coach in foundation of our defensive philoso- way that the defensive player positions
Pride history on March 28, 2001 after phy. his body when the offensive player that
spending the previous seven years as We also review the four different ways he is guarding has the ball. When the
an assistant. that we use to defend ball screens. The defensive player is in a "Stance" his
ways that we defend ball screens, and feet are spread apart, slightly more
Michael Kelly, a 2005 graduate of Hav- any screen for that matter, are person- than shoulder width, and his toes are
erford College, is in his fourth season nel driven. pointing towards the offensive player
on the Pride staff after being named as- The four ways that we defend a ball with the ball. The defender’s legs are
sistant men's basketball coach at screen are: bent at the knees, looking as if he is sit-
Hofstra University in June of 2006. t By having the forward hedge ting in a chair. The defender’s back is
for two dribbles beyond the straight. The defender has one hand on
During our pre-season, we introduce point of the screen. the ball and the other hand in the pass-
our defensive philosophy to our players t By going under the ball ing lane.
through a specific 7 – day program that screen. When we say a hand on the ball, the
we call our 7 Days of Defense. We cov- t By going over the ball screen. defender extends his arm so that he is
er our 7 Days of Defense over the t By blitzing the ball screen. an arm’s length a way, with his hand al-
course of the three and a half weeks most touching the ball. We do not want
that precede the first day of practice Finally, on our first day of defense, we our defenders to crowd the offensive
that we are allowed to have a full prac- introduce our "Wack-out" drill, where player because that will lead to a blow-
tice as a team. We will introduce these we teach our players how to sprint by. Blow-by refers to the time when an
concepts to our players twice per week from help defense out to the perimeter offensive player dribbles past the de-
for three weeks and then have one fi- to guard their opponent with the ball. fensive player, and is allowed to pene-
nal review day during the last week of This occurs in games when there are trate into the lane to create a scoring
our pre-season. ball reversals or skip passes. opportunity for himself or a teammate.

photo 1 photo 2

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 D.1

photo 3

If the offensive player has the ball posi- fender has a hand in the passing lane
tioned on his right side of the body, the so that he can look to deflect any pass
defensive player positions his right made by the offensive player.
hand on the ball and his left hand is po- When the offensive player has the ball,
sitioned in the passing lane. If the of- the defensive player mirrors the ball
fensive player has the ball positioned with the appropriate hand. The hand D.2
on his left side of the body, the defen- that he mirrors the ball with depends
sive player positions his left hand on on which side of the body the offensive
the ball and his right hand in the pass- player is holding the ball. The defensive Ball” as he is mirroring the ball (photo
ing lane. We emphasize that the de- player mirrors the ball so that the of- 3). There must be constant ball pres-
fender must have his head and hand on fensive player never feels comfortable sure. When the offensive player begins
the ball. The defender has a hand on while in possession of the ball, and also to dribble the ball in a particular direc-
the ball to challenge the offensive play- to try and get a deflection if the offen- tion, the defender points his foot in the
er if he looks to cross – over or change sive player tries to make a quick pass. direction that he is sliding (photo 4). He
direction with the basketball. The de- The defensive player yells: “Ball, Ball, takes a long first step with his first foot,

photo 4 photo 5

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COACHES - FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL

D.3 D.4 D.5

and a short second step with his second beginning of every practice. The players possession does not end until the defen-
foot (photo 5 and 6), keeping one hand form 3 rows of 4 players each. The coach sive player grabs the rebound or gets a
on the ball and one hand in the passing stands with the basketball in front of the steal, or until the offensive player
lane. If the offensive player changes di- entire team. Each player acts as if he is scores. The coaches keep track of how
rection while dribbling the basketball, defending the coach. The coach acts as many times each defensive player is
the defensive player adjusts by switch- if he is the offensive player, and depend- able to prevent the offensive player from
ing the hand that was on the ball and the ing on the coach’s actions, the players scoring. The defender with the most
hand that was in the passing lane. At the who are the defenders, react appropri- stops by the end of the drill wins. We
same time, the defender yells: “Switch.” ately in the ways that we have described will do this drill frequently at the begin-
The defender then points his other foot above. ning of the season because it helps to
in the direction that he is sliding, and We also practice our individual one-on- condition our players.
takes a long first step with that foot, and one defense with our full court, one-on- They get tired quickly, but at the same
a short second step with his other foot. one, zig zag drill. Each player will have a time, they understand that they are pre-
When the offensive player picks up his partner. They will take turns playing of- paring themselves both physically and
dribble, we teach our players to crowd fense and defense. They switch offense mentally for end of the game situations
the offensive player and to mirror the and defense after every trip. Most of the that will occur during the season. The
basketball with both hands, while yell- time, we will partner up guards with players understand that as the drill goes
ing: “Dead, Dead, Dead.” The defender guards and forwards with forwards. on, it will be harder to get stops because
crowds the offensive player to make it Sometimes, we will
difficult for him to make a pass now that mix it up, and have the
he has used up his dribble, and he yells: guards and forwards
“Dead” to make it hard for the offensive compete against one
player to hear his teammates who might another. The offensive
be trying to come back to help. At this player will dribble
point, the defender on the ball does not back and forth be-
want to foul. Photo 7 shows the defender tween the sideline and
reacting to the offensive player when he the nearest lane line
picks up his dribble. as the defender looks
This drill covers our basic one-on-one to turn the offensive
defensive positioning for when the indi- player. Once they both
vidual offensive player has the basket- reach half court, they
ball. We execute our "Stance" drill at the play one-on-one. The

photo 6 photo 7

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D.6 D.9 D.12

D.7 D.10 D.13

D.8 D.11 D.14

photo 8 photo 9

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COACHES - FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL

their bodies will get tired. This is where

the players will teach themselves not
only what it is like to play defense at the
end of a game, but also how to become
mentally tougher. This drill creates the
game situation of what one-on-one, on-
the-ball defense feels like, especially
when a player becomes fatigued. It is a
drill where our players can really com-
pete against one another and it is also a
drill that exposes a player’s weaknesses.
After we complete our "Stance" drill on D.15 D.17
day 1 of defense, we look to teach our
players the different ways in which we
will defend ball screens. hand on the ball (diagr. 4 and 5). If, when
we go under the ball screen, the ball
Defending ball screens handler decides to shoot an out-cut
We will have the defender of the screen- jump shot directly behind the back of the
er (the forward) hedge for two dribbles screener, then the two defenders switch
beyond the point of the screen (diagr. 2), men, so that the guard is guarding the
if we want to get the ball out of the of- forward and the forward is guarding the
fensive player’s hands, and at the same guard (diagr. 6, 7 and 8). We will go over
time, if we don’t want to get beat by be- a ball screen if we feel that the offensive
ing out-numbered on the pass back to player shoots the ball very well. When
the screener. This is like a soft blitz. The we are going over ball screens, the de-
difference is that when we hedge for D.16 fender of the screener begins by placing
two dribbles, the forward hedging is able his forearm that is closest to the hoop
to recover back to his man quickly (di- on the back of the screener. He fully ex-
agr. 3). We will go under a ball screen if screen, screen.” In an athletic "Stance" tends his other arm straight out while
we feel that the offensive player does and with his arm fully extended, but remaining in an athletic "Stance". This
not shoot the ball as well as he might without losing contact with the screen- time, the defender of the screener (the
drive the ball. When we are going under er, the forward’s job is to slightly hedge forward) begins with his bottom foot di-
ball screens, the forward places his the ball screen, or force the ball-handler rectly behind the screener’s top foot and
forearm that is closest to the hoop on slightly away from the ball screen, so lets the guard know that the screen is
the back of the screener. The forward that he cannot come off cleanly. The coming by yelling: “screen, screen,
fully extends his other arm straight out. guard begins with a hand on the ball and screen.” The guard begins with a hand
He remains in an athletic "Stance". The slides with the offensive player until the on the ball and slides with the offensive
defender of the screener begins with his point of the screen. The guard scrapes player to the point of the screen. The
bottom foot in between the screener’s right underneath the screener. The forward hedges straight out and forces
two feet and lets the guard know that guard then meets the offensive player the ball-handler away from the ball
the screen is coming by yelling: “Screen, on the other side of the screen with a screen. The forward must not open up

photo 10 photo 11

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D.18 D.20 D.22

D.19 D.21 D.23

with his top foot. If the forward opens up the ball screen or if we want to disrupt
with his top foot, the ball handler is able the opposing team’s offense. We begin
to turn the corner before the defensive the same way that we do when we are
guard is able to get back to hand on the going over ball screens. The defender of
ball. The guard scrapes above the the screener (the forward) places his
screener and then below his teammate. forearm that is closest to the hoop on
The guard gets back to hand on the ball the back of the screener. He fully ex-
when he passes under his teammate. tends his other arm straight out while
The forward sprints back to the screen- remaining in an athletic "Stance". The
er once his teammate has passed un- forward begins with his bottom foot di-
derneath (diagr. 9 and 10). We will blitz a rectly behind the screener’s top foot and
D.24
ball screen if we feel that a particular lets the guard know that the screen is
player has been hurting us while using coming by yelling: “Screen, screen,
screen.” The guard begins with a hand
photo 12 on the ball and slides with the offensive
player to the point of the screen. The
forward hedges out as the ball handler
gets to the screen. The guard and the
forward come together to form a trap
around the ball handler (diagr. 11 and
12). As the ball-handler tries to dribble
out of the trap, the guard crowds the ball
handler and makes it difficult for him to
pass back to an open teammate. The
forward and guard continue to look to
trap the ball handler and look to obtain a
deflection out of the trap. The two de-
fensive players involved in the trap are
not looking for a steal. They are looking
for a deflection. We will also teach
"Wack-out"s on day 1. We begin this drill
by splitting up the team so that half of
the team uses one end of the court and
the other half of the team uses the other
half of the court. On each end, one coach
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COACHES - FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL

D.25 D.27 D.29

D.26 D.28 D.30

stands at the top of the key. One defen- neath the rim smacks the floor with both score. The defensive player must stop
sive player stands underneath the rim. hands and then yells: “D-Time!” The the offensive player from scoring and
There are two lines filled with the other coach then throws the ball to the first must then get the rebound (diagr. 13).
players; one line in one corner and the player in one of the two lines. The de- The defensive player must prevent two
other line in the other corner. The play- fensive player reacts by wacking out to different offensive players in a row from
ers in the lines are the offensive players. the offensive player with the ball. The scoring. He remains the defensive play-
The coach has the ball and yells: offensive player can either shoot or er until he accomplishes this goal. If the
"Stance." The defensive player under- drive the basketball. He is trying to first pass from the coach is thrown to

photo 13 photo 14

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D.31 D.35 D.36

Day 2
On the second day of defense, we intro-
duce our slide-run-slide concept, which
becomes part of our "Stance" drill. We
review defending ball screens and our
"Wack-out" drill. We then introduce the
ways that we defend down screens and
flare screens, along with introducing
the proper technique for defending back
cuts.
We teach our players the slide-run-slide
D.32 concept so that they understand how D.37
they are supposed to react when the of-
fensive player is able to advance past
one particular line, then the next pass is
the defensive player. When the ball han-
thrown to the other line. When the de-
dler begins to dribble past the defender
fensive player gets two stops in a row,
(photo 8), the defender must first begin
the coach rotates in a new defensive
to run lower and harder (photo 9). He
player. This drill creates the game situa-
must take his top foot and top arm and
tion of what it feels like to go from help
throw it across his body (photo 10). The
position back to the offensive player that
arm that he throws across his body must
the defender is guarding.
be fully extended and reach low enough
to almost touch the floor. He then ad-
vances by keeping his body low to the
ground. Once the defender recovers, he
returns to his "Stance", with his head D.38
and hand on the ball (photo 11).
When we defend down screens, we be-
gin with the forward as the screener.
The forward yells: “Screen, screen, screen” to let his teammate know that a
screen.” The guard positions himself di- screen is coming. Just like on a down
rectly behind the offensive player that is screen, the guard “gets on the offensive
going to use the screen. We call this player’s numbers” to lock and trail (di-
“getting on the offensive player’s num- agr. 17). Again, the guard cannot lock
D.33
bers” so that we can lock and trail (di- too early or the offensive player will slip
agr. 14). The guard cannot “get on the to the rim. The guard must get back on
offensive player’s numbers” too early, the inside after he clears the screen and
or the offensive player will shape up to then he must load to the ball. The for-
the ball. The guards must get back on ward is loaded to the ball and is two
the inside after he clears the screen. steps off the line of the ball (diagr. 18
The forward is loaded to the ball so that and 19). The forward must see the ball
he is able to help on a curl, and is also and must be there to hedge if the offen-
on the line of the ball (diagr.15) so that sive player tries to curl.
he prevents a direct pass over the top to When the defensive player is in denial
his man, the screener (diagr. 16). The and the offensive player makes a back
forward, therefore, must also see the cut, the defensive player keeps his back
ball in case such a pass is thrown. to the passer. The defensive player de-
When we defend flare screens, we also nies with his closest hand and his clos-
D.34
begin with the forward as a screener. est foot. The defensive player also turns
The forward yells: “Screen, screen, his head while he is in denial so that he
Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 11

