So, GP will be attending the Euroleague Final Four in Paris,France and he is going to check out some players...

But who in particular ?

The four teams that play at the tournament are : Regal Barcelona vs CSKA Moskow and Partizan Belgrade vs Olympiakos. 

The winners of the semis will advance to the final...

Those teams have a lot of good players and I made a list of  some players that could be on GP's notebook when he returns...

Continue reading this post »

According to this article from AS ( Spanish newspaper )he will be in the states on Sunday ( written June 13th )

I made a translation from my -not so good- Spanish and an online translator but i think u ll get the picture

 Ricky travels today to the United States after stating yesterday on the controversy that maintains with the DKV Joventut. Rubio will visit several American cities to to see them and to  know the franchises of the NBA that want his services.

"I try to meet with the leaders, to see the facilities, to visit the cities… But I am not going to train  with anybody. There we will study which is the most interesting option. Not yet I have decided if I will stay or not in the Draft", he affirmed during the presentation of the Campus that takes his name and that will be celebrated, from the 19 to the 25 of July, in Sant Miquel of the Camp (Gerona).

On its problem with his team, Ricky was restrictive:

"It is certain that a demand has appeared, but rather is a form to know if the clause is correct  in case i leave for the NBA. I do not believe that we re-approach it in any way. A mountain is becoming of a sand grain. I have not made anything bad nor I consider that this affects my image".

Rubio  insisted on its future:

"If I remain in Europe, it would not play in another club then DKV".

And on this article from La Marca ( another newspaper ) he said that he has already spoken with Marc Gasol about the Grizzlies :

"I have spoken with him, and he has said to me that it is a good team to go, sure, and all the good things that will come if we play together. That he is a positive aspect, but i have to watch all the teams to see which one i desire"

This report also confirms that he has a ticket on the 13th or 14th of June but he does not know the schedule yet .

Also his buyout is 4.75 mil. Euros ( that's about 6.7 m USD )

I have been  reading for quite a while the name of Messina floating around here but other then the general knowledge that he is a very successful european coach who wants to come to the NBA , little else can be found .

So i decided to make this fanpost with as much information about him as i can find

PERSONAL INFO:

He is Italian (duh ) 50 years old , married with 2 chldren , has a personal site (in Italian ) , writes a blog (in english - some of the titles are in Russian but he writes in english) , has written 4 books about basketball and teaches in basketball seminars .

THE FACTS :

He has been coaching mens basketball since 1989 . Before that,  he was a youth coach for several italian teams . He has won:

• 8 national championships ( 4 Italian -4 Russian including this year's )
• 8 national cups ( its a competition where 16 teams compete in a single-elimination tournament ) ( 6 Italian - 2 Russian )
• 5 European titles ( 4 Euroleague - the top competition in Europe - and one Uleb cup - the second in order European competition )
• His wins - losses are 783-229 0.774( 1989-2009 including all the competitions  )

NBA PLAYERS HE HAS COACHED :

• David Andersen ( not yet an NBA player but wants to be )
• Manu Ginobilli
• Marco Jaric ( before he met his wife )
• Tyus Edney
• Trajan Langdon
• Charles O'Bannon
• Maurice Evans
• Andrea Bargnani
• Viktor Khryapa
• Zoran Planinic
• Terence Morris
• Marco Belinelli

MY PERSONAL OPINION ( IF U GIVE A **** ) :

I can only say what i have come to understand watching him coach (i ' ve been to games where he was coaching only  2 times ) through TV .

His teams in Italy were not the powerhouses and all ve been struggling at the moment that he took them over. But when he left ( always on his own will ) they were ! And when he went to  CSKA Moskow ( one of the biggest club outside the NBA ) they havent won a Euroleague Title since 1971 , and in 4 years he led them to 4 final fours and he won the trophy twice .

He has the ability to create a  very balanced roster with the resources he has each time , to make players play for him and to take them to the next level , his teams always play according to plan , can develop young players (and actually likes doing so ) .

He is a great tactician . I was reading the blog post by Jonathan Givony on Draftexpress about the Final Four in Berlin where , among others , talks with Gregg Popovich

Jonathan Givony: When you’re watching games like these, are you still looking at them from the eyes of a coach? Seeing the stuff they run and trying to pick up a few things here and there?

Gregg Popovich: Oh sure. I’m much more anal in that sense. In this game for example I saw a great out of bounds play that I’m going to steal for sure. I like to see how different coaches manage the game. How they sub. What they’re doing offensively and defensively. There is always something you can learn. If you think there is nothing else to learn, than you better retire.

It was in the game between CSKA Moskow - Barcelona and the play was after a timeout which resulted to a dunk + 1 for CSKA .

Ok so it was just play ... maybe he was lucky ... so what about this

At the end of the 2006-07 season, Ferry suggested Brown expand his knowledge of European ball and its players by going overseas to spend a couple weeks with a particular coach/team.

"I told him I would think about it, but I really didn't want to get pressed in that direction. I felt I could grow enough by staying home and reading basketball books and watching film."

Then again, decided Brown, "How can I tell players, if they want to get better they've got to get into the gym and work on their weaknesses if I resist doing it?"

So, two Julys ago in Las Vegas, the Cavs recruited Etore Messina, a distinguished Italian coach to partake in all team functions. Late that summer, Brown flew to the mountain village of Brunico and fully interacted with Messina's Moscow club. The reciprocal process was repeated last summer.

"Doing this was one of the best ideas that wasn't mine," Brown chuckles in all seriousness.

I guess Brown learned a thing or two ...

HIS OWN WORDS:

In January  SacBee writer Scott Howard-Cooper wrote about him and these are some of Messina's own thoughts about whether he should come or not to the NBA.

"The system is different, the rules are different, the officiating is different, the relationship with the players is different," Messina said. "A lot of things are different. So you need time to adjust. On the other end, which organization would, let's say, bet on the ability of the coach to adjust to all this? I don't know. You need a special organization. You need a special situation for this to happen, and I don't know if this will happen soon.

"Honestly, the language, I don't think that would be a problem. Credibility, for sure. It's the same thing, from a certain point of view, when you talk about college coaches going to the NBA. You see how many excellent college coaches have a hard time in moving from college to the NBA. For us, it's the same thing. Our system, it's something in between the NBA and college, as for the role of the coach. We are in between the two situations, but more, I would say, closer to the college level than to the NBA"

CONCLUSION

Hiring Messina is a risk . But so is hiring an NBA assistant or a college coach . And Messina has something more then they have . He was won . A lot ! Not with kids , not with girls , not as an assistant but as a coach in professional men's basketball

He is worth talking the risk IMO

( this is my first post so be kind to me :P )