spain's winning offense - fiba

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Raphael chillioussuperman drills for post players

ettore messina - lele molingame plan for the 2006 euroleague final

carl jungebrandTHE IMPORTANCE OF psychological strength in officiating

predrag bogosavljevwelcome to basketball land

rich dalatrifunctional strength training for basketball

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SPAIN’S WINNING OFFENSE

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COACHESFUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALLBargnani: The Development of a Young Big Man 4by Francesco Vitucci

Superman Drills for Post Players 8by Raphael Chillious

OFFENSEGame Plan for the 2006 Euroleague Final 12by Ettore Messina and Emanuele Molin

Spain’s Winning Offense 16

deFENSE The Zone Press Defense 22by Lucien Van Kersschaever

HOOP MARKETPrinceton Offense 28by Raffaele Imbrogno

REFEREES AND GAMEADMINISTRATIONThe Importance of Psychological Strength in Officiating 30by Carl Jungebrand

Right or Wrong? 34

SPORT MARKETING AND MANAGEMENTexecutives and marketingWelcome to Basketball Land 35by Predrag Bogosavlijev

FIBA RESEARCH AND STUDY CENTREBasketballs for Everybody, Everywhere 40

DOCTORS, CONDITIONING COACHES AND TRAINERSCONDITIONING COACHESFunctional Strength Training for Basketball 42by Rich Dalatri

NEWSONE-on-oneJimenez: “This is a Great Moment for Spanish Basketball” 44

Hinrich: “... We’re Going to Have to Play Better FIBA Basketball” 45

PLANET basketballThe World in Brief 46

OFF-THE-COURTThe Odd - The Funny - The Unusual 50

FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE | 22 2006 | PAGE 3

FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE IS A PUBLICATION OF FIBAInternational Basketball Federation51 – 53, Avenue Louis CasaïCH-1216 Cointrin/Geneva SwitzerlandTel. +41-22-545.0000, Fax +41-22-545.0099www.fiba.com / e-mail: [email protected] COLLABORATION WITH Giganti-BT&M, CantelliEditore, ItalyPARTNER WABC (World Association ofBasketball Coaches), Dusan Ivkovic President

Editor-in-ChiefGiorgio Gandolfi

Editorial Office: Cantelli Editore, V. Saliceto 22/E, 40013 Castel Maggiore(BO), Italy, Tel. +39-051-6328811, Fax +39-051 6328815E-mail: [email protected] in Italy.Copyright 2006 by FIBA.The magazine is published 6 times per year.FIBA, Cantelli Editore and the Editor-in-Chiefare not responsible for the opinions expressedin the articles. All rights reserved. The National Federation and their affiliates canreproduce any part or all the magazine for theirinternal use, but not sell any part or all of themagazine to an external publisher without thewritten permission of FIBA.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSMirco Melloni, Corrado de Belvis, LisaCavallini, Gastone Marchesi, Gerald Couzensand Raffaele Imbrogno; Patrick Hunt and MirkoOcokoljic for the article about Spain offense;Fédération Royale Belge des Sociétés deBasketball for the pictures of the article ofLucien Van Kersschaever.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2006 FIBA CALENDARmarch 200731.03 - 02.04 NCAA Men’s Final Four in

Atlanta, USA

april 200701-03.04 NCAA Women’s Final Four

in Cleveland, USAtbd FIBA Asia Championship for

Women in Incheon, Korea

june 200729.06 - 08.07 FIBA U21 World

Championship for Women in Moscow / Moscow Region, Russia

july 200712-22.07 FIBA U19 World

Championship for Men inVancouver, Canada

19-29.07 FIBA Asia Championship for Men in Tokushima, Japan

26.07 - 05.08 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women in Bratislava, Slovakia

august 200701.08 FIBA Africa Championship

for Men in Angolatbd FIBA Americas

Championship for Men in Venezuela

September 200704 - 16.09 FIBA European

Championship for Men in Spain

24.09 - 07.10 FIBA European Championship for Women in Chieti, Italy

tbd FIBA Oceania Championship for Men

tbd FIBA OceaniaChampionship for Women

tbd FIBA Americas Championship for Women in Valdavia, Chile

OCTOBER 2007tbd FIBA World League for

Women Final Round in Russia

december 2007tbd FIBA Africa Championship

for Women in Senegal

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE:A one-year (6 issues) subscription to FIBA Assist Magazine

costs Euro 40 (europe), a n d euro 45 (outside europe) to be payed in one of the following ways:

Payment with postal current account n. 28300408 headed to Cantelli Editore(Only for subscription from Italy) Payment with banking transaction c/o Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna ABI 06385 - CAB 36740 - c/c 07400012796S - CIN SIBAN: IT73S063853674007400012796SSWIFT: CRBOIT2BXXXPayment with credit card connecting at the website www.shop.cantelli.netPlease, fill in the subscription form that you can find on fiba.com, and send it, including the receipt, to:BY MAIL: Cantelli Editore - Via Saliceto, 22/E 40013 - Castel Maggiore (Bo) - ItalyBY FAX: ++39 051 6328816FOR INFORMATION: ++39 051 6328836(from 9 am to 1 pm Central European Time)

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| 22 2006 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE

FIBA EUROPE

by Francesco Vitucci

COACHES - FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL

BARGNANI: THE DEVELOPMENTOF A YOUNG BIG MAN

Francesco Vitucci started his coachingcareer as a coach of youth teams and thenworked as an assistant coach of ReyerVenice (Italy), before becoming head coachin 1993 in the Italian A2 Division. In 1996,after winning the championship and havinghis team going to the A1 Division, he waselected Coach of the Year of A2 Division. Hecoached Imola in A2, leading the team tothe A1 Division in 1998. From 2001 to 2003 hecoached Scafati in A2, and then becameassistant coach at the Benetton Treviso,first under Ettore Messina and currentlywith David Blatt. His teams have won twoItalian Cups and the Italian A1 Division titlein 2006.

As it was for Andrea Bargnani, the firstpick of the Toronto Raptors in the 2006 NBAdraft, the development work of a young bigman involves special, careful, patient, andwise teamwork that cannot skip over anyfundamental components. Following thedirections of the head coach (in the case ofBargnani, his coaches were EttoreMessina and then David Blatt), whichdetermines the practical use of the playeron the court, it is necessary to integratephysical-athletic development with thetechnical development.Andrea Bargnani (m. 2,11, kg. 108/6'11", 240pounds) is a power forward with great skills

and an outstanding physical structure. It hasbeen satisfying for all those, who haveworked with him, to see him develop into thebest young player in Italy, and, perhaps, in allof Europe. Nicknamed "Mago" (Italian for"magician"), Bargnani has the innate skills tomagically create something from nothingand come up with effective solutions on thecourt with the maximum of simplicity. A lot ofthese seemingly "magical" skills came fromthe hours of hard work that he put in on thepractice court with his coaches.

DRILLSControl of the body and ball while running:Dynamic situation (fastbreak)

DRILL 1The player, 4, starts with a sprint right fromthe mid-court line, gets the ball from thecoach and, while running at maximumspeed (without travelling), does the fol-lowing:1. With the receiving hand, he dribbles

two times and, driving straight to thebasket, dunks. Everything is performedat maximum speed (diagr. 1).

2. With the opposite hand, takes two drib-bles, and dunks.

VariationsFinishing with power move or jump shot.

ProgressionIntroduce a change of dribbling hand atmaximum speed (diagr. 2). Another coach is on the court facing theplayer, on the other side of the court. If heraises both hands with fingers spread, thisis a signal for the player that, just as theplayer receives the ball from one coach, hemust pass the ball to other coach, receivesit back, and then immediately shoots(diagr. 3). Pay attention to maintain balan-ce, the height and control of the ball, withthe eyes looking forward in all drills.Note: We increase the quickness of theexecution only when the player can masterhandling the ball with maximum efficiency.The drill is run on the right, center, and leftlanes of the half court.

DRILL 2The player starts with a sprint from themid-court line, receives the ball, and stopsat the three-point line. He will:1. Shoot (diagr. 4). 2. Make a crossover dribble, drive to the

basket and shoot (diagr. 5). 3. Make a crossover dribble with a

change of dribbling hand in a situa-tion of "traffic", it means to add a pas-sive obstacle, such as a chair or acoach, and then an active obstacle, adefender.

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VariationsFrom crossover, a frontal change of the drib-bling hand, to a reverse change of the drib-bling hand, to a behind-the-back change ofthe dribbling hand (diagr. 6). Bargnani's typical move: Crossover, a longstep and a hop after the first dribble, and thenan immediate lay up, alternatively with bothhands. Drill to be repeated on the three lanesof the court: right, center, and left.

ProgressionAdd an obstacle inside the three-point line(an assistant acting as a passive defender,and, later on, a player acting as an activedefender), so when the offensive player getsthe ball, he must react to the move of thedefender and take the right decision:▼ Obstacle distant: shoot (diagr. 7). ▼ Obstacle closing out to the right side:

drive to the left and make a lay up, andvice versa (diagr. 8).

▼ Obstacle anticipated: back-door cut,receive, and lay up (diagr. 9).

When, instead of an assistant, we put an acti-ve defender in the drill, the situation becomes"live" and the players play one-on-one until abasket is scored or the defender gets the ballon the rebound or a steal.Bargnani's typical move: Crossover dribblewith two strong dribbles to the left, left-rightstop and fake, and shoot. Or he will fake andcrossover step or half step with the right footto the basket (diagr. 10).

Pay attention to make the stop with the balan-ced body. Moreover, always keep the ballprotected: if a player brings the ball from oneto the other side of the body, move it with a"spoon" move, either above the shoulder orunder the knees, but never at the chest or thewaist height (diagr. 11). The first step has to bedeep and strong. The dribble is lateral, withthe driving shoulder that "goes into" the oppo-nent. The feet are aimed straight to thebasket, not to the sideline.

DRILL 3The player starts with a fast dribble from themid-court line and moves towards an obsta-cle. He slows down a little bit to choose theproper solution, and goes up for a shot, forexample a jump shot, if the defender stepsback. Alternatively, he can change the drib-bling hand, cutting in the middle of the three-second lane and then go for a shot.Otherwise, he can fake the change of thedribbling hand and, returning to the sameside, finish on the baseline (diagr. 12).

VariationsMake a “V” cut without the ball, moving nearor away from the ball (diagr. 13).

ProgressionAdd a chair (passive obstacle), the coach (pre-determined obstacle), a defender (activeobstacle), who starts to defend from the base-line (diagr. 14).

SERIES OF DRILLSPost-up play and reaction to the defensivemoves in a static situation.Receive the ball in the low-post: wide-openlegs, "sit", with the ball protected and heldtightly with both hands.

BASIC ONE-ON-ONE MOVESWith the defender behind, in contact: look atthe opposite corner of the free-throw line tosee the play development on the weak side.First dribble (slow) and drop-step to the insideto make the defender react.The second dribble is strong, to beat the defen-der, and then finish with a baby-hook. Harddribbles gives rhythm to the action (diagr. 15)If the defender reacts and remains in the lowdefensive position, make a spin move to thebaseline and finish at the basket with the out-side hand. The player stretches, extendingthe arm high, and shooting above the defen-der (diagr. 16).

VariationsAfter the first dribble, make a shot fake, andcrossover (up and under). The ball is movingfrom chest height so it is not an easy target forthe defender (diagr. 17). Bargnani's typical move: On the second drib-ble, stop, and take a step-back jump shot,moving away from inside the lane.

PROGRESSION ONE-ON-ZERO, TEACHING PHASE The coach acts as a defender and pushes theplayer (we use an American football cushionand push it against the offensive player), jum-ping strongly in a direction to force the playerto make the best decision. Otherwise, we canuse a broom to force the player to stretch outand shoot over the defender in an almoststraight line that goes from the tiptoes to thewrist of the shooting hand.An assistant coach is standing outside thethree-point line on the weak side. If he has hishands up while the player is dribbling, theplayer must make an immediate skip-pass(passing to a spot-up shooter) and maintainshis position in the three-second lane to recei-ve a pass back.▼ With the defender, who anticipates on

one side: The player receives the ball andimmediately drop-steps, placing his footover the defender's foot (diagr. 18) andgoes straight to the basket. If the defendercloses out quickly, he will spin on theopposite side.