COACHES - FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL
can see both the man and the ball. He he is responsible for, will first cut to-
looks to knock away the pass with his wards an imaginary line that runs from
near hand. The defender throws down his offensive player to the rim, and once
his back hand and snaps his head on the he has reached that line, will then sprint
back cut (photo 12). The thought process out to defend his opponent (diagr. 32). If
that we emphasize to our players is Con- the defender were to sprint directly from
tain First, Deny 2nd – “Play the ball help position to his opponent, his oppo-
First.” nent would have an open lane to attack
off the dribble. When the defender V’s it
Day 3 in, he prevents the offensive player from
On the third day of defense, we review attacking off the dribble on a direct line
everything from the two previous days to the rim.
and then we teach post defense. Our The second concept that we emphasize
forwards and guards defend the post in to our players is early help and recover
different ways. However, they both al- when a teammate gets blown by with
ways have their hands above their shoul- dribble penetration. In this part of the
ders and they always position their bod- drill, the defender allows his man to beat
ies between their man and the basket- him off the dribble for one or two drib-
ball (photo 13). Their hands are up and bles. The next defender must then give
they are constantly moving their feet. early help, and force the dribbler to
Whenever a guard defends the post, he make the next pass out to his teammate
is always in Red no matter where the (diagr. 33). Once this pass is made, the
ball is on the floor. This means that he defender must V it in and "Wack-out" to
fronts the post. While he is fronting the his opponent (diagr. 34). Once again
post, the guard yells: “Red” which is the though, the next defender then allows photo 15
way that he lets his teammates know the offensive player to beat him off the
that he is fronting the post so that he is
able to have help on the weak side (pho-
photo 16
to 14). Whenever a forward defends the
post, he is either hard on the high side
(photo 15) or he is in Red, depending on
where the ball is. A forward is only in
Red when the ball is in the corner. Other-
wise he is hard on the high side.

Day 4
On the fourth day of defense, we review
everything from the previous three days,
and then we introduce the concept At-
tack and Swim. This is a method our
players use to avoid being screened.
The defender must first turn and face the
screen. The defender must attack the
screen, instead of waiting to get
screened (photo 16, 17 and 18). After the
defender gets around the screen, his job
is to beat the offensive player to the spot
and force the outcut. The defender
thinks: “Attack – Swim – Deny/ Red.”
When we defend low cross screens and screened is loaded to the ball. On the and then we teach defending staggered
diagonal back screens, our defenders pass, the defender being screened double screens. When we teach de-
use the attack and swim method. When jumps to the ball. The defender being fending staggered double screens, we
we defend low cross screens, the de- screened must first turn and face the use four offensive players and four de-
fender being screened is loaded to the screen. Again, the defender must attack fensive players, and they begin in our
ball. The defender must first turn and the screen and not wait to get screened. shell drill alignment.
face the screen. He attacks the screen. The defender of the screener yells: The defender guarding the ball must al-
He does not wait for it. The defender of “Screen, screen, screen.” The defender ways have a hand on the ball and must
the screener yells: “Screen, screen, of the screener is loaded to the ball, never let the offensive player with the
screen.” The defender of the screener helps low, and then gets back (diagr. 23, ball feel comfortable. The defender
must help low, and then quickly get back 24 and 25). guarding the shooter can do two things.
to the line of the ball, so that they do not He can lock and trail or he can shoot the
throw a direct pass to the screener (di- Day 5 gap. If the offensive player coming off
agr. 20, 21 and 22). When we defend di- On the fifth day of defense, we review the screen is a great shooter, the de-
agonal back screens, the defender being everything from the previous four days fender will lock and trail. If the offensive
page 12 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
 floor, but the goal at that point is to have
the players understand where it would
be.The command that we use is load to
the ball. This means that if you are a de-
fender and your man does not have the
ball, you must position your body closer
to where the basketball is, and at the
same time, have the ability to see the ball
and to see your offensive player.
As the ball is moved farther away from
you, as a defender, you must continue to
re-position yourself closer to the load
line. This concept helps our players to
understand positioning when we talk
about help defense. It helps them to un-
derstand the concept of team defense
D.39 and that we want five defenders guard-
ing the ball.

Day 6
On the sixth day of defense, we review
everything from the previous five days
D.40
and then we introduce our 4-on-4 "Shell"
drill. The first concept that we empha-
size to our players is jump to the ball
when the ball is reversed around the pe-
rimeter. Jump to the ball means as the
player is not that great of a shooter, the from getting an easy look (diagr. 26 and ball moves from the defender’s man to
defender will shoot the gap. Whichever 27). If the defender is shooting the gap, another offensive player, the defender
way the defender chooses to guard the the defenders of both screeners both must reposition himself so that initially,
shooter, the defenders of both screen- load to the ball but make room for de- after the first pass, he is in between his
ers must yell “Screen, screen, screen” fender of the shooter to shoot the gap. man and the ball, so that the offensive
to let the other defenders know that the As the shooter runs off the screens, the player cannot execute a basket cut after
screens are coming. If the defender is defender shoots the gap and meets the he makes the pass (diagr. 31).
locking and trailing on the staggered shooter after the second screen (diagr. As the ball is passed further away, the
double screen, he cannot lock too early 28 and 29). defender continues to jump to the ball to
or else the offensive player will shape An important concept in our team de- ensure that he can give help on any drib-
up to the ball before he comes off of the fense is the load line. The load line is a ble penetration. We also instruct our de-
screens. The defender of the first piece of tape that runs down the center fenders to “V it in” as the ball is passed
screener must load to the ball and take of the court from the front of one rim to from an offensive player to the offensive
away a possible slip by the second the front of the other rim. We use tape in player that this particular defender is
screener. The defender of the second practice so the players get used to the guarding. This means that the defender,
screener must load to the ball and hedge concept of the load line (diagr. 30). Obvi- instead of sprinting on a direct line from
to prevent the shooter from curling or ously, for games, the tape is not on the help position to the offensive player who

photo 17 photo 18

Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 13


COACHES - FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL

dribble, and this continues so that all of

the defenders get used to giving early
help and recovering in both directions.
The third concept that we emphasize to
our players is jump to the ball, red the
post, and load to the ball when they de-
fend basket cuts. In this portion of the
drill, on any pass from one of the top two
spots towards one of the corners, the
passer makes a hard basket cut (diagr.
35 and 36). On the pass to the corner, the
defender must jump to the ball, so that
he does not get beat on a basket cut. If
the offensive player is not open on the
basket cut, he posts up on the block for
2-3 seconds. The defender must Red the D.41 D.43
Post. The defender fronts the post and
yells: Red to alert his teammates that he
is fronting the post. After the post-up,
the offensive player sprints out to the
opposite corner position and all of the
other offensive players rotate accord-
ingly (diagr. 37). When the offensive
player sprints out to the opposite corner,
the defender does not chase the offen-
sive player. Instead, the defender loads
to the ball, and puts himself in proper
help position (diagr. 38). the floor himself. If the offensive player
We also practice our man to man team that catches the ball is a forward, the
defense concepts with our Line of the forward quickly turns, and throws the
Ball drill. The team is broken up into two ball to a guard on his team, and he then
groups with 6 or 7 players in each group. pushes the ball up the floor. The defen-
One group executes the drill while the sive player directly across from the
other group waits. 5 coaches spread out player who catches the initial pass from
along the sideline. The first group of the coach must sprint and touch the
players lines up along the baseline in baseline before he can run back into
front of the first coach, who has the ball. the play (diagr. 42).
The first player, the player closest to the This situation creates a 5-on-4, where
coach with the ball, is in the appropriate the defense must Sprint, Turn, and Talk
on the ball "Stance". This player yells: if they plan on getting a stop. The de-
“Ball, ball, ball.” The players behind the fense must stop the ball, protect the
first player yell: “Line of the Ball, line of basket, defend the strong side block,
the ball, line of the ball.” The coach with and the last defender sprinting back
the ball passes the ball to the next coach converts to the weak side (diagr. 43).
(diagr. 39). The line of players then
sprints in line with the next coach, posi- Day 7
tioning themselves appropriately. They On the seventh day of defense, we re-
continue to sprint down the floor as a view everything that we have taught in
group until they come all the way back our pre-season defense instruction.
to where they began. D.42 This concludes our 7 Days of Defense.
Then the next group begins. While a Each day of defense usually lasts be-
particular group of players is executing tween 45 minutes and an hour.
the drill, the coaches can throw the ball This format allows us to introduce most
back and forth. The coaches do not al- of our defensive concepts before we
ways have to throw the ball in the same so we use substitutions. One team lines begin with our first day of practice.
direction until it reaches the other end. up along the baseline. They are on of- Once again, the foundation of our de-
Coaches can also throw long passes to fense. The other team lines up across fensive philosophy begins with "Stance"
another coach. They don’t always have the free throw line. They are on defense. and the ability to stop the offensive
to throw the ball to the next coach in The offensive players and defensive player, one-on-one.
line. players are facing each other (diagr.40). We end our 7 Days of Defense by intro-
We practice our man to man team tran- The coach throws the ball to one of the ducing our Shell Drill, where we empha-
sition defense concepts with the transi- offensive players (diagr. 41). If the offen- size the importance of having all of our
tion line drill. We separate the team into sive player that catches the ball is a defenders together defending the one
two different teams. This is a 5-on-5 drill, guard, then the guard pushes the ball up offensive player with the ball.
page 14 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
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coaches - offense

The CSKA Moscow

Offensive System:
Season 2008-2009
by Ettore Messina by Lele Molin

Ettore Messina started his coaching ca-

reer with the youth teams of Reyer Vene-
zia, when he was only 16 years old. From
1980 to 1982, he was responsible for
youth teams at Mestre and in 1982/83 he
was assistant coach at Udine. In 1983 he
goes to Virtus Bologna, as responsible
for youth teams and assistant coach of
the main team. As head coach in Italy, he
coached Virtus Bologna (1989-93 and
1998-2002) and Benetton Treviso (2002-
2005), winning four Italian Champion-
ships, two Euroleague titles, eight Italian
Cups and one Cup of Cups. From 1993 to
1997 he coached Italian National team,
winning the gold medal at the Mediter-
ranean Games and the silver medal at
the Goodwill Games and at the European
Championship in Barcelona. Since 2005,
he coaches CSKA Moscow, where he
won three Russian Championships, two
Euroleague titles (2006 and 2008) and two
Russian Cups (2006 and 2007). This sea-
son he coaches Real Madrid.

