Some time ago I listened to basketball interviews in Italian, now I have found one and I will try to summarize it for you, if you are interested I can make more Don't expect to be a fast thread, I have things to do other than listen the interview and translate so the end could be in some hours
The interview is to Adam Filippi, an italian talent scout and shooting coach that worked for the Lakers and was part of the team of Phil Jackson The interview is from the all star break of the 2010-2011 season
>Why player performance changes so much from season to playoffs? They play too many games, 82 + playoffs, you don't train enough and you play too much, it's very hard for rookies when they "hit the wall" and for europeans that are used to play hard every game but less less less games and train a lot during the season, similar thing happens to americans in Europe that are not used to train a lot during the week and play only one game during the weekend NBA games would be reduced to have more quality but the NBA will never do it because they make a lot of money from every game
>young Blake Griffin He's a talent with amazing body but it all depends on who will work with him, if there's a lockout he could work months on his flaws and come back better, I hear he's an hard worker Griffin should take Karl Malone as example, they both were an amazing athlete with poor technique, Malone worked hard and even won the MVP, if Blake does the same he can be a top 10 players
>Charles Barkley He was awesome because if you see him irl he's like 193cm but played PF and grabbed so many rebounds, you need to be really special to do that
>about the All Star Game For young players is amazing, the first all star is special for everyone, but after many some players want to avoid it, for example Shaq had a minor foot injury and asked to be put in injury list to avoid the all star game and NBA got mad about it He doesn't watched a recent all star game, watched until '89 because had less time and never really liked the idea, watched again the '92 for Magic and it was awesome, never watched again Some players, mostly europeans, don't understand the all star game, they are not used to the black playground mentality so it's hard for them play a game of fancy passing and dunks without really trying to win
>All star saturday He still watch them because with highlights and everything it's fast to see them and because as shooting coach he's interested in the 3pt contest
>Slam dunk contest Was more fun in the past because there were big players like Wilkins and Jordan, now they usually call rookies and bench players and people care less about them Stars don't want to partecipate because they don't want the Carter effect, be remembered only as great dunkers Some players are amazing dunkers in game but they have no creativity for the contest, Shannon Brown is crazy in game but during the contest he's not creative and has not enough personality to win
>3pt contest It's different from a game, you have to shoot fast and some players jump a lot and need more time, players that almost no jump usually win the contests Steve Nash is statistically the best shooter of all time but never did good in the contest because he needs too much time
>About 2011 3pt contests Dorell Wright meh Pierce and Durant are great in game but will not be good in the contest James Jones will win because that's his job, he really never miss Ray Allen is great both in game and in the contest, can win (James Jones won that)
>Celtics won 3 games in the season with the Heat Yeah ok but season doesn't count too much, when they will meet in the playoffs they will know each other very well, it all depends of Boston, if they are healty
>Spurs great in the season, Lakers doesn't seem that good this year Both need to be healty, Duncan is not decisive as he was in the past, only two teams know how to beat the Lakers in a playoff series are Spurs and Celtics but then anything can happen (this is the Mavs season)
>Last season for Phill Jackson? Probably, but is also true that he always want to win so he could stay a bit more depending on his chances to win
>They play too many games, 82 + playoffs, you don't train enough and you play too much
The games act as training sessions. And the difference in the number of games has always been overblown. During the 2010's, a top16 EL team would typically play - at least 58 games from league + EL regular seasons - 9 to 15 games in play offs (top 8 EL and top 4 league, add more games if they go further) - something like 5 to 8 games for their local cups - a dozen pre-season friendlies
Just with those, you already are above 80 games per season. And for international players playing games with their NT during summer, you could add 15 to 20 more games. So in the end, a lot of players in Europe would play 80 to 90 games per season, which is still less than an NBA player of obviously, but the gap is far from being as big as people say it is. The real difference is the hectic pace in NBA that begins 1 month later than the European seasons, which leads to stupid shit like b2b2b, 4 games in 5 days, or even 5 games in 7 days sometimes.