▼ With the defender not making contact:

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Face the basket, using the outside foot as apivot foot, and make a back reverse. In thisphase, the ball must never be a target for thedefender. Keep it "outside of the cylinder"where it is protected with the shoulder and theelbow of the backing hand, acting as a shieldagainst the defender (diagr. 19).

Bargnani's typical move: On the left side, face thebasket with the right foot as a pivot foot. Crossover tothe basket, right-left stop, and shot fake. Front rever-se and shoot, or crossover, or half step with the leftfoot to earn space toward the basket.

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FIBA EUROPE

Raphael Chillious is head coach andco-director of South Kent School'sSports Department. He gave a majorcontribution in making this highschool as one of the most famousAmerican basketball schools, sendingstraight to the NBA two players in thelast two years, Dorell Wright andAndray Blatche. Before, he had coa-ched West Nottingham Academy. Healso works as instructor at the NIKESkills Academy, with the best 100 USAhigh school players.

INTRODUCTIONThe “Superman” Drills for PostPlayer's series is designed to givepost players (4's & 5's) a skills' deve-lopment workout. The goal is toincrease conditioning and stamina,maximize footwork efficiency, and

establish three essential jump shotareas that are critical to the offensivegame of this position. It is important tonote that the most dangerous postplayer is the one that can score withhis/her back to the basket as well asbeing able to face the basket and con-sistently knock down (m. 2-5) 8-15 footjump shots.

PHILOSOPHYI firmly believe it is absolutely neces-sary for today's post players to bemulti-dimensional offensive threats.The game of basketball has evolved tothe point in which the "traditional" postplayer that plays solely with his/herback to the basket is at the mercy ofwell-coached defensive teams. This "traditional" post player will scorehis/her share of baskets in quick-hit

one-on-one post situations, but thisscenario happens relatively few timesduring this course of a game. This is due to the fact that coacheshave done a great job of teaching theirteams multiple double team schemesin an attempt to nullify the effective-ness of back-to-the-basket postplayers.These double teams, along with thefact that post defenders are gettingmuch better at preventing offensivepost players from establishing goodlow-block position create problems tothe offensive post players.It is also my belief that offensive postplayers will have a tremendous advan-tage if they develop the necessaryfootwork (prior to receiving the ball) toreceive post entry passes where theyare most comfortable making moves,


by Raphael Chillious

COACHES - FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL

SupermanDrills for PostPlayers

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FIBA EUROPE


4 5 6

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FIBA EUROPECOACHES - FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL

as well as pin-pointing spots on thecourt where they are capable of beingconsistent shooters. The "Superman" post series will enablepost players to establish solid positionon the court, because they should beable to win the "foot" game for initialpost-position.Winning the pre-post entry pass "foot"game is a vital part of a post player'soffensive development that is oftenoverlooked in the basketball coachingprofession.We tend to concentrate on moves,moves, moves, but those moves meannothing if the post player is unable toestablish proper post-position. Theequation is simple: win the “foot”game and you will be in position tomake good solid post moves!

The three most important jump shotareas for low-post player are: ▼ The short corner, about 8-12 feet

along the baseline (picture 1). ▼ The left or right free-throw elbow

(picture 2).▼ The foul line (picture 3).

This is due to the fact that these areareas on the court in which postplayers often find themselves handlingthe ball in most offenses. Plus, if thedefender closes-out too hard on theoffensive player, he/she can take onehard dribble and be at the basket for alay-up or dunk.The short corner (which is about m. 2-4, 8-12 foot) shot is especially effectivebecause it is an unusual offensiveattack position (especially againstzone defenses), as it is an area inwhich the offensive player can take agood short shot (i.e. Udonis Haslem,Miami Heat’s power forward), make aquick drive before a double team cancome, and coaches rarely establishdouble team rules from this position onthe floor. Please note that if these spots don'twork for your offense, choose someother spots on the court where yourpost players most often catch the ballwhen they haven't established low-post position.

NEEDEDA folding chair situated at the pro-poston either the right or left side of thebasket (picture 4).

THE “SUPERMAN” SERIESThe drill begins with the coach on the

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wing (at right or left of free throw lineextension) with the ball (picture 5). The player will start standing on thebaseline under the basket, ready toflash to the ball side pro-post (picture 6). The drill begins when the coachsmacks the ball with one hand and thepost player sprints towards the ball-side chair and shuffles around the topif the chair with quick feet (picture 7).The player circles back around thefront of the chair where they will thenreceive a post-feed from the coach(the player's bottom should touch thetop of the chair to ensure he is in a lowand strong balanced position). Theplayer then either drop steps to themiddle (picture 8) for a dunk or jumphook with his/her left-hand (picture 9).The player gets his/her rebound andpasses the ball back to the coach. Theplayer immediately sprints and doesthe quick feet/shuffle action aroundthe chair, then sprints to the short cor-ner (m. 2-5, 8-15 feet) and receives apass for a jump shot (picture 10, 11,and 12). The player hustles afterhis/her rebound, passes the ball to thecoach, and immediately does the quickfeet action back around the chair andsprints to the ball side elbow andreceives a pass from the coach for ajump shot (picture 13). The playerretrieves his/her rebound, passes theball back to the coach, quick feetaround the chair, and sprints to thefree-throw line to receive a pass foranother jump shot (picture 14 and 15).After passing the ball back to thecoach the player finishes the series bydoing the quick feet action around thechair to the short corner, free-throwline extended, and free-throw linewhere he/she will ball-fake, take onedribble, and drive to the basket for alay-up or dunk. The complete seriesshould be repeated 20-30 times on bothsides of the floor (right hand dunks orjump hooks to the middle on the oppo-site side of the court).Again, the purpose of the SupermanSeries for post player's is to increasestamina and conditioning, maximizefootwork efficiency, and establishthree critical jump shot areas for elitelevel post-players. Emphasis must beplaced on the quick feet/shuffle becau-se it teaches post players to be nimble,while trying to gain post position, aswell as keeping them focused on thefact that they are going to gain optimalposition in the paint with their feet andnot just by using brute force.


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FIBA EUROPE

by Ettore Messina

by Emanuele Molin

COACHES - OFFENSE

Ettore Messina began his career as a headcoach in 1989 with Virtus Bologna, the team heled in four years to one Italian Championship,one European Cup and one Italian Cup. From1993 to 1997 he coached the Italian NationalTeam, winning the silver medal at the 1997European Championship and the gold medal atthe Mediterranean Games in 1993. In 1997 hewent back to Virtus Bologna, staying five moreseasons and winning two more ItalianChampionships, two Euroleague editions (besi-des two more finals played), and three ItalianCups. From 2002 to 2005 he coached BenettonTreviso, winning one Italian Championship,three Italian Cups, and taking part in oneEuroleague Final. Since 2005 he has coachedCSKA Moscow, winning the Euroleague in hisfirst year, in addition to the RussianChampionship, and the Russian Cup. He wasnamed 2005-06 Euroleague Coach of the Year.

Emanuele Molin coached the youth teams ofMestre, Treviso, and Virtus Bologna. In 2000 hebecame the assistant coach of Virtus Bologna,working with Ettore Messina. He stayed inVirtus for two seasons (winning an ItalianChampionship, one Euroleague, and two ItalianCups), before going back to Benetton Treviso,working as assistant coach (in three years hewon one Italian Championship and three ItalianCups). He went to CSKA Moscow in 2005, andhis team won the Euroleague, the RussianChampionship, and Russian Cup.

The first difficulty as we approached the 2006Euroleague final was to prepare a game plan inless than 48 hours that could be used againstMaccabi Tel Aviv (Israel), a strong opponent thatwe had never played against.We were not the favorites to win the game, butwe did not want to be the runner-up in this game.We knew our skills, but even better, we knew ourlimits and, above all, we came to coach CSKAMoscow and win this championship game.Essential to our success was the contribution

given us by our other assistant coach, EvgeniPashutin, who, in the previous two Final Four edi-tions, in Tel Aviv and Moscow, had the chance tostudy coach Pini Gershon's Maccabi team.

DEFENSEThe match-ups:▼ Will Solomon-JR Holden ▼ Tal Burstein-Trajan Langdon▼ Anthony Parker-David Vanterpool▼ Nikola Vujcic-Matjaz Smodis▼ Maceo Baston-Alexei Savrasenko

For the defensive match-ups, we consideredVujcic, their center, as the heart of Maccabi'soffensive system. Therefore Smodis (and/orPanov, his substitute) should anticipate andattack him when he moved away from thebasket. Vanterpool, the guard, in our intentions,should accept the individual challenge againstParker, and would be helped by Papaloukas. ForBaston's athletism and explosiveness we hadno countermeasure, if not partially, by using Vanden Spiegel's dynamic skills, and for this reasonwe simply thought to give to Savrasenko an insi-de position to protect the basket, but, above all,to protect spaces in one-on-one situations andon cuts from the weak side. This, accepting thatBaston could be dangerous far from the basket.The main idea was to limit their ball circulationand slow down their fluid game so they couldnot involve all of their players. This would helpdecrease the effectiveness of their less talen-ted players. Offensive transition wasMaccabi's most efficient and successful gamephase. Lateral pick-and-roll (diagr. 1), playedwith a slow rhythm was the trigger of theiroffense: the aim was not to look for a basket inthe first ten-seconds of possession, but, rather,to provoke the reaction of the defense. Thisallowed them to take a first advantageamplifying it with a quick ball circulation:Vujcic's position in high-post, his game-rea-ding skills, and his passing skills were the keysof their system (diagr. 2).

GAME PLAN FOR THE 2006 EUROLEAGUE FINAL

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DEFENSE AGAINST PICK-AND-ROLLWe decided not to react to their first pick-and-roll. Instead, we almost played a 'non-defense'in which the main aim was to take away spacefor their penetrations and, above all, not to setoff defensive rotations. When 1 (Solomon) hadattacked by using the pick-and-roll (diagr. 3), X5would have to take a flat position toward thescreen line, faking to help, taking care not toallow the penetration. X1 would force thescreen, staying in front of the ball and pressingit as much as possible. At the same time, X4would take an anticipating position in openguard towards the ball to discourage a quickpass to the high-post (denying offensive trian-gles with the big men), and collapsing to thefree-throw zone to recover aggressively on thepossible reception by 4. Solomon and/or Parker would have found infront of him a defensive wall and a comple-tely overcrowded space: the only remainingsolution would have been the jump shot offthe dribble, a play that did not involve histeammates.

DEFENSIVE RULESOn the pick-and-roll played after they changedthe offensive side (diagr. 4 and 5), we kept ourdefensive rules:1. If the pick-and-roll has been played at the

beginning of the possession, with X4, helpand fast recover with no rotation. We madea defensive switch any time the dribblerwent to the basket and/or in the lastseconds of the possession.

2. With X5, we protected the basket, directingthe ball to the sideline. We switched auto-matically when the dribbler increased hisspeed and drove to the basket.

We defended in a similar way in the other pick-and-roll situations foreseen by their attacksagainst a set defense. For this reason, we triedto turn their offense, characterized by manypasses, into a sum of isolated one-on-onesituations. If the ball had come in low-post(diagr. 6), we would have disturbed Vujcic andBaston's one-on-ones with the passer's defen-der (diagr. 7). This way, the defenders on theweak side could concentrate on the actionwithout the ball.

ZONE DEFENSE Another important and pivotal choice was touse zone defense in all the sideline and baseli-ne throw-ins, and after every free-throw. Wefelt - even though they were good passers andshooters - that their offense against zonedefense didn't offer as many options and rea-dings as against man-to-man defense. Indeed,their sideline and baseline throw-ins were verygood. During the game, the feeling was confir-med and we used zone defense constantly inthe final part of the second quarter. It was animportant moment, because their difficultyplaying against the zone forced them to thinkthat the game was becoming tougher thanwhat they believed, and that they could lose it.