Lele Molin started to coach in 1978 as

assistant coach of the youth team at
Mestre. From 1985 to 2000 he works at
Benetton Treviso, alternatively as head
coach of the youth team (1985-88 and
1992-95) and as assistant coach of the
main team (1988-92 and 1995-2000). Since
2000 he's assistant coach of Ettore Mes-
sina, first at Virtus Bologna (one Italian
title, two Italian Cups, one Euroleague),
at Treviso (one Italian title, three Italian
Cups, one SuperCup), then at CSKA Mos-
cow (three Russian titles, two Russian
cups and two Euroleague) and now at
Real Madrid.

page 16 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine

Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 17

coaches
coaches--offense
offense
The offensive system we adopted last
year can sometimes appear complicated
for our players, because it demands men-
tal attention and a good mastery of indi-
vidual offensive fundamentals. In this
article, we’d like to examine the guide-
lines of this particular offensive system.
For starters, we don’t think that our of-
fensive system is all that original. What
makes it different are not the plays, but
how the players apply the various ideas
that are behind each play.
Our coaching staff spends a lot of time
trying to figure out how we can utilize the
best characteristics of our players on of-
fense. This is a long process and some-
times we can’t find an exact role for each
of our players right away. We strongly
believe that, beyond the offensive choic-
es, we have to take care of the players’
improvement, putting them into the best
conditions to be dangerous on offense:
we want to be effective using the players’
skills.
The general idea of the CSKA offensive
system that eventually led us to our sys-
tem of play was the conviction that it is
certainly not the set play or playing free
that makes the difference in a game.
Rather, is was the ability of our players to
understand what the defense was doing
and to always be conscious of any chang-
es that they were making. Our players
must be able to read the defensive be-
havior of their opponents. Any offense
can be original, but if the player on of-
fense is not able to understand what the
defense does, he loses effectiveness and
our offense slows down. The strength of
our offense depends on the options that
the players have at their disposal after
reading (and attacking) the defense. This
special knowledge takes a while to be
completely understood by our players.
Let’s take the example a shooter who’s
coming off a low screen. Our player has
to understand the defensive pressure he
is under. He can react as written in the
books or in the team playbook: If the de-
fender trails, make a curl. If the defender
slides through the screen, he makes a
fade away. He has to be aware of the
various options. It’s our job as coaches to
provide the players the space and the
time to better understand what the de-
fense is doing. It is important to have an
offensive system where the players can
read the defense and react in the best
way.
One rule that pushed us to simplify our of-
fensive system was the introduction of
the 24-second clock. We simplified our
offensive situations and our goal became
to try and attack immediately after getting
page 18 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
D.1 D.3

D.2 D.4

possession of the ball. We were con- our offense. Understandably, our offensive
vinced that maybe only with the very percentages went down a lot.
weak teams on defense, it was possible We make great use of offensive transition,
to score a basket off the first offensive the changing phase from defense to of-
option. Too often, however, we are con- fense. These are not simple phases of a
fronted with the correct defensive an- primary and secondary fastbreak, but an
swer to our offense. That being the case, offense that is run full court with no inter-
we need to notice this immediately and ruptions. Our team has to move like a
come up with an instant strategy to get wave, where our players run at medium-
around the defense. high speed, occupying our offensive spots
Let’s take as an example of pick-and-roll and trying to get any advantage they can
in transition (diagr. 1). This situation pro- before the defense is set.
vokes a reaction of the defense, so as- At least 80% of the teams in Europe play
suming that they don’t give up an easy transition pick-and-roll, and we did too,
basket on the drive and kick out on the especially when we had Theo Papaloukas
strong side, we must have the time to read as a point guard. He was so good, not only
their defensive answer to this situation at finding easy shots or for his ability to get
and exploit the spacing on the court and fouled, but because he could find free
the timing of our passes. teammates for the open shot.
Ten years ago, with the 30-second clock, The main goal of the offensive transition is
many teams played the first part of their not to try for a shot on the first option, but
possession without really attacking the to attack before the defense has a chance
basket. We are not saying that we never to set up, making sure to get the ball mov-
took a shot as the the first option of the of- ing around.
fense; if there was a shot with a wide and These are the general ideas that worked
free space, then we took it, but what we as a premise for all of our plays on offense.
really were interested in was provoking a For us, the primary fastbreak is a clear sit-
reaction and then playing accordingly, uation for outnumbering (2-on-1, 4-on-3,
finding our 1-on-1 options, our passes, and for example) the defense and it starts from
our movement. a recovered or stolen ball. Other times, the
This is a concept we developed over the action begins from a defensive rebound or
years and it always helped us, especially after an opponent’s scored basket. We
when we played games when the ball was play an organized transition, changing the
“heavy” (important game endings, for ex- ball side, and finally getting the ball inside
ample) and when attacking a set defense to the center.
became difficult, because our opponents Playing in transition is the distinguishing
were ready to cover the strong points of mark of a team that plays the more inter-
Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 19

coaches - offense

D.5 D.6 D.7

esting basketball to watch, but to play in therefore limit him and put him in possible
this way it is necessary for players to un- penalty situations. By getting this player
derstand basketball fundamentals and to in foul trouble, we gain another advan-
have an extreme awareness of the rhythm tage while the opposition loses one.
of the game. To control this kind of situa- In short, our offensive aim is not just to
tion, especially when we play away from take a shot, but to find various ways to
home, we play in transition. Our first goal produce even more shots. We don’t want
is to give the ball to the center after pen- to take a shot that the defense wants us
etrating inside the defense. In this way, to take. Rather, we want to take advan-
we create a situation where the defense tage of our offense, keep the players
must react and where we now have a moving on the court, and increase scor-
precise rhythm for our offense after the ing opportunities with several passes. D.8
ball has gone inside. In our practice sessions, we stress the
With the ball in the low post, teammates great importance of being able to pass
typically stop and see what happens. This and receive the ball. This has always
short moment of pause determines the been our job. When we were at Virtus
correct timing of the action next to come. Bologna (Italy), with Ginobili and Jaric,
We carefully took the statistic of how we worked a lot on passing: When and
many times we bring the ball into the how to pass the ball was a primary goal
heart of the defense (diagr. 2), either with and we quickly saw that it helped improve
a pass or a dribble penetration. our game. We worked on passing into the
For our offensive rhythm, it is critical that center playing in the low post. We taught
the ball find its way to our inside player. our players how to get the ball in that
Playing the ball only on the perimeter delicate situation, and how to reverse the
creates a lot of difficulties for our offense ball side. Getting back to what we were D.9
and, as a result, it becomes harder to win saying at the beginning, the play itself is
games. On the other hand, getting the ball not the important thing. Rather, it’s how
inside gives us balance and allows us to players react to the defense and make
attack the heart of the defense, where use of the fundamentals at particular
we know that the opposing teams have a parts of the game.
defensive organization ready to counter- Players must understand what needs to
act. Therefore, we must be ready to play be done after the defense gets to work.
against this reaction in order to take an They need to know what happens when
advantage and get an uncontested shot the center is double teamed, how to move
at the basket. off the pick-and-roll, and how to position
Over the years, we realized that we must themselves in order to attack the weak
aim to have at least 20 shots coming from points of their opponents. This is not an
these low-post situations. Moreover, in immediate process, but something that is
the initial phases of the games where the built gradually as the young players learn D.10
referees are very demanding, our power- the game. They must come to learn that at
ful inside game causes many of the op- every ball possession,we must produce ball to the player who has cut. This allows
posing big men to get into early foul something, whether it be through a series the second big man to take his place.
trouble. This limits their time on the court of well-executed passes, or by reading a Moving this way is not only important for
and we look to take advantage of that. mismatch on the court and quickly ex- providing the most scoring options but al-
Losing a defensive big man or two early ploiting it. so causes the defense to become unbal-
in the game frees us to make more pene- Our teams are known for getting the ball anced against a quick reverse on the ball
trations to the basket. into the low post. Here is a typical situa- side. The fundamental thing is the timing
Another goal of our offense is to attack tion where we make use of a screen. (di- of all this action. The player who sets the
their best scorers. We want that their agr. 3). Whoever is at the top of the key screen must be able to use all the neces-
best scorer working hard on defense to must clear out after having passed the sary fundamentals in order to take a good
page 20 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
position inside the area. Let’s review the
initial setup (diagr. 4). With the ball going
to the wing, and with the low post strong-
ly guarded by his defender, the first thing
we can do is drive aggressively to the
baseline. Seeing this, 5 will react by seal-
ing his defender with a “self screen,”
while one of our shooters will go to the
corner on the weak side. This is a valid
rule for all the spacings in all the offen-
sive plays we use. Whoever reaches the
top of the key will then “shadow.” This D.11 D.12
means that he will go behind the team-

Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 21


coaches - offense

D.13 D.14 D.18

mate who has penetrated and the other

player on the weak side will open the
passing lane to punish the defender who
is trying to help out on this penetration.
The player with the ball must beat the
pressure by driving aggressively to the
basket.
If, on the other hand, the defender on the
ball contains the drive, and the defender
on the post is behind, and the defender at
the top of the key then float down, we use
the offensive triangle to get the ball to the D.15 D.19
low post (diagr. 5).
On the pass from the wing to the top of the
key, and with the defender of the post who
jams inside the area, we can bring the ball
back into the area while the post goes in-
side the area to “steal” space for a deeper
reception (diagr. 6).
We use the same rules and principles for
another offensive situation where we have
double exits. This has become one of our
most effective offense sets. The first goal
is to move our players on the perimeter
and then use the center. This causes the
D.20
defense to move and then we react to D.16
their reaction (diagr. 7). We could have
Langdon, our shooting guard, come off the
screens (diagr. 8), but we often used
Siskauskas, the forward, as a cutter, be-
cause he was very good on coming back
from the first screen (diagr. 9).
Let’s go back to the example of Langdon,
who cuts and comes out on the wing, on
the left side of our offense. When Langdon
receives the ball on he wing, the forward,
4, makes a flash cut to the high post, while
1 clears to the corner on the weak side.
However, if the guard, 2, makes a curl on D.17 D.21
the screen on the left, and receives the
ball on the elbow, 4 will clear in the corner
of the weak side (diagr. 10). on the first screen of 4 for 2, X2 defends shown in diagram 13. As you see, we are
In the first case, 2 will try to shoot or play high on him, then 4 will screen in order to taking advantage of situations that offer
with the center. In the case of the curl, 5 help the low cut of 2 (diagr. 11). Alterna- dynamic 1-on-1 plays. That is one of the
will go to the mid-post position. Then, we tively, 4 will screen to help the high cut fundamental points of our offense.
will continue on playing to maintain the into the area of the teammate (diagr. 12). In our system, 4 must be a player with a
advantage, but everything starts from the When 2 receives the ball, he can shoot or great knowledge of the game, and he
fact that the two big men have played well drive to the basket. In this particular case, helps the point guard, 1, in deciding the
in the spaces. if 2 drives to the middle, on the eventual construction of the offensive game.
Pay attention to the fact that we always help of X5 with 5, who is not a good shoot- Let’s look at the application of the same
play by reading what the defense does! If, er from the perimeter, we will move as concepts with another setup we often
page 22 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
D.22 D.23 D.24

used when 4 was already positioned at

the top of the key.
With the ball on the left, 1 passes to 4 (di-
agr. 14), and, while the ball is in the air, 5
sets a horizontal screen for 3, who makes
a hard cut to the basket. 5, immediately
after the screen, moves to open an effec-
tive second passing line. Don’t forget we
are always talking of creating possibilities
for getting the ball to the center.
Let’s look now at the case where 3 passes
the ball to 5 (diagr. 15). The center must
not immediately put the ball on the floor,
except if he sees that there is an immedi-
ate advantage for him to beat his defend-
er. However, if X5 is behind his back, 5
must play with great calm and look for a
free teammate to pass the ball. For this
reason, his teammates will move on the
perimeter to get the ball back from him so
he doesn’t always have the burden of go-
ing 1-on-1 with his defender.
First, we will have a hard cut of 2 from the
weak side, and, if the defense floats and
jams the area, it will be possible to pass
the ball to 1, who gets free, using the
screen of 4 (diagr. 16). The cut of 2 has to
be deep, because just in the final phase of
the cut we will have more chances to
pass the ball. The important thing in all the
action is the timing, especially with 5 and
2, who must avoid attacking the same
space at the same time (diagr. 17).
5 quickly gets the ball, 2 cuts hard, and 1
moves. After a moment (one second), if
we haven’t found free passes, because
the defense is tightly covering our play-
ers, then it will be the moment for 5 to at-
tack, putting the ball on the floor with his
teammates now well spaced and away
from him.
It’s clear that the defense will counteract
our movements. 3, after having passed the
ball, must fake as if he were moving to-
wards the middle, and then cut hard to the
corner. He cannot go towards the middle
because X2 could easily double-team the
ball.
However, on the cut of 2, the defense can
react with a “bump” of X2 that will effec-
tively stop the cut by pushing 2 to the mid-
Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 23