Angel Mitchell
>OKC They worked very well, he knows they wanted Oden too, they got Durant that could be a top 20 all time and created a good team with good picks and not many money, drafted Westbrook, Ibaka, Green, Harden the problem is to resign them, they can't take everyone Durant is really a nice guy, works hard, good teammate, no distractions, good with media, the supersta you want They got Sefolosha that he liked a lot, he wanted to draft him for the Lakers Now that OKC worked well they can attract free agets at low prices, he sees them a potential contenders in the next years (OKC went to the finals the year after)
>How important is the location for free agents? A lot and it's sad because some teams can attract more than others, it's ok for players to ask for a trade, not ok request specific teams even if some players have the power to do it But he understand that players have families and living in San Francisco is another thing than living in Memphis He remember a story about Dino Radja requesting a trade from Boston and giving a list of teams ok with him and rick Pitino replied "we are not a travel agency"
>This has influenced "the decision" of LeBron James? Sure, 50% was about the city, but Miami has no basketball culture, they are a football state
>Selecting locations of summer camps Same as before, you want nice places, you want players to be relaxed, no one wants to train in Cleveland or Minneapolis, they want Las Vegas, Orlando, these places
>Italians in the NBA, after years would you still pick Bargnani at the #1? He didn't wanted to pick him at the #1 back in that draft, in his scouting report LaMarcus Aldridge was his #1 in that draft, then Brandon Roy Gallinari is the only italian really ready for the NBA but in his scouting report he was too injury prone so he wasn't in his top 10 for that but then he saw him working a lot on his shoot that before was normal and now is very good and even with the injury problems he's a top 5 of that draft Belinelli is also ready for the NBA but changed too many teams, needs to find a place to stay, in New Orleans he found CP3 and seem the right place for him
>There are italian players that could go in the NBA right now? Not now, there are talents but first you need to show you can be good in europe and not go in the NBA without being someone in Europe, all the players that did that then failed
>What about Dirk? Dirk is a special case, was really a risky pick, "I saw his games in german B2 and the level was horrible, I could score 20 ppg there now that I'm old" Dirk was never tested in a game with good players and at the time was a crazy pick
>Italian coach in the NBA? Ettore Messina and Sergio Scariolo are the two that could be coach in the NBA, they are considerated there He thinks Messina is one of the best coach in the world but doesn't fit well in the NBA and players don't know him because they don't know Europe, and in the NBA reputation is important
>How much the average player knows about basketball? They know shit, in some cases it's embarassing, they love playing but they don't know the game Tex Winter used to ask the players about things like how much the ball weighs, how long is the court, the only thing they were able to say was the height of the basket Andrew Bynum was embarassing and confused Wilt for Kareem Story about players in Houston that asked "were you a player?" to Patrick Ewing
>Forgotten players Too many players no one remembers but he loved as kid, Gus Williams, Jamal Wilkes, Norm Nixon, Dennis Johnson, the kind of player he liked to love, not the superstar but that good player who made the team
>You both worked with Kobe and Phil Jackson He was deluded by Phil when he made a book and spoke badly about Kobe, he exaggerated They both want to win so they made peace because they know they need each other Phil Jackson has a great charisma, great voice, great personality, players can't stop listening, he knows how to handle the players
>About Kobe, why he's so good? Mentality, there are many players with a better body, many with a better talent, but no one is obsessed like him Some people say he shoots too much, the fuck, he's a scorer, that's his job, in the NBA you don't lose reputation for missing a shot, you lose reputation if you don't take the resposability People don't understand that he's technically the best player in history because works all day on that, he's the best post player in the NBA right now and he's a SG Not even Jordan was on his level becuase MJ had a better body and a better talent
>About LeBron People compare him to Jordan and Kobe but that's not how should be, he's so much bigger and stronger, best body to play basketball and he has a talent too, needs to work a lot on his game and on his mentality to be on that level He now moved to Miami, not sure he can win now because 3 superstars are not enough, you need teamwork, you need role players, you win the title with Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers, those players are the key to win
>Free agents, Howard, Paul, Deron He doesn't like when franchise players leave their teams, was sad when Olajuwon ended his career in Toronto, but if you don't have the team to win and you want to leave he understands The player that will change team for sure is CP3 Deron Williams will stay probabily because Jerry Sloan left, seem he wanted to keep Deron on his place but the leadership did not side with him so he decided to quit
>Doug Collins He says always a winner, never a champion, he was a great palyer and he's a great coach but for years he refused becuase he made great money as analyst
>Players now leave uni after 1 year to be NBA players It's not good for the quality of the player because you can learn a lot and be more ready for the NBA, but he understands that if you are a poor guy from the ghetto and you have to pick between 4 years at the college and a lot of money in the NBA you pick the NBA because you need those money and in many cases they end to be a second round, maybe an injury, not a great season and then no more contracts and the train is gone Too many you players listen to friends that don't know shit and do bad decisions, the NBA rookie orientation is helping in this and helps a lot europeans That time Dorrell Wright, Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley were with prostitutes and weed during the rookie orientation it was probably more than that but it was covered
>Millsap All scouts and GM are mad because he went late in the second round, no one selected him, now he's getting better and better every year, plays hard, good guy, works a lot
>Hard to select players in the draft You have to pick the best you have when it's your turn, if he always had the #1 he would never pick a non all star He wanted to pick Marc Gasol at the first round but other people didn't wanted so when he was still available at the 48 he said "thanks NBA" and selected him It's hard to do the first picks because if you pick a burst it's your fault, if you pick a shit player with the second round no one cares He liked Ibaka and Patty Mills when the interst on them was low but had no chance to draft them
>Jordan as manager He's a shit manager, I can say this in Italy, in America they will be mad at me, he's there only because of his name, MJ selected Kwame Brown at the #1 that's the worst player he ever saw considering the body
I'd add the biggest difference between regular season vs. playoff NBA games is the rotations tighten up. That has a bigger effect than anything else, guys who get decent rotation minutes may go the entire playoffs without touching the court. It's also why injuries go up.
Bentley White
Thanks user, good read, fun to see how true some of these things become (Millsap) and how full of shit others are (LBJ not winning in Miami, lulz, being contrarian doesn't always pay off)
Jace Brown
>LBJ not winning in Miami He said LeBron not winning in Miami that year, and he was right because they lost to the Mavs He said they need to find chemistry and one year is not enough, in fact they lost that year but then won
Xavier Fisher
Thanks OP, I don't give a shit about basketball but that was an interesting read
Leo Gutierrez
>The Carter effect Never heard of that before, I'd say that since VC rarely had success in the playoffs that played a bigger part in him only being known as a dunker than him winning that contest.
Kevin Reed
why should we care what an Italian nigger says? kobe wasnt even a good shooter
Christian Hernandez
Kobe is an Italian nigger
Joseph Fisher
What's the next bullshit you will say? Magic is a bad passer?