OFFENSEAs important as the defensive choices were,we had many ideas on how to attackMaccabi's defense. Maccabi Tel Aviv is cer-tainly more an offensive team than a defensiveone, but experience and defensive strategiesthey used caused unusual problems. Match-up zone and the use of defensive switches inall the screen situations were the two mostimportant aspects of their defense. We tried togive valid inputs for both situations to ourplayers:▼ First of all, select attacks that could be suc-

cessful against match-up zone. ▼ Then, we underlined some offensive details

we considered important to attack thesekind of defense:

1. Outside players, by using screens, mustwiden the spaces and look for good spa-cing in order to punish possible mismat-ches.

2. In screen actions, big men must - afterhaving screened - roll deeply towards the

FIBA EUROPECOACHES - OFFENSE


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basket, trying to offer a target for the passerright in the heart of the defesnse. At thesame time, their presence in the paintagainst a smaller opponent would havebeen a physical advantage on offensiverebounds.

3. We decided to attack the defensive swit-ches, taking advantage of mismatches: theguard against the center and not viceversa. First of all, the dribbler, reading theswitch, must not stop the ball circulation,but has to pass it to make the defense move(diagr. 8). Faking to look for the mismatchadvantage between the big man and theguard, close to the basket, we chose to givethe ball back to the guard guarded by thebig man. We could have had a dynamicone-on-one situation in the middle of thecourt, where the defense could not createa strong side (diagr. 9).

4. We wanted to attack Solomon and Sharpwith Vanterpool and Papaloukas in low-post.

5. We decided to control the game rhythmwhen, after a basket scored by Maccabi,the arena broke out with the applause of9,000 Israeli supporters. On this subject,Smodis told us of his past experience at the2004 Final Four, at the Nokia Arena in TelAviv.

In moments like these, it was better for us toplay offense for as long as possible, forcingthem to play defense for the entire 24-second limit. This way, we wouldn't allow them to increasetheir physical intensity and the game rhythm,using this momentum to gain an advantageover us.

Thanks to the performance and team play ofour athletes, all these strategies worked welland, and we left the arena in Prague with theEuroleague championship title, the main targetof our season.


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Jose Vicente “Pepu” Hernandez started hiscoaching career in 1989 as assistant coach ofEstudiantes Madrid. In 1994 he became headcoach and led the team to eight semifinals,one final of the championship and a King’s Cupwin (in 2000). In 2005 Hernadez became headcoach of the Spanish men's national team andthis year he won the Gold medal at the FIBAWorld Championship in Japan.

The first priority on offense was to use our veryquick guards to dribble the ball up the floor athigh speed. The guards would look to pass tothe forwards sprinting ahead of the ball from allbroken plays or interceptions or deflectionsfrom our 2-2-1 zone press or 3-2 zone. The pointguard (or the other guard) would alternate inhandling the ball with the other guard and thesmall forward sprinting on the sideline lanes.On the offensive transition, after a basketscored by the opponents, the ball would go:▼ To the other guard or the small forward run-

ning in the sideline lanes.▼ To the power forward for a catch close to

the basket.▼ To the center, usually the trailer, after an on-

ball screen (pick-and-roll).On the half court, a series of plays were runfrom the main offensive alignment of threeplayers on the perimeter and two inside thethree-second lane, either high ("horn"), low, orstaggered (high-low).Another priority was the dribble penetration forour very quick and great ball-handler guards,who could also shoot very well from theperimeter.An important aspect was that many half-courtplays "flowed" and began from a full-court tran-sition.

THE PERSONNELTHE GUARDSThe guards were very quick and they also han-dled the ball very well, attacking the defenderswith the crossover dribble and the crossoverdribble fake. They were able to penetrate veryeffectively and were very dangerous from theperimeter as well. Thanks to their outstandingball-handling ability, they were able to createtheir own shots off the dribble.

SPAIN’s winningOFFENSE

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THE FORWARDSThey could both play inside as well as outsidethe three-second line. All of them had goodshooting ranges, also from the three-point line,with the "catch-and-shoot" jump shot, as well asthe pull-up jump shot off the dribble. A primeexample of this was Jorge Garbajosa, the bestthree-point shooter of the final.

THE CENTERSThey were versatile players, with good insidemoves and fine shooting touches outside thethree-second line. Their main attacking moveswere the "back in" dribble with a jump hook anda turn-around jump shot.

OFFENSIVE TRANSITION PLAYSHere are the different options, based on theplayer involved.

OPTION FOR 2 (NAVARRO)3 and 2 are in the corner after the primary break.4 is on the left wing and 1 has the ball on theright side of the court, while 5 is the trailer.5 runs a pick-and-roll for 1, who dribbles to thecenter of the court, and then 5 down screens for



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2, who curls around 5 and receives the ballfrom 1 for a jump shot (diagr. 1 and 2).

OPTION FOR 1 (CALDERON)3 and 2 are in the corners after the primarybreak, and 4 and 5 are set at the corners of thefree-throw area. 5 screens on the ball for 1,while, at the same time, 4 sets a down screenfor 3, and 2 cuts across the baseline (diagr. 3).3 goes to the low-post position, 4 makesanother screen, now for 2, and 1 passes theball to 5 (diagr. 4). 5 passes the ball to 2, and 1cuts off the baseline screens, first from 3, thenfrom 4, and comes to the wing area. 3, afterthe screen for 1, makes a blind screen for 5,and 5 goes to the low post (diagr. 5). 2 passesto 1 for a shot, or to 4 in the low post (diagr. 6).

OPTION FOR 4 (GARBAJOSA)3 and 4 set a staggered screen for 2, who cuts

off the two screens and comes high (diagr. 7).5 makes a down screen for 3 (screen-the-screener), who cuts off the screen (diagr. 8).1 passes to 2, who drives to the basket. On thismove, 4 flares out to the corner to receive theball from 2 and shoot (diagr. 9).

OPTION FOR 5 (GASOL)5 sets an on-ball screen for 1, and immediate-ly after screens for 3. 3 then sets a screen(screen-the-screener) on 5's defender (diagr.10).1 dribbles off the 5's screen, while 3 cuts highafter setting the screen on 5's defender. 5 cutsto the basket (diagr. 11). 1 passes the ball to 5under the basket (diagr. 12).

SET PLAYS PLAY FOR 4 (GARBAJOSA) 3 and 2 are in the corners, 4 and 5 are set at

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the corners of the free-throw area, while 1 is in themiddle of the court. 2 sets a screen for 3, who cutsalong the baseline, and gets off the opposite cor-ner, while 4 sets an on ball screen for 1 (diagr. 13).2 continues his cut and sets a baseline screen for5, and then 5 receives another screen from 3(diagr. 14). 3 flares out to the corner and 2 receivesa down-screen from 4, and then comes up high(diagr. 15). 4 cuts to the basket after screening for2 and receives the ball from 1 (diagr. 16).

"HORNS": ANOTHER PLAY FOR 4 (GARBAJOSA) The initial set is a 1-4 formation. 5 sets a screen onthe ball for 1, who dribbles off 5's screen , while 2and 3 flare to the corners (diagr. 17).After setting the on ball screen for 1, 5 rolls to thebasket, and 4 runs out from the high post positionand gets the ball from 1. From this spot, he canshoot, drive to the basket, or pass to 5, 3, 2, or 1(diagr. 18).

PLAY FOR 5 (GASOL) 4 and 5 set a staggered double screen for 3, whocuts off and sets an on-ball screen for 1, who wasdribbling to the opposite side of the staggereddouble screen. 2 cuts across the baseline and setshimself below 4 and 5 (diagr. 19).1 dribbles off 3's on-ball screen. Immediately afterthe screen, 3 rolls to the corner (diagr. 20).2 cuts off 4 and 5 and goes to the top of court,while 4 goes to the corner and 5 posts up on thelow-post position (diagr. 21). 1 makes a skip passfrom one side of the court to the opposite cornerto 4 (diagr. 22). 4 passes to 5 and cuts to the oppo-site corner to clear out this area of the half courtand let 5 play one-on-one. 3 cuts and curls back,positioning himself on the opposite block to 5,who can play one-on-one or pass to the team-mates on the perimeter, 1, 2 or 4, or inside to 3(diagr. 23).

VARIATION OF THE PLAY FOR 5 (GASOL) The beginning is the same: 4 and 5 set a stag-gered double screen for 3, who cuts off and setsan on-ball screen for 1, who was dribbling to theopposite side of the staggered double screen. 2cuts across the baseline and sets himself below4 and 5 (diagr. 24). 1 dribbles off the 3's on-ballscreen. Immediately after the screen, 3 rolls tothe corner (diagr. 25). 2 cuts off 4 and 5. 1 pass-es to 2 (diagr. 26). 2 drives to the middle of thethree-second lane, while 4 goes to the cornerand 5 cuts to the basket to receive a pass from2. If 2 cannot pass to 5, he can kick out the ballto 4 in the corner (diagr. 27).

ANOTHER PLAY FOR 5 (GASOL) 2 cuts around 5 and 4, and then goes in the middleof the half court, while 5 flares to the corner, and 4goes to the low-post area on the same side of thecourt (diagr. 28). 1 passes to 2, 5 sets an on-ballscreen for 2. 2 dribbles off 5's on-ball screen, andthen 5 rolls to the basket to receive the ball from 2(diagr. 29).


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FIBA EUROPE

by Lucien Van Kersschaever

COACHES - DEFENSE

Lucien Van Kersschaever has been the Director of the BasketballAcademy in Antwerpen (Belgium) since 2005. He has been theTechnical Director of Belgian Men's and Under 20 National teams. Hestarted his coaching career as head coach of Sunair Ostende, and hascoached Racing Mechelen, winning seven Belgian Division I titlesand five Cups of Belgium. He has also served as head coach of DutchMen's National team.

THREE-QUARTER ZONE PRESSWe set in a 2-2-1 formation (diagr. 1), and we run this defense after amade or missed free-throw. The aim is to change the pace of the game,forcing opponents to make mistakes, and allowing us to steal the ball. I tell my players not to gamble too much, and also this is very important,to keep their assigned positions.

SPECIFIC RULESFirst Line of Defense▼ Both guards must maintain proper spacing, staying about 3 meters

(10 feet) away from each other.▼ They do not allow a pass to be made in the middle of the court.▼ They must force players to make a pass below the extension of the

free-throw line.▼ Once the pass is made, they must force the player with the ball to

dribble.▼ They must force the ball handler to dribble along the sideline.▼ As long as the ball is in front of a defender, he must stay with the

offensive player.▼ Once the ball has crossed the half-court line, the defender must

push the ball towards the corner.▼ If the ball is passed over the heads of the defenders, they must

sprint back toward the basket.

Second Line of Defense▼ Defenders must stay one step below the mid-court line.▼ The defender away from the ball must stop any opponent, who cuts

in the middle of the court.▼ Defenders must trap when the dribbler crosses the half court.▼ The defender opposite to the trap must slide back to cover the high

post.▼ Defenders must rotate to open spots on the baseline.▼ When the ball goes over their heads, they must sprint back to open

spot at the baseline.

Third Line of Defense▼ This player must always talk to the other defenders, because he

sees all the court.▼ He must take position on the ball side.▼ He must stay as low as the deepest offensive player.▼ He must close out if the ball is in the corner.▼ He must go for the steal on the long pass.▼ He must prevent any baseline drive.

GENERALRULES▼ All defenders must communicate with each other.

THE ZONE PRESSDEFENSE

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▼ Let the first pass be made, but not in the middle of the court.▼ Force the first receiver to dribble along the sideline.▼ Do not let any opponent make a flash cut in the middle of the court.▼ Leave the position only when the ball is passed over your head.▼ Whenever this happens, sprint back.▼ Move when the ball is in the air, not after an opponent has received

the ball.▼ On a long pass to the corner, go out and aggressively cover the ball

handler.

DEFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTSBall Inbounded on One Side of the Court▼ X1 forces 1 to dribble, as soon as this player received the ball.▼ X2 protects the middle of the court, and he will take over as soon as

an offensive man crosses in the middle of the court.▼ X3 must avoid any flash cut of 3 in the middle.▼ X4 protects the middle of the court.

▼ X5 moves in one or the other direction based on the movements ofthe ball (diagr. 2).

Flash Cut in the Middle from the BackcourtX4 denies the flash cut of 3, until X2 covers him. Then, X3 goes back onhis position. X2 will deny any pass in the middle to 3 (diagr. 3).