coaches - offense

dle of the area where X4 jams. At the same

time, X1 will go to the midline of the lane
so that X4 will guard the initial part of the
cut, with X1 taking over for the final part
(diagr. 18). When 1 cuts, X2 is already
ready to anticipate him. This is a classic
adjustment against this offensive play, and
is an anticipated and aggressive switch.
What is our rule when we face this defen-
sive switch? We make a “cage” for 1 with
2 (who does not cut) and 4. 5 can kick out
the ball to 1 (diagr. 19). This is a collabora- D.25 D.28
tion that must take place very quickly.
Thus, when the defense makes its switch-
es, 2 plays 1-on-1 against his defender.
After the screen, 3 and 4 will also be open
to offer two more passing lines. The idea
is not to play in the way the defense wants
us to. We have to force other situations to
occur that will give us the advantage in
the offensive game.
Let’s assume that the defense decides to
immediately double team 5 just as he gets
the ball, with X4. 5 will react by squaring
up to the basket, while 4 will cut hard to D.26 D.29
the basket to receive the ball from 5 and
shoot (diagr. 20). If the defense moves to
the weak side, “zoning” inside the area to
steal space, it’s obvious that 4’s cut will no
longer be effective. However, 4 can make
a screen for setting 1 free, or else he can
fake the cut and go back to his initial posi-
tion to receive a pass from 5 for an easy
shot (diagr. 21). Finally, if 4 calls for the ball
and X2 quickly goes to contest the passing
lane, there will be more space for the cut
of 2 into the lane. These are situations
that, as you can see, do not need to in- D.27 D.30
volve the players on the weak side. But, by
simply getting the ball to the low post, we
make the defensive reads doesn't start and-roll between 5 and 1 (diagr. 25). drives to the middle, 5 will cut along the
immediatly. 5 still has other options on the weak side baseline into the lane, 2 will always go to
If the double-team of X4 is made when 4 (diagr. 26) for 1. After the screen, 5 will cut the corner, and 4 to the wing on the weak
screens for 1 (diagr. 22), then we react by hard into the lane, and just after that, re- side (diagr. 30).
sending 4 to move to the weak side and specting our timing rules, it will be the mo- We have shown what to do using the low
get the ball from 5. ment for 4 to put the ball on the floor and post and the need to apply simple princi-
Often, defenses mix and hide their moves, attack the basket. Remember that we nev- ples of spacing and timing when reading
and this requires that our players be skilled er want two players attacking the same the various defenses. The key is to be flex-
in reading and immediately reacting to space at the same time! ible and quick to change, depending on
what the defense presents. On the pass of 4 to the weak side, 5 steals what the defense does. Maintain proper
Let’s see what we do if we have 4 in low space by offensively “boxing out” X5 (di- spacing and play-pick-and roll as needed.
post and 5 at the top of the key (diagr. 23). agr. 27). As a final note, remember that the skills
With the ball in the low post, 5 will always These spacing rules also must be used your players need to develop concern the
go up beyond the free-throw line. If he re- when we play a post-up with a perimeter proper utilization of timing and spacing.
ceives the ball from 4, very often 5, who player. With the ball with 3, 4 in high post, You can help by working hard in practice
may not be a good long-distance shooter, and 5 in low post, we will not make cuts with simple situations like 2-on-0 and 3-on-
will refuse to shoot. X5, knowing this, will from the weak side, because cutting 0 and then bringing in more complex situa-
stay inside the three-second lane. But 5 against a bigger player (diagr. 28) would tions. By having your players see and
can still be dangerous up high and punish not make any sense. This is different than practice against these defensive situa-
this this defensive situation by making a the previous situation when 5 had the ball. tions, and learning all the various solutions
hand-off with 2 (diagr. 24). Now, X5 is on the help side. There are two to them, when it finally comes to game
However, if 2 is guarded aggressively by logical things to do: if 3 drives to the base- day, you can be confident that they will be
X2, then we will have the cut of 2, the pass line, 5 cuts into the lane and 2 goes to the ready for everything that the defense has
to 1, who replaces him, and then a pick- corner (diagr. 29). On the other hand, if 3 to offer.
page 24 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
 assistmaga09.pdf 1 01/10/09 17:28

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COACHES - offense

Weak side offense

Neven Spahija

He started his coaching career in Sibe- nia). He stayed in Slovenia as assistant cabi (Israel), Tau Vitoria (Spain) all for
nik (Croatia). At 22 years old he was coach of the Senior team until early 2000, one season. Since november 2008 he's
coaching the Junior teams, then in 1986 when he became head coach of Cibona been the coach of Valencia. He won 2
became the assistant coach of the senior Zagreb, where he stayed until november Croatian titles (2000 and 2001), coached
team. He moved in 1992 to Zrinjevac Za- 2001. Then he was hired by Krka Novo the Croatian Under 21 natioanl team at
greb (Croatia), where he was coaching Mesto (Slovenia), where he stayed until the 2001 FIBA World Championships and
the Junior teams and was assistant 2003. He moved to Avtodor Saratov (Rus- the senior national team at Eurobasket
coach of the senior team. In 1996 he be- sia), then he was in Roseto from January 2003 and 2005. He was ULEB Cup's run-
came head coach of Pula, then of the 2004 to the end of 2005 season. Then, he ner up in 2003, won the 2006 Baltic
Junior team of Olimpia Ljubljana (Slove- coached Lietuvos rytas (Lithuania), Mac- League, he won the Israelian league in

page 26 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine

2007, played the Eurolague Final Four
and won the Spanish championship in
2008.

From the offensive standpoint, one of the

major concerns of each and every one of
us in the coaching profession is how to
mix up our attack. How do we even out
our inside and outside offensive attack to
upset the defense? Each good offensive
team should have a solid offensive arse-
nal from the outside, as well as the in-
side. In this article, I will focus on the
inside attack, particularly the off-ball
movement when the ball gets to the low
post. There are several very important
aspects that we have to focus on when

discussing the low-post attack. First, who ball into our big man hands, this is when
is going to get the ball in the low post? the action begins! I would like to point
The obvious option is to get the ball to our out four main aspects of the game that
most dominant player in the back-to-the- have to be satisfied at this moment. First,
basket situations. Let’s say we gave him if our big man is so dominant or the de-
the ball down low without using any extra fense so poor, or a combination of both,
screens (screen on the baseline of a then we expect to score easy baskets,
small for a big player, for instance). Our and many of them (diagr. 2).
player runs down the court, fights for his Unfortunately, this scenario doesn't hap-
position on the low block, and then gets pen so often, because either we are fac-
the ball. (diagr. 1). ing good defensive players or the
Most teams get into the serious problems opposing team has prepared for our in-
when this happens, because they stop side attack and they start helping out, ro-
playing at this point, if just for a few sec- tating towards the ball and doing other
onds. But, in that short span, the offense things to make life very difficult for our
comes to a standstill as the four other big man (diagr. 3).
players stand around and watch, waiting The second aspect we have to focus on
for the big man to make his move. To the is having the players cutting, moving and
contrary, at the moment when we put the playing without the ball. This is a critical
Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 27

COACHES - offense
ofFENSE

D.1

D.2

D.3

aspect to your team’s success for several

reasons. The primary reason why we in-
sist on cutting is improvement in our of-
fensive spacing. Second, it always forces
the defense to think about helping, which
automatically keeps them off balance.
The first cut that has to happen is a cut on
the ball made by the passer (diagr. 4).
This cut is important because we can ei-
ther score an easy basket (which is al-
ways the goal) and second, as I already
mentioned, it keeps the defense off bal-
ance. The man that is guarding the passer
is not in position to help or double team
the big man with the ball in the low post.
Therefore, at the moment of the cut, the
man at the opposite corner has to slide up
in order to improve team spacing (diagr.
5).
There are two other cuts that are possi-
ble. The first is a “duck-in move” by 4, and
this is made if the defense reacts poorly,
helps too much, or just falls asleep and
doesn’t react (diagr. 6).
page 28 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
D.4 D.7

D.5 D.8

D.6 D.9

Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 29


COACHES - ofFENSE

D.10

“suspect” calls.
Let’s look at the screens that will help
your offense. The first is a screen 4 can
make on 2, who is making the cut on the
ball (diagr. 9). This is a “quick hit” solu-
tion to get a good shot off in case the de-
fense is overplaying or else just not
looking. In case that we don’t choose that
option, 2 can always set a side screen on
4 (diagr. 10), after he makes the initial cut
on the ball. This can be especially effec-
tive if 4 is a good three-point shooter.
Finally, 4 can set a back screen on 1 out
on top, and then make a pop move to the
top, and receive the pass from 5. The first
option here would be a shot, but a sec-
ond option would be a pass after a cut
that 1 makes to the opposite corner fol-
lowing the screen he received from 5 on
the low block (diagr. 11 e 12).
The fourth and final aspect that needs to
be covered is team spacing. This is some-
thing that I insist on with every offense
the team runs. By keeping the five play-
ers spread out on the court, the offense
runs smoother and we will have many
more options in our offensive arsenal that
will allow us to score many easy points.
I am a great believer in the multiple at-
tack offense, but it takes a lot of practice
The second cut is more of a slide motion There are two factors that need to be to make it work. Work on the little things I
that is made to improve the passing angle mentioned while discussing this topic. have discussed. In the end, it’s the good
by 4 to create an open shot from the high- The first is the screening angle, and the solid cuts, good timing of the screens,
post area. This occurs after the big man second is the necessity to set solid—not and moving and playing without the ball
has made a hard dribble to the middle moving—screens, because if you move, that will prove to be the crucial parts of
(diagr. 7). it leaves room for referees to make many your successful offensive machinery.
These cutting segments are very impor-
tant and have to be practiced regularly
with a variety of drills in order to make
the offensive flow much more effectively
and increase our options. The third cru-
cial aspect in this segment of the game is
off-ball screening, an often forgotten or
little emphasized aspect of the game. I
have found that by using off-ball screens
we are allow our shooters to get open in
a more effective way. In addition, we
force the defense to either switch (the
best scenario for them in this case) or get D.11 D.12
caught in the blind screen (diagr. 8).
page 30 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
 www.sinalco.com

GLOBAL PARTNER

COACHES - hoop market

Drills From
by Raffaele Imbrogno
Around the World
Raffaele Imbrogno has been coaching
since 1980. He is an Instructor for the In this section, we introduce the latest books, videos, CDs, and other tools that are
Italian National Coaches Committee of primarily aimed at coaches, but certainly useful for all of our readers. Please send
the Federation and has been Director of your suggestions and comments about our basketball-related media for review in
the Italian Basketball Federation Study this section.
Center. Imbrogno is also the author of
several technical basketball publica- coach a local team in his home town of
tions. Cremona, the picturesque city that sits
on the banks of the Po River in northen
Italy.
In the basketball world, coaches should “The Complete Book of Offensive Bas-
always try to find new solutions and ketball Drills” is, as the title says, com-
methods, because as the Scottish tradi- plete. Packed within its covers are 272
tional saying goes: “A rolling stone gath- pages of innovative drills that the most
ers no moss.” In basketball this means famous coaches in the world have used
that if you keep doing the same things to build their offensive strategies. The
over and over with your team, your play- 150 drills Gandolfi has selected from the
ers will become bored and teams will world’s masters for his book are all well
soon have no trouble defeating your explained and nicely illustrated, and of-
players. fer the first-time coach, as well as the
Surely, our Editor-in-Chief, Giorgio Gan- veteran, plenty of workout ideas for their
dolfi, is a person who never stops mov- teams.
ing in his never-ending quest to better In 13 chapters, Gandolfi provides basic
understand the game of basketball. Af- footwork and cut drills, ball handing
ter having just recently published “NBA drills, dribbling drills, shooting drills,
Coaches Playbook: Techniques, Tactics passing drills, as well as drills for perim-
and Teaching Points” with publisher Hu- time around his publisher is McGraw- eter and inside players. There are also
man Kinetics in the United States, he Hill, one of the most prestigious publish- chapters on proper court spacing, set-
has come out with another book, his ing houses, and one that, surprisingly ting screens, running the fast break, and
fourth to be published in the land of the specializes in books about big business drill for rebounding.
National Basketball Association. This and science. Sometimes, however, they Gandolfi ends his excellent book with
bring out books about sports. the top international coaches offering
This time Gandolfi’s focus is on the readers their favorite offensive drills.
changing world of basketball, from a Here you will find the drills of Ettore
strictly US-centric game to one that now Messina, head coach of Real Madrid
has strong international influence. You (Spain); Dirk Bauermann, head coach of
see that in the subtitle of his book: “The the German National team; Sarunas
Complete Book of Offensive Basketball Marciulionis, founder of the Marciulion-
Drills: Game-Changing Drills from is Basketball School in Vilnius (Lithua-
Around the World.” nia); Sergio Scariolo, head coach of the
Gandolfi certainly knows his basketball, Spanish National team, and winner of
and not only in Italy. Earlier in his career 2009 FIBA Euro Basket and of Khimki
he organized basketball camps and clin- Moscow (Russia); Dusan Ivkovic, head
ics for players and coaches for the coach of the Serbian National team, and
sneaker company, Converse. These Jose Vicente “Pepu” Hernandez, former
popular gatherings were held not only coach of the 2006 world champion Span-
throughout Europe, but also in South ish National team.
America and China. In addition to at- My advice: If you want one book that
tending dozens of coaching clinics in has all the drills you need to try to help
the U.S. over the span of three decades improve the offensive skills of your play-
that were organized or attended by a ers and team, Gandolfi’s “The Complete
Who’s Who of Hall of Fame basketball Book of Offensive Basketball Drills” is
coaches, Gandolfi also found time to the one to get.
page 32 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
AdMondo 08/01/2009 09:56 Page 1

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referees and game administration

Eight qualities
by Richard Stokes
of a great
Richard Stokes became a FIBA referee
referee
in 1993 when he was 25. He officiated in
all European competitions until 2005
when he joined FIBA Europe’s Competi-
tions and Referee Department and is
currently an instructor and clinician in
Europe.

There is no doubt that Europe currently

has some of best referees in the world
and that is reflected by the nominations
that they receive on a global level. The
strong club and national team competi-
tions demand the best job from our team
of referee’s week in week out. Since join-
ing FIBA Europe in 2005, I have had the
opportunity to witness at first hand the
different personalities, styles and quali-
ties that exist within our team of officials.
Everyone has their own personality and
it is important and sometimes necessary
that the personality of the referee be
seen on the court. However, the focus of
the game should always be the competi-
tors. The officials should never be in the
spotlight or be the focus of the game.
When looking at the top officials that ex-
ist in Europe, they will probably all
possess the following qualities.

Integrity
A great referee is a guardian of honesty
in each basketball competition. The ref-
eree must of course maintain a complete
absence of bias. Nowadays we have
seen that sports managers, coaches and
now even referees in other sports such
as soccer have been involved in illegal
activities. However, in general, referees
are rarely accused of any kind of dishon-
est or deceitful conduct. If you aspire to
be a great referee, you must never put
yourself in a position where your integri-
ty could be questioned. It can take many
years to build up an image of high in in-
tegrity; however, it may take only one
action or mistake to destroy that image.
If there is ever any possibility of a con-
flict of interest, never put yourself in that
position or, if there is any chance that
page 34 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
your integrity can be questioned through shape, to keep pace with the game for throughout the season or even during
an action, don’t do it. all four quarters. Games can be decided the tournament in different forms. Refe-
in the last quarter or of course even in rees should of course work in the
Physical fitness the final seconds. It is really impossible off-season to be in shape, and continue
It has long been recognized and proven, for a referee to make mistakes at the end this work whilst they are also officiating
that there is a direct connection between of the contest, which may affect the out- throughout the season. in shape for offi-
your physical condition and your mental come of the game. Your fitness will have ciating; don’t use officiating to get in
state. If you become physically tired dur- at some stage, a direct effect on how shape, or to stay in shape!
ing, or especially towards the end of a you perform in a game whether the ef-
game, then your level of concentration fect is good or bad, will depend on the Hustle
will also suffer, or decline. The modern investment an official has made in his fit- Officiating is game of angles, positioning
professional players are in great shape ness. Nowadays, the preparation and and movement. This is true for the play-
and so the referee must also be in good training that should take place continues ers and should also therefore be the
same for the referees. Hustle describes
this movement to a position on the court.
There is no connection to speed and
meaningless motion. Being quick and
running a lot does not necessarily make
you a good official. Every great referee
moves efficiently to be in the right place
at the right time in order to see the spac-
es between the players. It’s the only way
to see the whole play, from the best an-
gle, to see the spaces means that you
can also make good decisions on the re-
sponsibility for contact and then have a
good chance to make the correct deci-
sion. Hustle also means that your
movement in dead ball situations such
as moving to the table to a new position,
should not be done whilst walking. Move
efficiently and with a purpose and keep
the game moving with your hustle.

Judgement
Great judgment can be a result of effort
and experience. Few officials are born
with it and many have to work hard at it.
Therefore, it can also be described as an
instinctive ability to apply the principals
of advantage/disadvantage. When you
see a play, in almost every case, if there
is no advantage gained and if no player
has been put at a disadvantage, there
should be no call. Simply put: “Don’t stop
the music.”

Communication
This really means, “Can you deal with
people?“ Can you deal with coaches,
players and even co-officials during the
game? Communication can be accom-
plished in many ways and in most cases
the situation will dictate your appropri-
ate response. Sometimes a simple
response to the question, a one word
answer, or even a look can communicate
effectively what is needed at a particular
time. Saying the right thing to the right
person at the right time can help one
avoid potential problems in a game.
Communication is also the knowledge of
when it is best not to say anything - or to
be quiet! When communicating, treat

Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 35


referees and game administration
use of good criteria, will help your game
control and management.

Courage
Regardless of the situation, personalities
involved, pressures from the crowd, me-
dia or possible repercussions, great
referees place fairness above all other
concerns. They act courageously and
according to the dictates of that value.
Have the courage of your convictions?
Or have you got the strength (or guts!),
for tough, but fair decisions.

Common Sense
Of all the qualities a referee must pos-
sess, common sense is the most
important. That which is fair and right
should always take precedence in every
contest. Common sense ensures that
fairness, understanding, and the best in-
terests of the game are foremost in the
mind of the referee. If you truly under-
stand the spirit and the intent of the
rules, common sense will guide you well.
Plenty of game situations develop that
are not specifically covered by rules or
mechanics. That’s when common sense
must take over. What is fair or what is
right, is what should be done. Common
sense goes hand in hand with Communi-
cation and dealing with coaches and
players. It helps determine how to han-
dle a tough situation and for example,
whether a technical foul should or should
not be called.
This last point is perhaps the non-written
factor in officiating that is most impor-
tant. It is not in a rule book, a manual or
even available in a shop. But it is about
thinking calmly and logically about what
is right for the game and the partici-
pants.

Summary
Of course there may be other factors
that determine people’s opinions on
whether a referee is good, such as pres-
entation or appearance, or even the
language that is spoken. These attributes
probably will not have a direct affect on
people as you would wish to be treated takes. Everyone has difficulty at some how the game is managed, although
yourself. time with consistency, but the great ref- there may help of hinder to create a good
erees are relentless in their judgment. first impression. The participants will
Consistency The great officials see and call a game make judgments of the management of
This is what every coach wants and your better than their colleagues because the game, the ability of the referee to un-
almost always hear it from the sideline in their feeling for game and for what is derstand and appreciate what is taking
any game. Unfortunately you cannot buy right, is better. If the coaches and play- place, and also a good recognition of ex-
this in a shop! Younger officials have ers believe that the official is consistent, actly what the contest means to
more difficulty with consistency than any they will adjust accordingly. Inconsistent everyone involved. Without this and the
other quality, mainly because they lack decisions on similar plays will create qualities mentioned here, referees will
the experience to know when they are negative behavior and poor sportsman- be at a disadvantage compared to their
being inconsistent. However, you only ship among players and invite criticism colleagues who are able to do so and
gain experience through making mis- from coaches. Consistent officiating and have these qualities.
page 36 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine

referees and game administration

RIGHT OR WRONG?
The following questions focus on the
document, “FIBA Official Basketball
Rules: Official Interpretations.” A free
download is provided on the FIBA web-
site (www.fiba.com). For additional clari-
fications, explanations or examples,
please consult this document.

1. A2 is dribbling the ball while being

closely guarded in team A’s back-
court. At the same time, A4 remains
in the opponents’ restricted area for
more than three seconds. Has A4
committed a three-second violation?
2. A7 enters the game to replace A3.
Before the clock can again start fol-
lowing the substitution, a technical
foul is committed by A7. This is A7’s
fifth player foul. The only team A sub-
stitute available is A3. May A3 re-en-
ter the game to replace A7?
3. A shot for a goal by A3 is on its up-
ward flight when it is touched by a
team B player. The ball is then on its
downward flight with a reasonable
chance of entering the basket when it
is tapped away by B3. Has B3 com-
mitted goal tending?
4. A5’s last free throw is successful. On
the resulting throw-in, the ball is
touched but not controlled by A4 on
the playing court. Shall the game
clock be started when the ball touch-
es A4?
5. A shot for a goal is in the air when a
double foul is committed by A2 and
B2. The shot is successful. Shall play
resume with an alternating posses-
sion throw-in?
6. During the last two minutes of the 4th
period, A2 commits a three-second
violation. Team A then requests and
is granted a time-out. When play re-
sumes, shall the resulting throw-in of
team B take place at the centre line 9. During an alternating possession
extended, opposite the scorer’s ta- throw-in for team A, a violation is ANSWERS
ble? committed by thrower-in A3. Team B
1. No (Art. 26.1.1)
7. A2 scores a field goal, after which is awarded a throw-in as a result of
2. Yes (Art. 19.2.4)
technical fouls are committed by A4 the violation. Shall team B be entitled
3. Yes (FIBA Interpretation, Art. 31,
and B4. After the fouls have been to the next alternating possession
Statement 4)
properly reported to the scorer, shall throw-in?
4. Yes (Art. 49.2)
play resume with a team B throw-in 10. A4 is awarded two free throws. The
5. No (Art. 35.2)
at the endline behind the team B bas- last free-throw is successful. After
6. No (Art. 17.2.3)
ket? the last free-throw but before the ball
7. Yes (Art. 42.2.7)
8. The ball is within the basket as a re- is at the disposal of a team B player
8. No (Art. 31.2.4)
sult of an A3 shot for a field goal when for the throw-in, team A requests a
9. Yes (Art. 12.4.7)
A1 contacts the ball. Shall the ball be- time-out. Shall the time-out be grant-
10. Yes (Art. 18.2.4)
come dead immediately? ed?

Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 37


doctors, trainers and Conditioning Coaches

The ten Nutrition

by Amanda Carlson
Rules to Live
Director of Performance Nutrition for
Athletes' Performance and Coreperfor-
mance.com. A registered dietitian,
earned her bachelor's degree in Nutri-
tional Sciences with a minor in Chemis-
try from the University of Arizona, then
went on to complete a master's degree
in both Sports Nutrition and Exercise
Physiology from Florida State University.
At Athletes' Performance, she works di-
rectly with the nutrition team and also
coordinates research efforts to help Ath-
letes' Performance stay on the cutting
edge of sports science.

Nutrition is something that affects every

athlete, yet every athlete eats for com-
pletely different reasons. As a basketball
player, putting thought behind what goes
into your mouth can do wonders for
health, but most importantly, perfor-
mance. The thought process behind
choosing the right foods or combinations
of foods seems to be the most paralyzing
for most athletes. There are so many dif-
ferent opinions, ways of doing things, an-
swers to weight loss, answers to weight
gain everywhere you turn that it can be-
come confusing to a point where acting
on good intentions seems to halt. By no
means do I want to downplay the com-
plexity of nutrition, but what does all the
science matter if you don’t change the
way you eat?
After years of working with professional
athletes in a variety of sports, including
basketball, we break down our methodol-
ogy into “10 Rules to Live by” that can be
simplified to five categories: eat clean,
eat often, hydrate, recover, mindset.
These five categories will allow us to as-
sist our athletes in streamlining their
healthy and performance eating efforts.
These are not exact recommendations,
but are the first steps in choosing the
right foods to fuel the game you play.
Come Back to Earth. This simply means
to choose the least processed forms of
foods, specifically carbohydrates, when
page 38 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
building the majority of your meals. Typi- body’s number one fuel source, so you and red color. It all sounds so simplistic,
cally the less processed the foods and want to make sure that at each meal, 50% but still the average athlete only con-
the closer the food that you are eating is of what is on your plate is some type of sumes about three servings of fruits and
to its natural state, the better it will be for carbohydrate while fiber helps to stabi- vegetables per day. The athlete that eats
you. An easy way to do this on the carbo- lize your energy levels and give you more more fruits and vegetables gets more of
hydrate side of things is to simply look at efficient forms of fuel. If you feel ener- what the body needs to speed recovery,
the label and the amount of fiber that is gized, recover fully, are at a healthy per- improve energy production and help to
in the product. If the product has at least formance weight, and are performing, improve the immune system.
three grams of fiber or more per serving, you are probably eating the right amount Three for Three. Eating consistently
it is a good choice. The average athlete of carbohydrate. maintains energy levels, keeps the body
gets about 15 grams of fiber per day, The Less Legs the Better. Protein is a in a fed state, and prevents mood swings
which is far below the recommendation critical part of the diet for the athlete, and binging. Keeping the body fueled will
of 25-35g per day. Carbohydrate is your specifically the type and the amount. prevent extreme hunger, which will make
When focusing in on the type of protein, healthier food selection easier. Combin-
typically the less legs the animal has be- ing the three main nutrients (carbohy-
fore you actually consume it, the better drates, protein, fat) every three hours
the source. Fish, turkey, and chicken rank (hence the three for three) will keep you
high. You need to be more selective with fueled and keep you on track. Planning
dairy, red meat, and pork products. Low- out meals and snacks ahead of time will
fat dairy, lean cuts of pork and beef, and ensure that you stick with your fueling
grass fed four legged animals are best. regimen. Keeping healthy snacks, bars,
As a basketball player, you are at the high and ready to drink meal replacements
end of protein needs. You want to con- with you at all times will ensure you have
sume about 0.8 – 1.0g of protein per fuel on hand to keep you going.
pound that you weigh. Protein keeps your Eat Breakfast Everyday. There is a lot of
metabolism going strong, can help to in- debate on why this is important, but I still
crease the satiety of meals, helps the believe that eating breakfast everyday is
body maintain muscle, and should be in- critical and find it to be an absent habit
cluded as part of your recovery meal or for most of us. “There isn’t enough time,”
snack. Splitting the total protein intake “I’m not hungry in the morning,” and “it’s
over the course of the day by including too complicated” are common phrases I
some in each meal will help to ensure ab- hear. Breakfast does not have to be buck-
sorption and utilization. wheat pancakes and an egg white om-
Eat Fats That Give Something Back. Di- elet. Breakfast could be a blend of yogurt,
ets too low in fat can be detrimental to high fiber cereal, a scoop whey protein,
basketball players; however, diets too and frozen berries mixed together or sim-
high in fat (as with anything) will lead to ply whole wheat toast, peanut butter, and
increased fat accumulation. It is recom- a banana. Eating breakfast will give the
mended that 20 – 30% of the total calories body the fuel it needs, jumpstart the me-
come from fat. The best types of fats to tabolism, and set you up to consume the
include are raw nuts, seeds, olive oil, nut number of calories they should be eating
butters, and fatty fish. The forgotten fats throughout the day.
in the US are the essential fatty acids, Hydrate. Dehydration = Decreased per-
specifically the omega-3 fatty acids. formance. You should have the goal of
These fatty acids help with decreasing drinking while training and playing to pre-
inflammation and due to their essential vent a 2% loss in fluid and an extreme
nature, must come from the diet. Those disruption of electrolyte balance. To do
who do not consume fish 2-3 times per this you need to ensure that you are hy-
week may want to consider supplement- drated before you step onto the court or
ing with fish oil. into a training session. A case study per-
Eat a Rainbow Often. The vitamins and formed at Athletes’ Performance in 2008
minerals that our body’s need naturally found 98% of our athletes to be dehydrat-
come from the foods that we eat, ed prior to their am training session.
specifically fruits and vegetables. Eating When you think of hydration you need to
a variety of fruits and vegetables in a think of it in terms of all day and during
multitude of colors will help to ensure training. We recommend drinking ½ oz to
that you are getting the variety of nutri- 1 oz per pound of body weight per day.
ents that you need. Some of the best Fluids should consist of primarily water
fruits are blueberries, blackberries, rasp- and other naturally low or non caloric
berries, strawberries, granny smith ap- beverages, followed by 100% fruit juices
ples, sweet cherries, and black plums. (depending upon calorie requirements).
The best vegetables are to reach for are In order to prevent dehydration during
stewed tomatoes, dark leafy greens, and excercise, you should create an individu-
anything that is rich in yellow, orange, al approach to minimizing fluid loss dur-
Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 39