Skip PassOn a skip pass, from one to the other side of the court, X1 and X2 mustmove together, while the ball is in the air. X4 moves up for trapping, X3 protects the middle of the court, near thethree-point line, X5 takes position in the 3-second lane, and X1 runs inthe middle of the court, near the jump ball circle (diagr. 4).

The Dribbler Crosses the Mid CourtX2 and X4 trap, and X3 protects the lane, setting himself at the free-throw line. X1 denies the pass to 3, ready also to cover a skip pass to 1,


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FIBA EUROPECOACHES - DEFENSE

while X5 is responsible for guarding 5 if he cuts to the ball side (diagr. 5).

Pass to the Corner RotationsX5 must goes out aggressively on 5, X3 slides down on the ball side andtoward the baseline, and covers all the cuts to the post area. In themeantime, X2 and X1 protect the elbow and free-throw line (diagr. 6).

DRILLS TO BUILD THIS DEFENSEFrontline Responsibility Drill - First PartThis drill is run to teach the first line of defenders how to move when theball is inbounded. Four offensive players play versus two defenders: thetwo defenders, X1 and X2, must let the inbounder make the inboundpass, but not in the middle of the court, and then force the receiver todribble. The defender of the ball handler, X1, must stay with him as longas the ball is in front of him, and, when the ball is passed back to the

offensive player, who made the inbound pass, he must get back to hisoriginal position (diagr. 7).The offensive players pass the ball, and, after a couple of skip passes,they try to hit the teammate in the middle of the court. The two defen-ders, X1 and X2, must try to touch or deflect the pass (diagr. 8).

Frontline Responsibility Drill - Second PartNow X1 forces the receiver to dribble along the sideline, but withouttrying to steal the ball. X1 must bring the ball handler on the trap that isrun at the mid-court, while the other defensive guard, X2, must be halfa step below the line of the ball. As soon as the ball is passed, he mustfly with the ball and protect the middle of the court. The drill is run untilthe mid-court line. To simulate the other defender who traps, a chair isset at both corners of the mid-court line and near the sideline (diagr. 9).Once the ballhandler has reached the mid-court and is trapped, he

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makes a skip pass to the teammate on the opposite side: X2 must flywith the ball and cover the receiver (diagr. 10).

Second Line Responsibility Drill - First PartWe now put on the court six offensive players versus four defenders.The second line defender on the ball side, X3, traps with X1. Both defen-ders have their hands up and "mirror" the ball, while X1 protects themiddle from any flash cut (diagr. 11).

Second Line Responsibility Drill - Second PartOn the skip pass to the other side of the court, all the defenders mustfly with the ball (diagr. 12).On a pass to the corner, X3 must try to deflect the ball (diagr. 13).

Last Line Responsibility DrillFour offensive players versus three defenders, plus a coach. The

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coach inbounds the ball to 1, and he immediately dribbles the ball overthe mid-court line as the second line of defense creates the trap. Theopposite defender, X4, protects the middle of the court, while the last linedefender, X5, moves to the ball side, with a foot inside the three-secondlane. When the ball is passed to the other side of the court with a skippass, the two defenders of the second line must fly with the ball. X5 runson the ball side, with one foot in the three-second lane (diagr. 14 and 15).Note: All five players must move simultaneously when the ball is in theair.

Rotation of the Second and the Last Line DrillWhen the ball goes in the corner, the last line defender, X5, closes out,keeping a good and aggressive defensive position. X4 goes back andcovers the middle of the three-second lane, X3 runs out of the trap andgoes on the open spot opposite to the ball side. Then they play, followingthe zone defense rules (diagr. 16).On a skip pass to the opposite corner (diagr. 17), all players rotate,while the ball is in the air: X5 closes out in the corner, X4 goes back and

covers the middle of the three-second lane, and X3 runs on the openspot opposite to the ball (diagr. 18).

Low Post Cut DrillIf the low post player opposite to the ball, cuts along the baseline, fromblock to block, the defender in the middle of the lane, X4, covers the flashcut and fronts him. However, if the low post player moves up to the highpost position, X3 will cover his flash cut, and then he will exchange withX4. The same happens if a forward makes a flash cut to the ball: asusual, we do not let any ball to go in the middle (diagr. 18).

Five-on-Five DrillFinally, we put together all the previous drills. We play five-on-five afterwe shoot a free-throw, and we run this defense on a made or missedfree-throw (diagr. 19, 20, 21).

If the ball goes in the middle, we might trap, depending on the offensiveplayers involved and the situation (diagr. 22).

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FIBA EUROPECOACHES - HOOP MARKET

by Raffaele Imbrogno

Raffaele Imbrogno has been coaching since 1980. He is an In-structor for the Italian National Coaches Committee of the Fe-deration and has been Director of the Italian Basketball Fe-deration Study Center. Imbrogno is also the author of severaltechnical basketball publications.

The offense that today is defined as "poetry in action" is com-monly used at all basketball levels, from high school to theNBA, from the lower Division to Euroleague. It's called the"Princeton Offense," and is named after the offense used byPrinceton University, when Pete Carril coached the team tonational prominence. Even though Carril eventually left Princeton after 20 years tojoin his former player Geoff Petrie, the general manager of theSacramento Kings, the following NBA and college teams usethe "Princeton Offense" in their offensive system: New JerseyNets, Sacramento Kings, New Orleans-Oklahoma City Hor-nets, Washington Wizards, Georgetown University, University

of Utah, Air Force Academy,Northwestern, University of Rich-mond, and North Carolina State Uni-versity. Carril, who coached at Princetonfrom 1967 to 1997, conceived the"Princeton Offense," battling natio-nally-ranked teams with student-ath-letes (Princeton is one of the fewteams in the U.S. that does not offerathletic scholarships). Princeton isremembered for theirvictory against UCLA,the national title-holder,

in one of the most unexpectedupsets in the history of col-

lege basketball. The of-fense is based on non-stop player movementwithout the ball, withthe goal of getting a th-ree-pointer or a back-

door cut. Among the ad-vantages of the offense is

the ability to neutralize phy-sical and technical mismatches. This is a very important aspect for a team

like Princeton's because it is an elite uni-versity where students are admitted foracademic excellence, not for basket-ball skills. The Princeton game invol-ves a "Zen" philosophy, a system thattakes force from the opponent's force.

This special vision of the world was ex-plained very clearly by Pete Carril in his

recent book "The Smart take from the

In this section, we introduce the latest books, videos, CDs, andother tools that are primarily aimed at coaches, but certainly usefulfor all of our readers. Please send your suggestions and commentsabout our basketball-related media for review in this section.

PRINCETON OFFENSE

Strong: the Basketball Philosophy ofPete Carril", published in 2004 by theUniversity of Nebraska Press. Thebook, written with the collaboration ofDan White (introduction by Bobby Kni-ght), offers more than three hundredpages of collected thoughts of thisgreat coach, who was an All-Americanat the college level and spent 29 yearscoaching at in Princeton before beco-ming assistant coach of the Sacramen-to Kings. Let's go back talking about back-dooroffense. As we said, the "virus" of thisoffense is really widespread today.Four American university coaches, inparticular, are adept at this game: BillCarmody (Northwestern), John Thom-pson III (Georgetown), Chris Mooney(University of Richmond), and JoeScott (Princeton). All of them played orcoached at Princeton under the direc-tion of Pete Carril. Here they had thechance to learn this basic game sy-stem. Joe Scott recently released "ThePrinceton Offense - Essential BuildingBlocks" a 75-minute DVD from Cham-pionship Productions. Actually, the DVD is a long discussion aboutoffensive concepts of the game, with a few demonstrations of the

game itself.An even better DVD is from Kevin Pigott, the head coa-ch of Fordham Prep, a high school in New York. "ThePrinceton Offense, Backdoor to Success" is the title ofthe 127-minute DVD (Championship Productions) thatexpertly analyzes the Princeton game. Even though hebrings his ideas in, Pigott remains faithful to the origi-nal system of Pete Carril's play. Moreover, the fact thatPigott teaches at high school level shows how this sy-stem easily suits under-18 players. Pigott also indica-tes how to use the game even in presence of a zonedefence.There is also the original work produced by Pete Carril,the one who invented the Princeton system. Fever Ri-

ver Sports Productions has four videotapes by Carril and recentlyproduced a double DVD entitled, "Princeton Backdoor Offense”which includes the material from the videos. If you want to reallyunderstand the Princeton offense, you need these DVDs. If youwant to amuse yourself on the Internet, here are some choice siteswhere you can find information on the "Princeton Offense":▼ http://www.princetonoffense.com/▼ http://www.cybersportsusa.com/hooptactics/princetonoffense.asp▼ http://espn.go.com/ncb/2003/0304/1517990.html▼ http://espn.go.com/ncb/2003/0312/1522592.html▼ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton_offense


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REFEREES , SCORER ’S TABLE AND COMMISSIONERS

Carl Jungebrand is international refer-ee since 1986. He officiated at fourOlympic Games, three World Men'sChampionships, three European Men'sChampionship finals, nine EuropeanFinal Fours (and five final games), andin more than 900 international games.

When referees are asked to name themost valuable characteristics of agood official, they often compile a longlist of different skills needed to suc-cessfully officiate a game. Having beenasked this same question at numerousofficiating events, across a number ofdifferent sports, the answers arealmost always the same, about 90% ofthe time. Basically, this means thatmost officials consider these traitsrequired and universal. The most common answers includedecision-making, control of the situa-tion, bravery, objectivity, psychologicalperspective, physical strength, non-verbal communication, understandingand command of regulations, honesty,stress management, athleticism...

When dividing the characteristics intopsychological and physical categories,between 70% and 90% of all answersfall into the psychological category.There are also characteristics that canbe placed into both categories. Whenasking the same question to anyone insports, the answers, in my opinion,tend to be similar. This leads me tobelieve that the base for successfulofficiating is 70% to 90% psychologicaland 10% to 30% physical.

For this reason, I'd like to ask the fol-lowing provocative question: "Howdoes the training of officials compareto the required characteristics?" (Thinkfor a minute before continuing).

When examining the training of offi-cials, usually the percentages areexactly the opposite. Most often, 70%of training focuses on physical andtechnical factors, while only 30%focuses on psychological factors. I'veoften wondered why this is. There aremany potential answers, but the mostcommon reasons have to do with thedifficulty of the subject matter for theinstructor, and the challenge of compil-ing (let alone understanding) the train-ing materials. The big question we arethen left with is how do we make it allrelevant to the officials?

LOOKING FOR THE WINNERSWe often run into a situation wherethere aren't enough referees to workthe number of games scheduled. Onthe local level, this is even more typi-cal. If the base of the pyramid isn't sta-ble, it will restrict our ability to identifyfuture top officials, because therearen't as many potential candidates. Ithink we should approach the recruit-ment of officials with a different plan ofaction.

I honestly believe that winners -regardless of their category of employ-ment - can be identified by certaincharacteristics, decision-making, and

operating styles.

Oftentimes, top officials are talentedwinners, who reach the top because oftheir attitude and choices. Some alsohave a little luck, because they were atthe right place at the right time.

Why aren't potential officials - espe-cially when moving to the higher ranksof officiating tested with the samemodel that employers use when hiringtop executives? This would help usdetermine each candidate's strengthsand weaknesses and allow us to findthe tools to help refine them. The useof professionals in these types of eval-uations is definitely welcome.

RELYING ON NATURAL ABILITYIn top-level sport (and top-level activi-ty, anywhere), the base of success isbuilt on constant, systematic develop-ment. You must have goals, a plan toachieve those goals, monitoring andanalysis of progress, and a new plan toput into place. An official is in thethankless position of rarely having atrue coach. There are instructors andeducational events, but developmentmost often happens during the gameon the court. And if that is actuallyguided, the results are often better.The process is the same as learning todrive a car. You get the basics in driv-ing school, but you don't really learnuntil you are out in traffic. In mostsports you have instructors for offi-cials, but the practical training and

by Carl Jungebrand

THE IMPORTANCE OF PSYCHOLOGICALSTRENGTH IN OFFICIATING

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coaching is missing. This part requiresa lot of manpower, time, and financialresources.