doctors, trainers and Conditioning Coaches
more protein you need) and at least 2
times the amount of carbohydrate in re-
lation to protein. So, if you have a shake
with 25 g of protein you need to make
sure you get 50-75g of carbs with it. By
consuming this snack, meal, shake, or
bar that hits your protein and carbohy-
drate requirements as quickly as possible
after training, fuel repletion, muscle mass
gains, performance at your next session
or game and immune function will be op-
timized.
Supplement Wisely. There are so many
supplements on the market that it be-
comes difficult to decipher which ones
are needed. Supplements should “com-
pliment” what you are currently eating
and how you are training and a mentality
of food first supplement second should
be employed; however, there are a num-
ber of situations that warrant a basic
supplementation protocol. For example,
athletes who do not get the recommend-
ed three servings of fatty fish per week
should consider supplementing with an
Essential Fatty Acid supplement. Those
who do not eat the recommended amount
of fruits and vegetables should be taking
a multi-vitamin. Supplements that reach
beyond that scope can be taken, but
should be chosen only after an evalua-
tion with a doctor and dietitian. When
choosing any supplement, make sure
that it has a Good Manufacturing Prac-
tice and is certified to be banned sub-
stance free.
Get Back in the Kitchen. In a world of
convenience, travel, and life on the go,
we turn to restaurants, fast food, and
“quick” food for our nourishment. Res-
taurants, regardless of the type, do not
take into consideration your calorie
needs or your health when deciding upon
their menu. Eating out is tricky as the ma-
jority of items are oversized and have
significantly more fat and calories than
similar dishes made at home. At the end
of the day, if you really want to maximize
ing training by weighing in and out of or snack. As a basketball player, this is your body composition, hit your nutrient
sessions and tracking how much fluid is hands down your most important meal of and calorie goals, and just eat cleaner,
consumed. A general place to start is to the day. The mindset of many still in- you or a personal chef who is fully aware
drink 17 – 20 oz prior to exercise, 7 – 10 volves a hesitation to consume calories of your needs and goals are your best al-
oz every 10 – 20 minutes during exercise, after just burning them. In order to opti- ly. The more you can prepare your own
and 17 – 24 oz for each pound lost during mize the benefits of a training session food, the more control you will have in
exercise. During times of intense activity, and jumpstart recovery for maximal the nourishment of your body.
extreme temperatures, and long dura- gains, it is critical to consume a post When it comes down to nutrition, there is
tion, a carbohydrate electrolyte bever- workout recovery meal that blends both not one answer, one magic pill, one sup-
age is optimal in addition to water carbohydrate and protein as quickly as plement, or one tip that will give you the
because it is imperative to replace fuel you can after training, playing or practic- results you are looking for. It involves
and the fluid and salts lost from sweat. ing. It is important to get this meal, shake taking the 10 tips above, creating “Per-
Don’t Waste your Workout. Even with the or bar within 45 minutes after stopping fect Days”, and mastering the consisten-
abundance of research available on the your activity. This recovery meal should cy of implementing the strategies listed
benefits of post workout nutrition, I still contain around 25-45 g of protein (de- above into daily life until it becomes a
see athletes skipping the recovery meal pending on size, the bigger you are the habit. So, how are you doing?
page 40 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine

doctors, trainers and Conditioning Coaches

Being Strong
by Alan Stein
When It Counts
Alan Stein is the former co-owner of Elite severity of injury. Basketball is very physi- areas: ankles, knees, groin, lower back,
Athlete Training Systems, Inc. and the cally. Making the muscles, ligaments, and and hands. Your goal as a coach should be
Head Strength & Conditioning coach for tendons of the body stronger will lessen to minimize risk within the training atmo-
the nationally renowned Montrose Chris- the occurrence and/or severity of an injury sphere. You should only use the safest
tian Mustangs boy’s basketball program. (such as a pulled groin or rolled ankle), exercises available, and do your best to
Alan brings a wealth of valuable experi- and keep your players on the court. Fur- make sure that all workouts are properly
ence to his training arsenal after years of ther, you will improve their performance supervised. Players should always per-
extensive work with elite high school, on the court. fect exercise technique and form prior to
college, and NBA players. He is a sought The stronger your player is the more force utilizing additional resistance or weight.
after lecturer at basketball camps across they can produce; the more force they can
the country and is regularly featured in produce, the higher they can jump and the Additionally, players should perform every
publications such as the Winning Hoops, faster they can run. most importantly, movement in a slow, controlled, and delib-
Time Out, Dime, American Basketball strength is an attribute that can quickly di- erate fashion, with special emphasis fo-
Quarterly, Stack, and Men’s Health. minish. In as little as 3 weeks your players cused on the lower portion of each lift.
may have a noticeable decrease in Lastly, your players should work within an
Your effort and dedication as a coach, strength. That means every week that appropriate repetition range (8-15 reps for
combined with the information in this arti- goes by, your team is getting weaker. most high school and college athletes)
cle, will help you implement a sound and Come playoff time your team will be physi- and avoid maxing out (seeing how much
productive in season strength training pro- cally at their weakest when you need them weight can be lifted in one repetition), as
gram. In order for your team to reach its at their strongest! these practices can be very dangerous.
true potential on the basketball court, they Time is a precious commodity for both you
player must maintain the strength they built “It is better to look ahead and prepare and your players, especially during the
throughout the entire off season. than to look back and regret.” season.
As obvious as it sounds, strength training There are as many different strength train-
is still a greatly underestimated aspect of ing methodologies as there are ways to Therefore, the goal of your in season
preparation in many programs and often a run a full court press or a fast break. Re- strength program should be to get the best
much neglected component during the ac- gardless of what you choose, safety, time results possible in the shortest amount of
tual playing season. efficiency, and intensity should be the time. You should use a limited number of
Just remember, your players are not olym- backbone of your strength training philos- sets and exercises during each workout
pic lifters, power lifters, or bodybuilders, ophy. Your main focus during the season (1-2 sets per exercise), while minimizing
so they need not train that way. A safe, should be to maintain (if not improve) each rest intervals (very little rest in between
time efficient and productive in season player’s overall muscular size and strength. sets) to induce an overall conditioning ef-
program can take as little as 20 minutes Your in season program should address fect. This will make each workout brief,
twice a week! their major muscle groups (legs, hips, but intense!
The primary purpose of a strength training- core, and upper torso) as well as paying Intensity is the most important controllable
program is to reduce the occurrence and special attention to the most injury prone factor in determining the results for your

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players. Below a certain level of intensity,
strength training will have very little bene-
fit. I define intensity as the level of effort
exerted by the individual being trained. If a
player is capable of lifting 100 pounds 15
times and they stop at 10, the exercise was
clearly not as intense as it could have
been. Therefore, it is recommended that
each set is taken to the point of momentary
muscular fatigue - the point at which no
additional reps can be completed.

As you can see, there is not much differ-

ence between your off season strength
training philosophy and your in season phi-
losophy, with the exception of the volume.
Given your players will be practicing and
playing almost every day (at high levels of
intensity) and will be in a constant state of
fatigue from November to March, it is rec-
ommended you decrease the volume of
each workout to reduce the overall wear center of all movement, which means core require no equipment, can be done any-
and tear on their bodies. Do fewer sets and training is extremely important for basket- where (which is great when your team is
less total exercises, especially for the low- ball players. traveling), encourage communication
er body. A strong core may help prevent hip and among players, and are a very effective
lower back injuries (which are especially way to build and maintain strength.
While you certainly want your program to common among taller players). If a player Manual resistance exercises are strength
have balance, and work all muscle groups, performs a basketball push-up, he not only training exercises in which a partner or
the core is extremely important to staying strengthens the chest, shoulders, and tri- coach applies the resistance instead of
injury free and performing well on the ceps, but is a great core exercise too! using weight, such as traditional barbell,
court. The core consists of the abdominals, Manual resistance exercises are a fantas- dumbbell, or machine. It is important to
low back, oblique’s, and hips, and is the tic tool to use during the season, as they make sure that you and each member of
your team understands the
concept of manual resis-
tance, so that the exercises
are as productive as possi-
ble.
Further, it is important that
your team performs these
exercises correctly, learn-
ing to apply resistance
evenly throughout the en-
tire range of motion, and
making sure that there is
resistance on both the posi-
tive and negative portion of
exercises.
The responsibilities of the lifter include
Sample In Season Strength Training Workout: performing slow and controlled repeti-
tions, pausing at full contraction, and giv-
Basketball push-ups Forward & lateral lunge ing constant tension through a full range of
motion.
Pull-ups 1 legged DB squat More specifically, this means that they
Manual resistance lateral raise 1 legged leg curl on physio ball need to “push or pull” against the tension
DB standing shoulder press Manual resistance hip adduction the spotter provides on the positive part of
(groin) the movement and “resist” against the
tension on the negative portion.
Manual resistance rear deltoid 1 legged DB calf raise
Seated row Basketball plank hold (core) A common mistake many players make is
Dips Basketball woodchoppers (core) not resisting during the negative of exer-
Barbell curl cises. The responsibilities of the spotter
include applying variable resistance
Plate pinchers (grip) through the entire range of motion and
making sure the lifter keeps good posture.
Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 43
 news