Even without systematic training, inevery sport there are occasional offici-ating "stars" that appear. Where dothese "stars" come from? Often theyare the talented individuals, whosepersonality traits are strong in justthose areas that are required in offici-ating. A successful official's self-description could look like this:

"I'm a natural leader, who doesn't for-get to take others into consideration. Ihave to make decision - often difficultones - that are critical for the opera-tions. Despite all of this, I realize thatmy role is to observe from the side. Iget along with people, but I also knowhow to keep my distance from peoplewhen necessary as to not cloud myjudgement. I work well under pres-sure, I understand that others havehigh expectations for my performance,and the results often reflect others'opinion of my success."

Just as with players, there are officialswho are skilled in certain areas morethan others. For some, all you have todo is hand them a whistle and a balland say "Take care of business." Then,there are others you have to teachhow to walk before they can run.

CONTROL YOURSELFEach of us has strengths and weak-nesses. The line between genius andinsanity is very thin. In other words,our strengths can turn against our-selves, if we don't identify and controlthem. Here are a couple of examples:the ability to work independently is astrength, but being a loner and not rec-ognizing the work of others is a weak-ness. On the other hand, being goal-oriented is a strength, but stubborn-ness makes operating that much moredifficult.

I was speaking with my father recent-ly, and I said, "You older people arereally hard-headed. You never knowwhen to let up." His answer got methinking: "Why is it that in us older peo-ple it's seen as a negative, while inyounger people this same characteris-tic is considered a positive, as in goal-oriented?"

In the end, the fact is that the problemis over-doing something, which turns it

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REFEREES , SCORER ’S TABLE AND COMMISSIONERS

from a positive to a negative. This iswhy it's critical to know your ownstrengths and weaknesses. By recog-nizing them, you're able to control andguide them. A good thing to rememberis that even if you repress your weak-nesses, they're never gone forever.When you lose control at somemoment, they will rise to the top again.

WHAT IS OFFICIATING?Try first to define the term "officiating"in as simple terms as possible (whenyou have your answer, move on).

People often make the mistake of turn-ing small issues into overly big andimportant things. At many officiatingevents we talk about how many factorsare part of officiating and how difficultan official's job is. Sometimes officiat-ing is turned into a weird science thatincludes so many factors that it wouldrealistically be impossible to manageall of them successfully. There are alsomany explanations for failure, but mostoften the reason is that the officialwasn't psychologically or physicallyready for a situation.

Based on that assumption, I say thatofficiating is nothing but:

1. Knowing how to anticipate whatwill happen.

2. Understanding what is happeningnow.

3. Reacting correctly to what has hap-pened.

Understanding the food chain of bas-ketball will also help one to assume anofficial's role. As an example: a playerdevelops something new for his game(a new move, jumping higher, newshooting style), then the coach assimi-lates this new ability into his gameplan, and then the official, after seeingthe new situation, adjusts his officiat-ing so that this new element is withinhis controlled environment. I doubt thata coach or an official can create some-thing that a player hasn't already done.This is good to remember when think-ing of why we are on the court, andwhat our role truly is in the grandscheme of things.

MEMORY BANKHow can we strengthen our psycho-logical attributes so that we can con-trol the action on the court? I believethat failure strengthens our mode of


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operation, if we understand that it's apart of our regular business, and weknow how to accept it. Naturally, thefirst step in development is to admit ourdeficiencies and be ready to correctthem. It's not always easy because offi-cials have strong personalities, just asplayers and coaches do. This is top-level athletics we're talking about.

Most "failure" situations we've learnedthe hard way-through experience.Another less painful way is to learnthrough others' mistakes. I don't knowhow many things I've learned fromwatching other officials in action. I'vealways tried to assimilate good attrib-utes from other officials, while not for-getting that we are all individuals andwe have our own personalities, and wecan't forget that (whether or not wewant to or not). This means that some-one else's good traits may not be suitedfor you! Sometimes you see young offi-cials trying to copy everything fromother officials-even their bad attributes.

But, we can't always be in the standswatching a game. That's why audiovisu-al material is a good additional tool thatshould be used whenever possible. It'simportant to build a memory bank of sit-uations that you might face as an offi-cial. By strengthening your memorybank, regularly adding to it, you can alsoincrease your likelihood of making theright decision under pressure. Top athletes often use this same tech-nique to improve their own performance.

EXPECTATIONSAnother thing that helps us understandpeople's reactions towards an official'sperformance is that they each havetheir own expectations for any product,service, or performance. If the expectedand the actual meet, a person is usuallysatisfied with the result.

So, what are peoples' expectationstowards officiating? It's almost alwaysunreasonable. Most sports fanaticsexpect officials to be 100% correct. Ifthis happens, it's deemed normal. Thisis why we only hear about officials fail-ing, not succeeding. In a normal game,however, the officials will make about100 calls. One can ask, if 20 of the callswere obviously wrong - which wouldmean some sort of catastrophe everytwo minutes or so - what would a spec-tator's opinion be? Most often theanswer is, "The officiating is bad." In my

mind, the public's opinion would actual-ly be much more critical: "Total failure."Still, on average, the official would havebeen correct in 80% of the calls.

In a normal game, there are usually twoto five calls that are clearly wrong.Using the previous scale, this means asuccess rate of 95% to 98%. For a play-er, that percentage would mean a(exceptional) great game. For officials,you also have to consider the times youdon't blow the whistle, meaning thereare actually 200 to 250 decisions to bemade.

A SUCCESSFUL OFFICIAL IS PROACTIVETo close, I'd like to stop and considerthe role of proactivity as a part of a suc-cessful official's operations. Proactivemeans taking initiative and being active.Basically it means that an individualshould make decisions based on hisown choices instead of outside factors.Proactive people guide their lives basedon their own decisions and don't followoutside influences. Sometimes in offici-ating we meet similar situations, suchas when a certain game didn't meetexpectations. To say "They played dirtyand acted in an unsportsmanlike man-ner" are normal words to hear from anofficial sometimes after the game. Whatthe official really is trying to do is passalong responsibility for his or her ownfailure to others. A proactive responsewould be "Why did you let them playdirty?" A healthy dose of self-criticism iskey to development. Look in the mirrorbefore trying to find external reasons forfailure.

Proactivity in officiating could be anofficial trying to guide the game's flowtowards the nature of the game. Byanticipating situations or immediatelycorrecting bad developments will great-ly factor into the flow of the game. Mostplayers appreciate this type of official.In all honesty, proactivity is much moretaxing and tiring than just observing andruling from the side as a heavy hammer.But this proactive effort will always leadto results that will keep all partieshappy. Winners always take initiativeand actively affect their own environ-ment at any level. They are winnersbecause they - and not the actions -control what will happen next.

A saying that winners can always use:"Others are doing well. What can I do toachieve the same?"


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REFEREES AND GAME ADMINISTRATION

1. A4 is injured. The assistant coach of team Acomes onto the playing court, but does notassist A4. A4 recovers and insists he is ableto continue participating. Must A4 leave thegame and be replaced by a substitute?

2. On the last free throw by A5, the ball fails totouch the rim or enter the basket. Shall theresulting team B throw-in be administeredat the endline, but not directly behind thebackboard?

3. At the end of the third period, team A is enti-tled to the next alternating possessionthrow-in. In the following interval of play,technical fouls are committed by B2 andthen by A2. Shall the fourth period still beginwith the alternating possession throw-in byteam A?

4. During the first period, B8 is waiting at thescorer's table to enter the game as a sub-stitute. Team A then scores a field goal.Shall B8 now be permitted to enter thegame?

5. During a time-out, A8 wants to enter thegame as a substitute. For the substitution tobe legal, must A8 report to both the scorerand an official?

6. While A3 is dribbling the ball in the team Afrontcourt near the centerline, a 3-secondviolation is committed by A5. Shall theresulting throw-in be administered at theendline, but not directly behind the back-board?

7. During the last two minutes of the fourthperiod, A4 commits an offensive interfer-ence during a shot at the basket. Coach Anow requests a timeout. Shall the timeoutbe granted?

8. After a violation has been committed forillegally returning the ball to the backcourt,shall the resulting throw-in always beadministered in the frontcourt of the teamawarded the throw-in?

9. A5 is awarded one free throw. After the ballhas been placed at the disposal of A5, butbefore the ball has been released of thefree- throw attempt, A3 fouls B3. This is thefifth team A player foul in that period. ShallB3 be awarded two free-throws?

10. During the last two minutes of play, team Ais awarded a throw-in in the team A back-court, after which the referee interrupts thegame because of water on the floor.Following the interruption, shall play resumewith a team A throw-in at the centerlineextended, opposite the scorer's table?

RIGHT OR WRONG?

ANSWERS1. Yes (Art. 5.3; FIBA Interpretation)2. No. (Art. 43.3.1)3. Yes. (Art. 42.2.7)4. No. (Art. 19.2.2; The game clock hasnot stopped)5. No. (Art. 19.3.7)6. Yes. (Art. 22.2)7. No. (Art. 18.4.2; A field goal wasscored by team A)8. Yes. Art.22.2; Such a violation will

always occur in the violating team'sbackcourt, which would be thereceiving team's frontcourt)9. No. (Art. 41.2.2); The foul by A3 isconsidered a team control foul. Theplayers will not line up for therebound on the last free-throw.Whether the last free-throw is madeor not, the ball goes to team B for athrow-in from the endline.10. No. (Art. 17.2.3)


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SPORT MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT

Predrag Bogosavlijev has been a playerof the Serbian first league, with Kikinda,Red Star Belgrade and BC Belgrade, andalso member of the Yugoslavian nationalteam from 1982 to 1985. Then, he has beenmember of the board of the BasketballFederation of Serbia, member of the 2005European Championship OrganizingCommitee. Since 2000, he's been memberof the FIBA European Competitions Com-mission. He was Secretary General ofBasketball Federation of Serbia and thenof Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia.He was the General Director of "EP 2005",the company that organized Eurobasket2005. Since last April, he has been FIBAEvent Manager.

The motto for EuroBasket 2005 - “Wel-come to Basketball Land” - was an invita-tion to all basketball fans to come and ex-perience this great competition in a bas-ketball-filled environment. At the sametime, the slogan imposed an obligation onthe host country to make sure that all theEuroBasket 2005 participants and guestsreally felt as if they were in a country in

which basketball was much more thanjust a game, and where they were verywelcome as guests and sport friends.

When bidding for EuroBasket 2005, theSerbia and Montenegro Basketball Fed-eration (SMBF) set forth the following ob-jectives:

▼ We wanted our country to be back onthe international scene as organizersof major international competitions.

▼ The construction of the Belgrade Are-na, as the strategic sports facility forBelgrade and our country, was startedso we could be involved in the 1994World Basketball Championship formen (event which, due to the war inYugoslavia, was then assigned toCanada). In our opinion, it was onlybasketball with an important interna-tional competition that had power toaccelerate the construction of thismagnificent facility.

▼ The successful organization of Eu-robasket, including the developmentof the related infrastructure and ade-

quate training of personnel throughsuch an organization, was critical forobtaining a major sporting event, andwould serve as the based for the fur-ther development of basketball interms of both organization/administra-tion and funding.

▼ Win a medal at EuroBasket. We had atour disposal all necessary precondi-tions to achieve the objective.

Considering the above specified objec-tives and the fact that we were adequate-ly supported by our Government and FIBAEurope, we succeeded in meeting all con-ditions required for obtaining the organi-zation of EuroBasket 2005.

Although it had initially been planned toorganize the Championship only in Bel-grade, we found out that it was much bet-ter to build appropriate sporting infra-structure and to stage EuroBasket in fourcities. The decision resulted in a muchbigger investment and an increased in-volvement of the government and hostcities' authorities in the construction and

WELCOME TO BASKETBALL LAND


by Predrag Bogosavlijev

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rehabilitation of sports facilities, hotels,and roads, as well as the accompanyinginfrastructures in Belgrade, Podgorica,Novi Sad, and Vrsac. In this way, basket-ball has launched and speeded up nu-merous investments of outmost impor-tance for the development of sport andthe social welfare. In the long run, it haspositively influenced and contributed tothe quality of life in our country and hasrepeatedly shown its power and positivesocial impact.

In all the cities, additional 5 to 10 millioneuros have been invested in infrastruc-ture (roads, parking lots, park rehabilita-tion, public outdoor surfaces, and othercommunal infrastructures).

ORGANIZATIONWe considered including in the organi-zation the representatives of the follow-ing institutions:

▼ State government, which guaranteedall conditions required for the organi-zation of the championship.

▼ Host cities, which were responsiblefor the supplying complete infra-structure and local organization.

▼ Basketball Federation (SMBF), as theinstitution to which the organizationof this event has been assigned.

Bearing in mind all the above-mentionedand knowing that each host city shouldhave its own organizing committee ca-pable of managing the competition, thefollowing organizational structure wasthen established:

1. The Organizing Committee chaired bythe Serbian Prime Minister, whichwas, at the same time, the Local Or-ganizing Committee for Belgrade.

2. Local Organizing Committees in thePreliminary Round host cities of Pod-gorica, Novi Sad, and Vrsac, chairedby the mayors of the respectivecities.

3. The Organizing Company, created bythe SMBF and authorized by the mainOrganizing Committee to carry out alloperations related to the preparationand organization of the Champi-onship, as well as to coordinate andsupervise the operations of all LocalOrganizing Committees.

4. The companies created in Vrsac andNovi Sad and the Secretariat of Sportof the city of Podgorica, which werein charge of all EuroBasket-relatedoperations in their respective cities.

Upon the decision of the main OrganizingCommittee, the agreements defining alltheir rights and obligations have beenentered into with all host cities. Thecities were obliged to provide all neces-sary conditions (accomodation, localtransports, training and competition are-nas, and others) defined by FIBA regula-tions and to partially participate in fi-nancing the operations of the OrganizingCompany. In return, they were entitled tokeep all revenues obtained from the lo-cal ticket sales, as well as to the part ofmarketing rights available to the Orga-nizer. Such cooperation with LOCsproved to have been stimulating and effi-cient, as the cities completed their job atan outstanding level, fulfilled all their fi-nancial obligations, and, according tothe final financial report, earned the rev-enue that has been allocated to supportthe local development of sports.

An important precondition for later suc-cessful organization of EuroBasket wasthe organization of the respective testcompetitions/tournaments in all hostcities and all venues in which EuroBas-ket was to be later played. Among themare FIBA Diamond Ball tournament heldin Belgrade in 2004 and U18 EuropeanChampionship for Men, organized twomonths before the beginning of the sen-ior competition. Other cities hostedstrong international tournaments onemonth prior to EuroBasket to testwhether all conditions for EuroBasketwere provided.

Over 1,000 people were directly involvedin the organization of EuroBasketthrough LOCs and companies. Over 800volunteers were recruited and trained.However, judging by the number of is-sued accreditations (around 5,000) ofwhich 1,500 were issued to the partici-pating teams, journalists, and FIBAWorld and FIBA Europe officials, we canconclude that around 3,500 people wereinvolved in the organization this way orthe other, directly or indirectly.

BUDGETEurobasket 2005 has been organized in avery complex situation. The Organizercould not expect any financial supportfrom the government or cities as theyhad already allocated considerablefunds for the construction and prepara-tion of facilities (hotels, venues, equip-ment). On the other hand, the economicsituation in the country asked for rela-tively lower prices of tickets and spon-

sorship packages that were supposed tobe the major source of revenues. That iswhy, with a maximum reduction in the or-ganization budget and by engaging aminimal number of professional staff, thebudget was 5 million euros. This is farbelow a realistic budget for the organi-zation of such a competition in any othercountry.

When speaking about revenue, 60% ofthe total revenue was derived fromsponsors, 35% from the sale of tickets,and only 5% from other sources.

TICKETSTickets were one of the main sources ofthe Eurobasket Organizer's revenue andthat is why it was necessary to lookclosely at ticket prices and the method ofselling them in order to ensure maximumattendance in all the venues on the onehand, and maximum revenue on the oth-er hand. Printing the tickets, selling tech-niques, and overall security for the eventwere all jobs for the Organizer.

We decided to stimulate ticket sales, try-ing to have as many tickets pre-sold be-fore the event as possible. By doing so,we could also group the fans comingfrom various countries, as well as createa database that included all ticket buy-ers. An agency was engaged to createthe software for selling, printing, andcontrol of tickets at the entrance of allvenues. Following our instructions andrequests, the agency did their job suc-cessfully. Almost 90% of the tickets weresold in a pre-sale period. All tickets weresold out (except for games determiningfor fifth and six place in the tournament),and our plan was fully realized.

PROMOTIONThe promotional activities related to Eu-roBasket 2005 began in mid-2003.Official FIBA World and FIBA Europeevents and competitions, such as FIBAEurope Congress, 2003 EuroBasket inSweden, FIBA Diamond Ball tournament,Qualifying Round, and EuroBasket 2005Draw and similar events were used forinternational promotion. Our assessmentwas that there was no justification formajor investments in the promotion inother countries, as it was evident fromthe practice that interested federationshad already promoted the competitionthey were to participate in. That is whywe considered it sufficient for us to at-tract foreign guests and basketball fansby distributing the information to the par-


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ticipating federations and by preparingan adequate Web presentation. For theirpart, FIBA Europe contributed to the in-ternational promotion of the eventthrough their activities, resulting in over10,000 foreign fans coming to the Eu-roBasket 2005 finals in the Belgrade Are-na.

Contrary to the international promotion,the local promotion was much more ex-tensive, versatile, and aggressive. Al-though some activities had been startedin 2003, the real campaign with a varietyof materials, intensive media exposure,outdoor activities, and other kinds ofpromotion began in January 2005. Toavoid in-depth analysis of the campaign,its phases, target groups, and appliedmethods, it is more instructive to presentsome figures that can illustrate itsscope.

The campaign included two promotionalmovies and ten TV spots, which wereproduced in the period between October2004 and September 2005 and run over10,000 times on the national and regionalTV stations. In addition to that, over 30special sport entertainment TV programswere produced and run in the top hourson national TV and subsequently rerunon local TV stations.

Two months before the start of EuroBas-ket 2005, the national TV started tobroadcast in late afternoons an animat-ed 3D interactive game for childrencalled Macho Superstar, with Eurobas-ket mascot Macho playing the leadingrole. It's needless to say how much thisTV game especially targeting theyoungest population, contributed thepromotion of basketball.

The outdoor campaign included over 200billboards on the most attractive loca-tions in the various cities. Announce-ments were periodically published indaily newspapers with the highest circu-lations. If we add several magazines,which got involved in the campaign forfree, it brings the total number of pub-lished announcements to over 100.As our wish was Eurobasket 2005 to bepresent not in the host cities alone, but ineach corner of our country, we launcheda Basketball Caravan, which toured 23 ofthe largest cities in the country. Each cityhosted a day-long basketball festival,which also included various cultural andmusical events along with the basketballcompetition, in which 64 U18 teams di-


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vided into four age categories took part.This festival included over 9,000 childrenand more than 100,000 spectators at ma-jor squares of our cities throughout thecountry.

To get a clear picture of the campaign,which by its scope and power made thewhole country live basketball and be-come eager to experience the Eurobas-ket 2005 tip-off in September, we shouldalso add that promotion also includedtens of thousands of print materials, in-cluding brochures, information papers,leaflets, posters and placards, as well asthousands of shirts, caps, balls and otherspecially designed gifts, along with arange of activities locally organized byhost cities' LOC.

ACCOMODATION AND TRANSPORTATIONFourteen hotels were booked to accom-modate guests, media, technical staff,and participants. All of them were pro-vided transfers and local transportation.For that purpose, we engaged 25 buses,50 cars, and 10 vans.

Accomodation was the greatest prob-lem. Even in Belgrade, there were notenough rooms available in the top hotelsto accommodate all foreign guests andbasketball fans. However, by the rationalusage and adaptation of the existing ca-pacities, the requirements prescribed byFIBA regulations were met and all theproblems were successfully resolved,thanks to the great understanding of ourguests and huge effort of local organiz-ers. This situation resulted in relativelyhigh prices for hotel rooms, a situationthat we were unable to correct due tothe lack of an alternative in the market.

MEDIAWe had the highest media coveragecompared to all previous FIBA competi-tions. Over 1,100 journalists from 50countries were accredited. TV coveragewas provided in 72 countries worldwide,as well as live Internet broadcast of allthe games. Thanks to the journalists en-gaged in the preparation of attractivenews and other content, the EuroBasket2005 Web site was extremely informativeand visited (over 1,200,000 visits through-out the tournament).

SPONSORSCompared to previous FIBA competi-tions, EuroBasket 2005 set a record forthe number of sponsors. The OrganizingCommittee provided 16 sponsors in all

sponsorship categories, whereas theLOCs secured 18 local sponsors. Such ahuge interest of sponsors in basketball isa good indicator for future basketballcompetitions, but it would be useful toconsider the possibility of reducing thenumber of sponsorship packages in or-der to enable adequate exposure andpromotion for those sponsors willing tomake huge investments.

SIDE EVENTS AND ENTERTAINMENTHaving built on the experience from previ-ous competitions and the Athens OlympicGames, the organizers engaged the topdance groups and artists to entertain thespectators between and during thegames. The Red Foxes dance troupe andthe Frogs acrobat group, along with a fewlocal dancing groups and singers, provid-ed an excellent atmosphere in the arenaand were greatly appreciated by thespectators.

A day before the beginning of the Cham-pionship, an exhibition dedicated to thehistory of European Championships wasopen to the public. That evening, theOpening Ceremony took place and it in-cluded a rich artistic program staged atthe Kalemegdan fortress, the Symbol ofBelgrade, and the place where SerbianBasketball was born.

Several top-level seminars were heldduring the Championship: the Internation-al Clinic for Coaches, International Sym-posium in Sports Medicine, and the Inter-national Seminar for Sports Journalists.

Throughout the Championship, bookswere promoted by Radomir Shaper andNebojsa Popovic, two legendary figuredin Yugoslav basketball history. Other cul-tural events included the unveiling of aspecial sculpture dedicated to basketballin front of the Belgrade Arena, a gala con-cert featuring the ethno group Balkanika,

and a Farewell Party held on the last dayof the tournament.

EFFECTSBased on the above information, it couldbe concluded that EuroBasket 2005 wasas much important for the host countryand local organizers as it was for FIBAEurope and the overall basketball com-munity in the world.

Serbia and Montenegro as the hostcountry and Belgrade, Podgorica, NoviSad and Vrsac as the host cities, have allgained an exceptional international pro-motion. At the same time, there remainsa renewed or newly built infrastructureas the legacy of Eurobasket 2005, where-by the conditions have been secured forthe continued development of sport andhigher living standard of all citizens.

When it comes to security, it was at thehighest level throughout EuroBasket2005. The fact that over 10,000 foreignfans watched the final match, and thatno slightest incident was reported eitherat the final game or during the entiretournament, says it all. In these days,when security is becoming one of thekey issues in all international events, theOrganizers and FIBA Europe haveproved that they are prepared and capa-ble of meeting the most strict securitystandards.

Finally, new standards have been set re-garding the event promotion, branding,positioning and treatment of sponsors,IT, TV production, working conditions forthe media, security, as well as the prepa-ration of facilities, local organizing struc-ture and the like. The Eurobasket 2005experience will have a huge impact onthe organization of major basketballcompetitions and further increase in thelevel of their quality in the days andyears to come.



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FIBA RESEARCH AND STUDY CENTRE

BASKETBALLSFOR EVERYBODY,EVERYWHERE

Basketball, the second most popular participant sport in theworld after football, is continuing to grow, as are the manycompanies eager to produce high-quality balls for the millionsof players around the world. We would like to introduce theCompany, which are the FIBA Study Centre Partners and who-se products meet the highest quality standards, helping athle-tes the world over maintain the highest level of play possible.