Hall of Fame inductee

Gonzalez
reflects on past,
one-on-one

Argentina have a rich history when it

looks at the present ketball team of Argentina now and bas-
comes to international basketball. One ketball as a whole in the country?
conversation with Ricardo Gonzalez,
who was last week inducted into the FI- ricardo gonzales: There were many
BA Hall of Fame, makes that very evi- players that weren’t able to take part in
dent. the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship in
A guard on the national team that won Puerto Rico.  Of our top 10 players, the
the inaugural FIBA World Championship only one able to join the team was Luis
in Argentina 59 years ago, Gonzalez had Scola. The others weren’t able to come,
some interesting thoughts on basketball for various reasons which I don’t under-
as it was when he played, and as it is stand because of the clubs – (Manu) Gi-
now. He spoke to Cindy Garcia from FI- nobili is coming off an injury, (Andres)
BA. Nocioni was struggling. Fortunately, we
were able to qualify (for the 2010 FIBA
fiba: You must be thrilled to have been in- World Championship). I had the hope that
ducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. if we hadn’t qualified that the host coun-
try (Turkey) would actually invite Argenti-
ricardo gonzales: Many years have gone na to the World Championship based on
by and it’s very gratifying and I feel ex- our recent good results. But instead now,
tremely happy. we are calm because we have qualified.
The players that we had in that team were
fiba: Ricardo, you had many successes good, perhaps not as good as the ones
you playing career. Is there one specific that weren’t there. But they were good.
achievement that stands out? being able to do what they love doing. The It’s a good team. It’s a little bit like the
players are happy and they are good boys. Spanish national team. You might be miss-
ricardo gonzales: The World Champion- They all do a lot for the youth. They create ing one or two players and the team might
ship in 1950. Many of my teammates are foundations. They are able to take chil- feel their absence, but they always man-
still alive and we still manage to see each dren that are on the streets to attract them
other. That was the most important. There to the sport. But, I think that is the most
are others, to have gone to the (1948) fulfilling thing because money comes and
Olympics in London and to (1952) Helsinki goes. To be able to give a chance to chil-
where we finished fourth - it was also a dren who have no possibilities and with
beautiful thing. There was the Pan Ameri- their help, they can go on to realize their
can Games in Mexico where we played dreams, I find that admirable.
against the United States and beat them
(laughs). In reality, we must have played fiba: Basketball for you must have
10 times against the United States and opened many doors in terms of traveling,
I’m pretty sure we had more triumphs getting to know other cultures. Is that
than they did. It was an honor and we felt true?
extremely happy.
ricardo gonzales: One has the privilege
fiba: How has basketball changed from to have been able to travel, to get to know
the time when you played to now? the world. I was lucky to have played in
two Olympic Games, in London and Hel-
ricardo gonzales: It gives me happiness. sinki. With my club (Argentinian club Pal-
Nowadays players , whether they are in ermo), I went all over Spain. We also
the NBA or are playing in Europe, they went to Italy, we went to France. I trav-
have the good fortune of being able to as- eled around South America, Mexico. It
sure themselves of their future from a fi- was a great experience.
nancial standpoint while at the same time fiba: What is your opinion about the bas-
page 44 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
age to find a replacement because the Ricardo Gonzalez: I have been linked to with such intensity that it is spectacular. I
core of the team is always there. the club where I finished my career. I was remember that in my time, we used to
coach, which I did for many years. I am train three or four times a week. We
fiba: You have watched many games. Is an executive at the club. There are many would go to the club on the Saturday and
there a player that you identify with, that basketball clubs in Buenos Aires. Many on the Sunday you would play the game.
reminds you of you when you played? are like neighborhood clubs but most He reminds me of that kind of player,
have a lack of resources. Our club, for ex- bearing in mind that he is a professional
ricardo gonzales: In terms of position, ample, is not lacking in resources. We and that he needs to look after himself. I
Juan Carlos Navarro of Spain reminds have enough, but not too much. It’s suffi- think he is a player that wherever he is in-
me of me because I had the same role in cient. We have a gym in an area called vited, he’ll go and play.
the Argentina national team as he has for Palermo. The important thing is that these
Spain. clubs are able to help the community. fiba: What kind of emotions do you feel
That is our main aim. In Buenos Aires, it is when you watch a game of basketball?
fiba: What was your opinion of the Eu- very difficult to maintain a basketball
roBasket? neighborhood club. Before, it used to be ricardo gonzales: I love it. It makes me
easier. If you look at it, the majority of feel as though I am there, playing. I love
ricardo gonzales: I thought the quality players now come from the interior of the to see them play because the majority of
of play was marvelous. Europeans and country because the big cities are ag- players are very humble. They give every-
South Americans may have 20 quality gressive and the boys don’t go to the thing on the court. In my times, it wasn’t
players, and the Americans might have clubs as we used to when we were young. possible to spend a lot of time on basket-
100. But in a game, it’s five against five. It They have other things to do whereas in ball because we had to work and you
goes to show how basketball has a level the small villages in the interior, children could only devote two or three hours a
playing field across the world and that still go from school to the club. All of the day, if you could. They are very fortunate
has been proven time and time again. players that we have now, they come out to be able to spend all day doing what
Before, the synonym of basketball was of small clubs. they love doing, which is the most impor-
the United States whereas now you see tant thing. They are doing what they love.
for example a team like Serbia, so young fiba: Is there a player that you admire in That is a privilege and fortunately, they
and so talented – today we can say there the national team? are able to take advantage.
are a lot of synonyms for basketball.
ricardo gonzales: Besides the fact that
fiba: Did you remain involved with bas- he doesn’t seem to have injuries, Luis
ketball in any way? Scola has such a will. He lives basketball FIND MORE INTERVIEWS ON WWW.FIBA.COM

Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 45

 news

the world
in brief
Planet
basketball
started to exercise control of the boards
– she collected a total of nine boards of
the game – and China gradually built their
lead.
The 2008 Beijing Olympic semifinalists led
by as many as 23 points in the fourth quar-
ter.
Chen Nan topped the scoring for China
with 17 points and Bian Lan chipped in
with 13 points and five assists.
Chen Xiaoli had 13 and Zhang Fan added
11 to the Chinese all-round show.
Beon Yeonha had a staggering game-high
29 points for Korea and Jung Sunmin
played with characteristic composure for
her 17.
“I think it was a tribute to the hard work
First wave ticket sales of the 2010 FIBA card" will be decided during the FIBA the girls had put in the entire champion-
World Championship Central Board Meeting in Istanbul on ship,” said China coach Sun Fengwu. “We
Zone 1 tickets sold out 12th-13th December 2009 and the precise were determined to do well and that’s
The first wave of the online ticket sales of tournament schedule will be finalised af- what carried us through,” he added.
the 2010 FIBA World Championship has ter the draw on 15th December 2009. A powerful performance midway through
been very successful. The official ticket- the first half – interrupted only by the first
ing agency Biletix/Ticketmaster an- China, Korea and Japan qualigy for Czech quarter break – helped Japan outsmart
nounced on 30thSeptember, that Zone 1 Republic 2010 Chinese Taipei 72-57 and retain their
tickets of the first wave that started on The three teams from Asia that qualified bronze.
18th August 2009 are already sold out in for the 2010 FIBA World Championship for The Fumikazu Nakagawa-trained team
Ankara and in Istanbul. Preliminary Round Women in the Czech Republic are China,
Packages and options of Turkey and Korea and Japan.
U.S.A. in Zone 1 are also sold out. Fans In the Final of the FIBA Asia Champion-
will have another chance for those best ship Ma Zhengyu came off the bench and
tickets in the second and following waves. reeled off 16 points as China powered
The second wave will start on 2nd No- ahead to score a 91-71 win over defend-
vember 2009. ing champions Korea.
In order to accommodate the huge re- China, thus won their 10th gold medal in
quest from fans from abroad, the first FIBA Asia Women Championships, re-
wave of the ticket sales has been extend- gaining the top place after losing it to Ko-
ed to 15th October 2009 and fans can still rea in Incheon two years ago.
buy the remaining first wave tickets until Bian Lan, adjudged the MVP of the Cham-
then. Package prices range from 35 to 150 pionship began to
Euros. play with wonted
It is the first time in the history of FIBA fervour and Chen
events that ticket sales started as early as Xiaoli began to
one year before the event. Tickets are move in tandem
sold exclusively online through the official and China’s grip
agency Biletix/Ticketmaster. on the game grew
Details about the ticket sales can be fol- manifold.
lowed on "turkey2010.fiba.com/tickets" Chen Nan, award-
The four teams which will participate in ed the Best Cen-
the FIBA World Championship with a "wild tre award later,

page 46 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine

from the Land of the Rising Sun thus Karen Gustavo and Fernanda Neves with "Leo (Rautins, Men's Head Coach) has
bagged the third berth available to repre- 3 points each. Brazil shot 1-13 from the been very supportive. When you love a
sent FIBA Asia in the 2010 FIBA World field and made four free throws in the first sport like all of our staff do, then you want
Championship for Women. ten minutes. the sport to be great in your country, not
“We had our ups and downs in this Cham- Argentina didn't score for 8:09 minutes just for your team,” McNeill said. “There
pionship, but we have finished on an up,” between the first and second quarter, is real support at all levels. I got e-mails
gushed Nakagawa. “A few plans and a their last basket was with one minute left from Cadet and Junior National Team
few didn’t, but what I am happy about is in the first as Paula Reggiardo netted a coaches and Leo. It's good to see every-
that the plans for the most crucial game three pointer. Brazil made a 17-0 run to be body doing well."
worked,” he added. up 22-13 and finish the first half up 25-21. Final Standings
Final Standings Karen Gustavo led with 7 points, Adrian- 1. Brazil
1. China inha Pinto and Jucimara Dantas 5 points 2. Argentina
2. Korea each. Erica Sanchez had 12 points for Ar- 3. Canada
3. Japan gentina. 4. Cuba
4. Chinese Taipei In the third quarter Brazil defined the 5. Puerto Rico
5. Thailand game as Adrianinha and Alessandra com- 6. Chile
6. India bined themselves on both sides to force 7. Venezuela
turnovers and make Argentina take bad 8. Dominican Republic
Brazil with golden shots during the rest of the game. At the
performance at end of the third quarter Brazil had a 50-35 Class of 2009 inducted into FIBA
home lead. Hall of Fame
Brazil won the Gold Helen Luz along with Alessandra, who Eleven basketball greats were inducted
medal at the FIBA won the 1994 FIBA World Championship, into the FIBA Hall of Fame in Alcobendas
Americas Champion- sealed the victory for Brazil in the final (Madrid, Spain) on 22nd September.
ship for Women after minutes, especially Helen who made a The men and women who form the 2009
defeating Argentina three pointer with 46 seconds left to send class were enshrined after outstanding
71-48 to finish the their fans into a frenzy. careers as referees, players, coaches or
tournament in Cuiabá, At the end Adrianinha Pinto of Brazil was contributors.The 2009 inductees include
Brazil in front of over 9,000 fans. Canada selected as the MVP of the tournament. Bulgarian referee Artenik Arabadjian,
reached the podium and the third spot for The Brazilian point guard averaged 10.8 Spanish coaching legend Pedro Ferrández
the FIBA World Championship for Women points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists in five and playing greats Oscar ‘Big O’ Robert-
in the Czech Republic (23 Sept – 3 October games played. son of the United States, Ricardo González
2010). Canada survived in overtime against Cuba of Argentina and Jacky Chazalon of
Silvia Gustavo led Brazil with 18 points, to capture the bronze medal. The 69-59 tri- France. All except Chazalon were in Kato-
Fernanda Neves 13, Alessandra Santos 12 umph also clinched a spot for the Canadi- wice, Poland, on Sunday to watch the last
and Adrianinha Pinto 9 points with 8 re- ans at the 2010 FIBA World Championship day of the EuroBasket. They then flew to
bounds. for Women in the Czech Republic. Spain to take part in the ceremonies.
The Brazilians had a rough start, making "We have incredible chemistry, and I don't Posthumous inductees this year include
just one field goal (3 point) in the first quar- think I've worked with a group that de- American coaches Pete Newell and Kay
ter to finish down 13-7. Argentina had Eri- serves it more," Canada coach Allison Yow, Brazil basketball great Ubiratan
ca Sanchez with 6 points and Brazil had McNeill said. “We had different people Pereira, Swiss referee Marcel Pfeuti and
step up at different times and I'm just re- Argentina’s Luis Martin, a contributor.
ally proud of them." González is a national team hero of Argen-
Basketball is on a high in Canada because tina.
the men also qualified for the 2010 FIBA Among his achievements is the gold med-
World Championship in Turkey. al he helped capture for his country in

Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 47

dddd

news
1950 at the FIBA World Championship.
He made 50 appearances for his country
from 1947 to 1955 and played at the 1948
London Olympics and the 1952 Helsinki
Games.
"It's an honor to be inducted in the FIBA
Hall of Fame," González, now 84, said to
FIBA.Com. "To be recognized for my ca-
reer as a basketball player is a wonderful
feeling and it gives me great pride."
While he has long since retired as a play-
er, González still feels as passionate as
ever when it comes to Argentina and bas-
ketball. He watched nervously, he said, as
Argentina struggled at the start of last
month’s FIBA Americas Championship be-
fore eventually hitting their stride and win-
ning the bronze medal to qualify for the
2010 FIBA World Championship. Moncloa. "Basketball gives you joy al- FIBA, FIBA EUROPE join with UN in
"I feared at one point that we would not though on this occasion, there have been declaration for road safety
make it to the FIBA World Championship plenty of thrills from the Preliminary In a Declaration for Road Safety signed
but the team reacted well with Luis Scola Round." during the EuroBasket 2009, FIBA and FIBA
showing again his leadership qualities," Zapatero paid a special tribute to Pau Europe joined the Polish Ministry of Infra-
González said. Everyone in Europe has Gasol, who was voted Most Valuable Play- structure, the Polish Ministry of Sport and
been buzzing about Robertson, who was er of the EuroBasket. Gasol, who won his Tourism and the United Nations Economic
amazing at the University of Cincinnati, first-ever NBA title as a power forward Commission for Europe (UNECE) in a plea
with the gold-medal winning Team USA at with the Los Angeles Lakers in June, had to respect road traffic rules.
the Rome Olympics and in the NBA. also been named MVP of the 2006 FIBA The EuroBasket 2009 Declaration for Road
In his first five NBA campaigns, in fact, World Championship. He suffered a finger Safety: "Because a true champion re-
Robertson averaged a triple-double in injury during the preparations and missed spects the rules of the game!" - draws a
points, assists and rebounds. In 2000, he all of the friendly games but recovered in parallel between basketball and road safe-
was named ‘Player of the Century’ by the time to lead Spain. "I thank Pau Gasol's ty stating that non-respect for rules results
National Association of Coaches. commitment to the national team," Zap- in unfairness, on the road as on the court.
Bill Russell, who was inducted two years atero said. "It is exemplary. Pau, you don't The consequences of not following the
ago in the first class of the FIBA Hall of know how much you contribute positively rules on the road are, however, much more
Fame, was also in Europe this week to to the national team." severe and sadly, many people do not play
take part in the ceremonies. Zapatero then looked ahead to next year by the rules when they get behind the
when Spain will attempt to defend their wheel.In an effort to reach out to people's
Royal reception for golden boys world title, saying: "We now hope that the everyday lives, the Declaration offers a
Spain's EuroBasket winners were wel- good run continues at the Olympic Games new perspective on road rules. It tries to
comed home by King Juan Carlos, Queen in London but before that, we have the FI- counter the "avoid getting caught" attitude
Sofia and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodri- BA World Championship in Turkey, al- with one of respect for fellow road-users.
guez Zapatero on 21st September in Ma- though we cannot ask you for more." It also summarises 7 simple rules which
drid less than 24 hours after their title After meeting with the Prime Minister, have proven beyond any doubt, time and
triumph in Katowice. Spain went to celebrate at the Cibeles time again, that they save lives:
Gold medalists at the 2006 FIBA World fountain in Madrid where 5,000 fans were  Do NOT use mobile phones while driv-
Championship, silver-medal winners two waiting for Los Chicos de Oro. ing.
years ago at the EuroBasket in Spain and Final Standings  Do NOT drive whilst under the influ-
runners-up at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 1. Spain ence of alcohol and/or drugs.
the Spaniards overcame a difficult start to 2. Serbia  Stay within the speed limit.
the 2009 event in Poland and won five 3. Greece
straight games by an average of 19 4. Slovenia
points. 5. France
They defeated a 6. Croatia
young but excel- 7. Russia
lent Serbia team in 8. Turkey
the final on Sunday 9. F.Y.R. of Macedonia
night, 85-63. 9. Poland
"I followed the 11. Germany
games and you 11. Lithuania
have played in an 13. Great Britain
impressive man- 13. Israel
ner," Zapatero said 13. Bulgaria
at the Palacio de la 13. Latvia
page 48 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine
 Share the road safely with pedestrians vengeance and led by
and cyclists. as many as 16 points
 Wear seatbelts - every day, every time, but ended up scrap-
both in the front and back of the vehi- ing a 61-60 win on
cle. Sunday with more
 Use approved child restraint systems. than 10,000 fans look-
 Wear approved helmets while riding ing on in San Juan.
two-wheelers. Carlos Arroyo had a
On a global scale, 1.2 million people die in chance to win the
road traffic crashes every year, with mil- contest at the buzzer
lions more injured and disabled. The Dec- for Puerto Rico but
laration makes the point that these crashes his three-pointer from
are NOT accidents but events that can be the right corner was
prevented through daily action and aware- off target. "It was dif-
ness. Through its Road Traffic Safety Fo- ficult, but we were
rum, UNECE has established a multilateral able to win and to be champions is always lans a tough battle.
legal framework for road safety which very nice," Anderson said. "I believe that After finishing the
covers all factors influencing international this title is the first of a series that this first quarter with a
road traffic, including the driver and the generation will win." Brazil, Puerto Rico, 19-15 lead, both
vehicle, in the Convention on Road Traffic bronze-medal winners Argentina and Can- teams went to the
(1968), and which prescribes common ada all qualified for the 2010 FIBA World locker room with
norms for traffic light signals and uniform Championship in Turkey. FIBA Americas tight 35-34 advan-
conditions for road markings in the Con- giants Team USA will also be at next year's tage for Cote
vention on Road Signs and Signals (1968) big event after qualifying as last year's d’Ivoire.
Olympic champions. Angola took
Brazil confidence now soaring ahead Before thinking about Turkey, the Brazil- charge in the third
of 2010 FIBA World Championship ians want to savor their victory over Puer- quarter but was
Anderson Varejão and Brazil are celebrat- to Rico. "We knew the final would be a never really able to pull away. The lead
ing a gold-medal triumph after beating very difficult game," Brazil guard Leandro changed a total of 16 times, and the score
hosts Puerto Rico in the FIBA Americas Barbosa said after pouring in a game-high was tied no less than 6 times during the
Championship title game on 6th Septem- 24 points. "Therefore, even when we built game.
ber. But hopes are a good advantage, the game wasn't won. Angola’s experience with a team that plays
also high in Puer- In the final minute, we possessed enough together in almost the same composition
to Rico and Cana- calm to withstand the pressure and win since 4 years made the difference.
da that also the first of many titles for this new team." Leading scorers for Angola were Carlos
booked a ticket Brazil center Tiago Splitter was extremely Morais with 21 points, whilst Joaquim
for the 2010 FIBA happy. "We managed to overcome the Gomes and Olimpio Cipriano added 16
World Champion- home team and a crowd of 10,000," he points each.
ship in Turkey. said. "Let's celebrate because we deserve Pape Amagou led the way for Cote d’Ivoire
Beaten by Puerto it and we share this achievement with the with 18 points.
Rico earlier in the Brazilian fans." Tunisia gained the third African spot for
competition, Bra- Final Standings the FIBA World Championship in Turkey in
zil hit back with a 1. Brazil the bronce medal game in securing a 83-
2. Puerto Rico 68 triumph against Cameroon, the surprise
3. Argentina silver medal winners from two years ago
4. Canada in Angola.
5. Dominican Republic The North Africans will have their first ap-
6. Uruguay pearance at a FIBA World Championship.
7. Mexico “This is the biggest success for Tunisian
8. Panama basketball”, said Coach Adel Tlatli after
the game. “We do not know what to ex-
Angola, Cote d’Ivoire and Tunisia pect in Turkey, but we will do our best to
earn spot for Turkey 2010 present our country and the whole African
Angola has captured on 15th August in the continent.”
Africa Union Hall in Tripoli, Libya, its sixth The Tunisians were controlling the game
consecutive title in a much contested all the time and went into halftime with a
game against Cote d’Ivoire (82 – 72). 40-31 lead. At the end of the third quarter
It is the 10th overall title for the basketball Cameroon was able to pull back to 56-50,
crazy country from Southern Africa, and but at the end of the fourth quarter Tunisia
Angola will represent Africa as reigning took control.
champion at the FIBA World Champion- Amine Rzig was leading the way for Tuni-
ship for the third time in a row. sia with 20 points, and Cyrille Makanda
The “Elephants”, the nickname for the was with 18 points the best scorer for
team from Cote d’Ivoire, gave the Ango- Cameroon.

Fiba Assist Magazine | 40 2009 | Page 49

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news

Final Standings to dissipate as the fourth quarter began. Final Standings

1. Angola As a matter of fact, this was the first time 1. Iran
2. Cote d'Ivoire China lost a gold medal game in FIBA 2. China
3. Tunisia Asia Championship history – the hosts 3. Jordan
4. Cameroon carried an impressive 14 gold-2 bronze 4. Lebanon
5. Nigeria haul from 17 appearances into the final. 5. Chinese Taipei
6. Centr African Rep “The whole idea of a final game to seize 6. Qatar
7. Senegal the initiative early,” said Matic. “I’m hap- 7. Korea
8. Mali py things fell in place early for us. And 8. Philippines
9. Rwanda we didn’t lose focus after that,” he add- 9. Kazakhstan
10. Egypt ed. 10. Japan
11. Libya Wang topped the scoring for China with 11. Kuwait
12. Morocco 24 points, but played with wonted form 12. United Arab Emirates
13. Cape Verde only in the third quarter when he scored 13. India
14. Mozambique 11 of them. 14. Uzbekistan
15. South Africa The third was the only period when Iran 15. Indonesia
16. PR of Congo allowed China to keep the scoring level. 16. Sri Lanka

Asian contingent for Turkey comprised of Jordan Takes Bronce New Zealand
China, Iran and Jordan Ayman Idais and Rasheim Wright scythed claim second
The three teams through the rival defence during each FIBA Oceania
that will represent other’s slump in form to help Jordan to Championship
FIBA Asia at the an 80-66 win over fellow West Asian na- A sublime perfor-
FIBA World Cham- tion Lebanon in the bronze medal play- mance from Kirk
pionship 2010 in off on Sunday. Penney and an in-
Turkey are Iran, The win helped the Mario Palma trained credible third
China and Jordan. Jordan to book their entry into the 2010 quarter from the
But it was hard- FIBA World Championship in Turkey. New Zealand Tall
fought battle. “We have been working on this for the Blacks has deliv-
When Iran won last three years,” Jordan coach Mario ered them their
the title in the Palma said. “I think Jordan came into second ever FIBA Oceania Championship
2007 FIBA Asia Tianjin as one of the teams capable of with a 100-78 victory over Australia in
Championship at winning the Championship. We fell short Wellington. Australia won the first game
Tokushima, one question remained unan- in that, but today we were focused,” Pal- of the home and away series with 84-77.
swered: Could Iran have won if China had ma said. Penney finished with 24 points, 10 assists
played with their full team? Lebanon finished without a medal for the and 7 rebounds in a remarkable display
The answer to that question came two first time in three championships, having that guided his young team to its biggest
years later in the form of Iran’s thumping bagged with the silver in both 2005 and ever winning margin over its powerhouse
70-52 win in the gold-medal game of the 2007 FIBA Asia Championships. neighbour. He received outstanding sup-
25th FIBA Asia Championship. Jordan had never beaten Lebanon com- port from Mika Vukona, who at just 198cm
Hamed EHadadi, who had scored 31 ing into this Championship – having lost dominated Australia's inexperienced
points in Iran’s final triumph two years all their three previous encounters – but frontcourt with 25 points, 12 rebounds
ago, was once again the leading scorer in Tianjin, Jordan opened their campaign and 2 blocks. Alex Pledger was also a
for his side with 19 points. “There’s a with an 84-67 win over Lebanon and fin- major factor in the paint, recording 15
huge difference between then and now,” ished it beating the same rivals. points and 13 rebounds to continue his
said EHadadi. “Playing against China’s “What matters is the timing of the win,” emergence. Australia's shining light was
first team in China is pressure enough. bemoaned Lebanon coach Dragan Raca the persistent play of 2006 FIBA World
But we were determined to carry out said. Championship player and Olympian Brad
what our coach Newley, who finished with 20 points and
told us,” he 5 rebounds but could not carry his team-
added. mates to victory. Though the result of the
Never had any game was beyond doubt, if Australia
team dominat- could bring the margin under 7 points it
ed a gold med- would retain the FIBA Oceania Champi-
al game against onship on aggregate, but Vukona domi-
China in the FI- nated the boards and was steady from
BA Asia Cham- the free throw line as New Zealand
pionship the closed out their remarkable 22-point win.
way Veselin Both countries have qualified for the FI-
Matic’s team BA World Championship in Turkey next
did on Sunday year, with New Zealand taking Oceania's
night in front a first seed into the tournament.
capacity crowd
– which began FInd more news on fiba.com

page 50 | 40 2009 | Fiba Assist Magazine