BADEN SPORTS: "PASSION FOR A BETTER GAME"Baden is a company that believes the athlete should determi-ne the outcome of the game, not the equipment. This is thepremise behind their entire line of Perfection Game Balls:"The ball that lets athletes perform to their highest levels."Baden's Perfection Elite basketball, with its patented symme-trical design and balanced panel widths, eliminates thelumpy, uneven channel cluster found on other balls. Theseclusters lead to inconsistent play. By spreading out and ba-lancing the channels, Perfection's design provides 48% lesschannel material in the critical channel crossing areas, ensu-ring the athlete a consistent feel and bounce. Perfection's pa-tented Stealth Soft-Valve System and Cushion Control Tech-nology has dramatically changed the way basketballs are ma-de. In addition, the Stealth Soft-Valve System, another areaassociated with bad bounces and inconsistent play, was sol-ved by softening the entire valve panel, making it undetecta-

ble to the athlete. These features, along with Perfection's ex-clusive ultra microfiber cover, provide the best basketball"feel" and truest performance in the game.www.badensports.com

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CONTI: "QUALITYPRODUCTS & UNPARALLELED CUSTOMER SERVICE" Dedicated to ball production for more than 35 years, Conti

is among the top ball manufacturers, making the highestquality products with the most advanced technologiesin order to achieve the best performance in a varietyof sports. The company's strict quality control systemenables them to supply products that meet the highe-st standards. The Conti philosophy of "Quality pro-ducts & unparalleled customer service" is the corner-

stone of the company and remains the most reliableguaranty for every consumer. The company's synthetic

leather basketballs are made from premium top-qualitycomposite PU leather, with a micro-fiber backing specially

developed to meet the demands of the world's best players.The patented honeycomb rubber outer layer gives the ball a soft

and feather-like feel, while the patented deep pebble channel allows players to easily gripthe ball and shoot. www.contisports.com

GALA: "TOUCH OF VICTORY"Gala, with more than a half century tradition of quality and service, is a reliable supplier of su-perior sports products, balls, and other products. Gala is certified by international sports fe-derations, including FIBA and FIVB. The company produces sports balls and uniforms. Theirquality uniforms carry the Gala trademark, but the company also produces customized andother made-to-order products for its clients. www.gala.cz

MESUCA: "ENRICHING LIVES"Wah Hing Creation (WHC) Corporationwas established in Hong Kong in 1969.The company focus was on the salesof soccer balls and various sportsequipment throughout Southeast Asia.However, as China opened its door forinvestors, WHC set up the GFTZ ME-SUCA Development Co. Ltd. inGuangzhou in 1996, looking forward tobeing a part of the growing internatio-

nal sports industry. The Companyestablished a state-of-the-art manu-facturing facility in Zhao Qing, China in2002. The spacious 66,000 square me-ter factory features the latest techno-logy and is fully equipped to fulfill thelargest orders. MESUCA specializes inthe manufacture of balls, includinghand-sewn, stitched, and laminatedbasketballs, in addition to their line ofsoccer and volleyball balls, as well asother sport items and accessories. Themotto of the company is "Enriching li-ves." With annual production capacitywell over 2.5 million pieces, the com-pany certainly does just that.www.mesuca.com

VEGA: CUSTOMER SERVICE A KEYSTRATEGYVega Balls Manufacturing Co., Ltd. was founded in 1988 through the joint venture of GrandSports (Thai Partners) and Yuan Chi Overseas Ltd. (Taiwanese Partners). Soon after, the fac-tory base was moved from Taiwan to Thailand. Since then, Vega is well recognized as one of

the leading manufacturer of inflatable balls(with over 4.5 million balls capacity), ser-ving global brands as well as marketing its

own "Vega" line of balls. Thecompany is committed to sup-plying the highest quality pro-ducts, striving to continuallyimprove efficiency, effectiveness, and utilization of resources so it re-mains highly competitive in the global marketplace. Customer service isa key company attribute and company officials work closely withclients in new development, formulating innovative ideas for graphicdesigns, and specialized mold designs. Speedy service is a hallmark ofthe company. Vega Balls Manufacturing has been a part of the FIBAApproval Program and the company is proud to help promote the gameof basketball in Thailand, China, Vietnam, Eastern Europe, and in otherparts of the World. www.vegaball.com

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DOCTORS , TRAINERS AND CONDITIONING COACHES

Rich Dalatri returned for his second stint with the New Jer-sey Nets in 1997, having served in a similar capacity from1987-92. He was the first full-time strength and conditioningcoach in the NBA. He worked for the Cleveland Cavaliers,as well as in the Italian Division I League, for Caserta andFortitudo Bologna. In 2001, he was named as the athleticcoach for the Italian Men's National Team, who won thebronze medal at the 2003 European Championships, and thesilver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens,Greece.

Functional strength is becoming a way to train athletes in away specific to the sport played. Functional strength is whatI call exercises that are exact movements of our competi-tion, but in an overloadedsituation for a certainnumber of repetitions, andthen immediately followedby repeating the move-ment in an overloadedstate. By taking move-ments directly from gamesituations and replicatingthem in an overloadedstate, you enhance thatexact skill of the sport.

To train an exercise offunctional strength youtake the skill you want towork on and overload itwith a medicine ball, elas-tic band, or weighted vest.You overload this move-ment for a series of 2-4repetitions. These loadedrepetitions are immediate-ly followed by 1-2 repeti-tions of the skill in a regu-lar unloaded state. Byloading the muscles youelicit a much higher stimu-

lation to the neuromuscular system. The contraction of themuscle must be stronger and more muscle fibers must berecruited to complete the task.

When you immediately unload the muscles they are ready tofight again the overload and deliver the same strong con-traction, only now with no overload the movement is muchfaster and explosive than before. By training the muscles tothis stronger more explosive response, they will adapt tomoving at a higher level after the training effect takes place.You usually see results from this type of training in only afew weeks. You can train 2-4 times per week in this mode.We usually do 2 exercises per training session, with 8-12repetitions per exercise.

by Rich Dalatri


FUNCTIONALSTRENGTH TRAININGFOR BASKETBALL

Photo 1

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This training is usually doneduring the off-season. If youdo it during the competitiveseason, your repetitions mustbe reduced and I would do it 2times per week. Functional strength differsfrom the more traditionalstrength training, because youduplicate an exact movementfrom the sport. In the weight room it is moredevelopment of absolutestrength.You are in a fixed movementpattern trying to go from pointA to point B using as muchweight as possible. Functionalstrength will develop athleti-cism and athletic ability to ahigher level, because of themany factors involved in eachexercise. First, the skill isimproved, in addition, coordi-nation of movement, strength,balance, and a heightenedconcentration to detail arealso increased.

These exercises give you agood blend of all the qualitiesof athleticism, and can bedone easily by all levels ofathletes. The complexity ofthe exercise is what wouldchange from an inexperi-enced athlete to an experi-enced athlete.

The key in this type of trainingis to not fatigue the muscletoo much with the loadedreps, so, when it is unloaded,it can elicit a strong forcefulrepetition at higher speedsthan the previous reps.Usually, I use:▼ 2-4 loaded reps, followed

by▼ 1-2 unloaded.

This is very high quality work, which you do not want lacticacid build up in the muscles to slow the actions down.

EXAMPLES OF WORKAn example of this type of work is to put a player under therim with a medicine ball of 12-16 pounds (5-7 kilograms). Theplayer with outstretched arms taps the backboard 3-5 times,jumping as fast and high as possible. After the last tap, themedicine ball is immediately replaced with a regular basket-ball and it is dunked or shot from under the rim, as explo-sively as possible.

A drill can be as simple as running a short distance (10

yards, m. 3) being resisted by a strap and then released torun normally. An exercise that is of a higher level would beresisting a player doing a closeout and cutoff in a defensivesituation in basketball (photo 1, 2, and 3).

Another example of this type of work is to put an elasticband around a player's waist. He starts at the elbow facingthe basket with a ball. The player drives to the basket anddribbles with the resistance of the elastic. He returns backto the start as quickly as possible and repeats it 2 moretimes. On the 4th repetition the elastic is removed and hedrives to the basket at top speed and lays the ball in.

Another positive of this training is that it is done on thesame court that you play. You do not need any other spaceor facility.

Photo 3

Photo 2

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NEWS

Carlos Jimenez held the James NaismithCup with pride after Spain claimed theirfirst FIBA World Championship title on3rd September in Tokyo.

The emphatic 70-47 triumph over Greecein Sunday's final is the biggest teamsporting achievement in the country'shistory. Pepu Hernandez's men hadwarned this was going to be their sum-mer and they kept their word. Once theundefeated Spaniards had beatenArgentina to reach the title game againstGreece, there was no stopping them -even without injured superstar PauGasol. Jimenez was terrific in the final,battling the Greek frontline and finishingwith 11 rebounds. The veteran forward,along with Felipe Reyes and Marc Gasol,were awesome on defense and made upfor the absence of Pau, who watchedfrom the bench. The Spanish captainspoke to FIBA's correspondent CindyGarcia-Bennett after his team's famouswin.

FIBA: Congratulations Carlos, what's thetrophy like?

JIMENEZ: It's beautiful and heavy, but Idon't mind, I don't want to let go of it.Finally, I can enjoy it.

FIBA: Without Pau Gasol for the final, fewpeople gave Spain a chance to win thetournament. There was no better stage toprove that Spain is not a one-man teamthan in this final.

JIMENEZ: I'm really proud to be the cap-tain of this national team, it's one of thebiggest satisfactions of my life and no-one can take this away from me. Weknew we had to do something great. Wehad gone into the final with a bittersweettaste after Pau's injury (againstArgentina). We knew that what hap-pened had benefited us as we went intothe game as the underdogs and thispassed the pressure onto Greece.Greece had everything going for them,they are the European champions, theybeat Team USA in the semi-final and theywere playing against a Spain side with-out their reference player. But from thestart, we made things difficult for them.

FIBA: What were your tactics for thisgame?

JIMENEZ: It wasn't any different from ourprevious games in the sense that Pepu(Spanish head coach 'Pepu' Hernandez)gave us the same talk prior to walking outon the court. He tried to take a little bit ofthe tension away from us, he told us thatthe good news was that on Monday wecould finally rest. It was important to becalm because if you think about the factthat you are playing in a final that canreally block you.

FIBA: Coach Hernandez has certainlydone a great job since taking over the na-tional team after last year's EuroBasket

bronze medal game defeat with Spain yetto lose a game. What is he like?

JIMENEZ: Pepu expects his players to dowhat they are best at, he doesn't expectanything else from you. I think this hasbeen the key to our success. We have allcontributed, every player has brought outhis best and if you achieve this in a team,then there's no way your rivals cancounter it. We had several alternativespracticed but at times we had situationswe had not prepared, but peopleresponded well.

FIBA: It's been a great summer for you,Carlos. You became a father and you re-cently signed a contract to play for Span-ish champions Unicaja Malaga and younow won the greatest honour in interna-tional basketball.

JIMENEZ: I dedicate it to my son PabloPAGE 44 | 22 2006 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE

One-on-one

Jimenez: "This is a greatmoment for Spanishbasketball"

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Kirk Hinrich's final game at the FIBA World Championship may havebeen special not only because Team USA took a bronze medal, butalso because he did so against a side that included his NBA team-mate Andres Nocioni. Hinrich was brought into the team by USAhead coach Mike Krzyzewski to fill in the need at the point guard po-sition where the Chicago Bulls playmaker split the duties with ChrisPaul. But the 25-year-old also helped address a shortage of good,consistent outside shooters and he showed he filled that void by go-ing 12 of 26 from three-point range over the course of the tourna-ment. In fact, hadn't it been for Hinrich's four efforts from long range,who knows if America would have even had a chance to come with-in four points of the European champions Greece in Friday's semi fi-nal. FIBA correspondent Simon Wilkinson talked to Hinrich afterTeam USA beat Argentina.

FIBA: Finishing with a medal even if it's just a bronze is still a good wayto finish the tournament.

HINRICH: Yeah. I mean what happened against Greece obviously was-n't what we wanted. But Argentina is a great team, so we're happy towin. Our performance was good especially since it's very hard to playa consolation game. But the bottom line is that we're representing ourcountry and we're still working to win gold at the Olympic Games intwo years time, so we're happy to win this medal.

FIBA: Some might say that you lost against Greece because you under-estimated them. What are your thoughts on that?

HINRICH: They played well but wejust didn't do well defensively. Wewere really bad. We couldn'tguard their pick and roll and wereally didn't guard them at all.

FIBA: All in all, there are some posi-tives for Team USA to take out ofthis tournament.

HINRICH: We played well for themost part. We had a couple ofstretches where we didn't per-form as well and it cost us. As Isaid, Greece did really great andwe didn't play up to our ability. We

have to play a lot better than that down the road.

FIBA: It's been said that maybe you weren't tested enough on your wayto the semi-finals, that your bracket was too easy.

HINRICH: Well we couldn't really control who they put in front of us.Everybody thought that Slovenia and Italy were going to do better inthe medal round and they didn't. But at the end of the day when weplayed against Greece we didn't play our best.

FIBA: Argentina point guard Pepe Sanchez was talking about how to-day they were trying to get you to play FIBA type basketball. Do youfeel Team USA was playing NBA basketball?

HINRICH: It's an adjustment for all of us. The international game is verydifferent from the way we play during the season over in America. Aswe build towards the Olympics, we're going to have to play betterFIBA basketball.

FIBA: Did you have any problem with the rules, the shorter three-pointline and the other differences?

HINRICH: No not really that was all fine. It's just that the internationalgame is more based on team play and ball movement and in the NBAa lot of the guys that we have are used to the illegal defense rule. Sothey use the isolation to make plays. It's definitely a very differentgame.

and my wife and for those who respectedthe decision to come here despite the sit-uation (traveling to Japan after justbecoming a father) but fortunately, every-thing went okay.

FIBA: When did it sink in that you were go-ing to be world champions?

JIMENEZ: I have always been very realis-tic, I'm not a big dreamer, so I have never

believed in things until I haven't got them.That's the kind of person I am. It wasn'tuntil two or three minutes before the endof this game that it began to sink in.

FIBA: What next for you and Spain? Nextyear will be a big one since Spain is stag-ing the EuroBasket.

JIMENEZ: I hope that I can continue toplay with this national team. We will go

step by step. I hope that we don't gomad. This is a very important achieve-ment, but we have to be cautious of howwe've gotten here. We cannot relax, wehave to continue to work. A lot more canbe achieved but we have to keep ourfeet firmly on the ground. We have toenjoy things but not go overboard. Wehave a great moment for basketball andwe must now know how to take advan-tage of it.

Hinrich: "...we're going to haveto play better FIBA basketball”


Find more stories on www.fiba.com

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NEWS

Planetbasketball

the worldin brief


BOB ELPHINSTON ELECTED NEW FIBAPRESIDENTBob Elphinston has been elected new FI-BA President for the 2006 - 2010 term ofoffice. The election took place during theFIBA World Congress in the Tokyo PrinceHotel Park Tower, where the assembly ofthe 212 national federations of FIBA tookplace. A total of 104 national federationswere present at the Congress.The 64-year old native of Lithgow, Aus-tralia, was excited about this new chal-lenge: "I am enormously proud to beelected as President of FIBA and to beonly the third Australian ever to be Presi-dent of an International Olympic SportsFederation." "Basketball is at an excitinglevel as the second most played teamsport in the world today behind footballand my role as President gives me thechance to directly assist a great sport

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONSCOMMISSIONPresident: Mr. Ruben Rabano (ARG)

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COMMISSION President: Mrs. Lorraine Landon (AUS)

YOUTH BASKETBALL COMMISSION President: Mr. Ingo Weiss (GER)

COMMONWEALTH BASKETBALLCOMMISSIONPresident: Mr. Harish Sharma (IND)

ETHICS COMMISSIONPresident: Mr. George Killian (USA)

LEGAL COMMISSIONPresident: Mr. Antonio Mizzi (MLT)

TECHNICAL COMMISSIONPresident: Mr. Valdu Suurkask (EST)

MEDICAL COMMISSIONPresident: Dr. Constantinos Parisis (GRE)

APPEALS' COMMISSIONPresident: Mr. Olafur Rafnsson (ISL)

FINANCE COMMISSIONPresident: Mr. Manfred Ströher (GER)

CENTRAL BOARD 2006 - 2010 The World Congress has also ratified the composition of the FIBA Central Boardfor the 2006 - 2010 term of office. The Central Board is the highest executive body ofFIBA and meets twice a year. The Central Board will be comprised as follows:

Mr. Robert Elphinston, AUS, PresidentMr. George Vassilakopoulos, GRE, FIBA Europe, Vice-PresidentMr. Patrick Baumann, SUI, Secretary GeneralMr. Manfred Ströher, GER, TreasurerMr. Alain Ekra, CIV, FIBA Africa, MemberMr. Alphonse Bilé, CIV, FIBA Africa, MemberMs. Maiga Salamatou, MLI, FIBA Africa, MemberMr. Julio Subero, DOM, FIBA Americas, MemberMr. Jenaro Marchand, PUR, FIBA Americas, MemberMr. Horacio Muratore, ARG, FIBA Americas, MemberMs. Valerie Ackerman, USA, FIBA Americas, MemberMr. Zaiqing Yu, CHI, FIBA Asia, MemberSheik Fahad Al-Ahmad Alsabah Talal, KUW, FIBA Asia, MemberMs. Mabel Mun Wai Ching, HKG, FIBA Asia, MemberMr. Yvan Mainini, FRA, FIBA Europe, MemberMr. Jose Luis Saez Regalado, ESP, FIBA Europe, MemberMs. Marion Grethen, LUX, FIBA Europe, MemberMs. Barbara Wheadon, NZL, FIBA Oceania, MemberMr. Steve Smith, AUS, FIBA Oceania, MemberMr. William Kelderman, PLW, FIBA Oceania, Member

NEW COMMISSION PRESIDENTSThe Word Congress also ratified the Presidents and members of FIBA CommissionPresidents and members for the 2006 -2010 term of office:

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grow even more," Elphinston said. Elphin-ston also sees a splendid future for thesport: "FIBA looks forward to an excitingOlympic Games in Beijing 2008, increasedcommercial opportunities and player de-velopment with the emphasis of furtherdeveloping strong leagues in all 212 mem-ber federations." "We look forward to thecooperation with Bob Elphinston", said FI-BA Secretary General Patrick Baumann."We are very glad to have a Presidentwith such a high reputation in the worldof sports. We will certainly profit from hisexperience and expertise. At the sametime I would like to thank our outgoingPresident Carl Men Ky Ching for his out-standing contribution to the growth ofbasketball in the past four years." Bob El-phinston is recognised as one of the mostrespected sports administrators in theworld, with a long involvement in basket-ball since 1961 and international sportsince 1991. Bob was one of the foundingdirectors of the Australian National Bas-ketball League (NBL) and managed theAustralian Men's basketball team at theLos Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. He hasvisited more than 35 countries with teamsfrom Australia. He was the founding Pres-ident of the Australian Basketball Coach-es Association.In 1991, Bob was appointed General Man-ager for the Sydney Olympics 2000 BidCompany, reporting directly to Chief Exec-utive Rod McGeoch. His work was ulti-mately rewarded in 1993 when Sydneywon the right to host the 2000 OlympicGames. As SOCOG's General Manager-Sport, Bob was directly responsible forensuring the smooth running of the 28sports at the Olympic Games including thesports competition, the sports schedule,sport services, sport presentation, sportpolicy and operations, medical services,doping control, IOC relations and protocol,National Olympic Committees servicesand language services. During his 10years of Olympic involvement, Bob has de-veloped a close working relationship withFIBA. In recognition of his significant con-tribution in bidding for and staging the"best Games ever", the IOC appointed himto the IOC Sports Program Commissionand the IOC Evaluation Commission for theselection of the 2008 and 2012 OlympicGames. In addition, due to his vast experi-ence, he is Sports Consultant to the Orga-nizing Committees of the 2008 BeijingOlympic Games (BOCOG) in Beijing, P.R. ofChina and the London Olympic Games2012 (LOCOG) and also consults the Inter-national Olympic Committee. In October2000, he was awarded the Olympic Orderby the President of the IOC.

A BROKEN DYNASTY:AUSTRALIA WINS FIRST WOMEN'S WORLD TITLESince the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta the USAwas dominating women's basketball, and noone came even close over the past 10 yearsto challenge them for a gold medal in top in-ternational competition. During the firstphase of the FIBA World Championship forWomen in Sao Paulo, this story seemed tobe continued. But that impression only last-ed until the Semi-final round, where USA lostwith 75 - 68 against Russia. That loss haltedthe USA's FIBA World Championship win-ning streak, which dated to the 1994 WorldChampionship bronze medal game, at 26games and the USA's string of victories end-ed at 50 overall in the Olympics and Worlds.Australia's women clinched their first worldtitle on 23rd September with 91-74 thumpingof Russia. Just when Igor Grudin's playersbelieved had cleared their biggest hurdlewith a semi-final upset of the United States,

they ran into a buzz saw from Down Under.Beaten finalists at the last two OlympicGames by the United States, the Opalstraveled to Brazil determined to snatchgold and they accomplished the feat instyle against Russia with Penny Taylor ex-ploding for 28 points. Australia's gloriousrun at the FIBA Women Championship forWomen had a little bit of everything.They started with a win after a forfeit byLithuania, who had trouble gaining entry toBrazil from French Guyana, and the Opalssurvived close calls against Spain in thesecond group stage and Brazil in the semi-final before achieving the ultimate with asurprisingly easily, 17-point triumph overRussia to capture gold.Taylor was sensational from start to finish inBrazil, with her efforts in the last two games


1. Australia2. Russia3. USA4. Brazil5. France6. Lithuania7. Czech Republic8. Spain9. Argentina10. Canada11. Cuba12. China13. Korea14. Chinese Taipei15. Senegal16. Nigeria

FINAL STANDINGS

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NEWS

making her the obvious choice for the tourna-ment's Most Valuable Player award.The United States demolished Brazil earlierin the day to secure the bronze medal at theFIBA World Championship for Women.Favourites to win their third successive title,the US were brushed aside by Russia in theirsemi-final, but Anne Donovan's team put thedisappointment behind them with a ruthlessdisplay against the tournament hosts.Diana Taurasi led the way with 28 points, in-cluding 10 of the North Americans' first 14.Taurasi, who played on the USA's goldmedal winning side at the Olympics twoyears ago, ended up six of seven fromthree-point range in the contest while theAmericans were 11 of 20 as a team. It was amajor letdown for Brazil, who had led Aus-tralia by four points early in the fourth quar-ter of their semi-final. Hopes were high atthat point of a gold medal, but, instead, theyfinished with nothing.Janeth, who played on their gold medal win-ning side in 1994, paced the Brazilians with 16points. The championship final was televisedlive in 23 countries, in total there were over100 countries which broadcasted the gamesfrom Brazil. 200 journalists from over 30 coun-tries were covering the event at site.

BESTEVERFIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP2006 IN JAPANSpain reigned at the FIBA World Champi-onship in Japan this summer in the biggestand most competitive international basket-ball event ever staged. With the field in-creased from 16 to 24 teams, six Europeansides made it to last eight and Spain ultimate-ly won over Greece to capture the goldmedal. "We saw that the level of basketball inEurope is very high," said Greece's legendaryplayer and current national team boss, Pana-giotis Yannakis. There were great momentsfor all the continents. African giants Angolaand Nigeria reached the knockout stage,with the latter falling by a single point to DirkNowitzki and Germany.Oceania's two representatives, Australia andNew Zealand, also made it to the last 16.Yao Ming and FIBA Asian champions Chinaadvanced from Group D to the final 16 whilethe Americas had the United States and Ar-gentina in the last four. Basketballl won newfans in Asia as FIBA took the sport to a newfrontier.

RECORD ATTENDANCEThe event set a new spectator record forFIBA World Championships as over 75% ofavailable tickets were sold. 225,000 peoplewatched the games in fantastic arenas inSaitama, Hamamatsu, Sendai, Hiroshimaand Sapporo. The old record dates back to

Toronto in 1994 where 215,000 fans followedthe action.

MEDIA COVERAGEA record 2.500 media representativesregistered for the event and guaranteedan record coverage on print media, tele-vision and websites. Fiba.com exceededmore than 150 times the traffic it generat-ed during the Athens 2004 Olympic bas-ketball tournaments. The games were broadcasted to more than150 countries with television ratings settingrecords in many countries. For the first timethe television coverage included all Africancountries and fans were able to watch on fi-ba.com through broadband streaming.

FIERCE COMPETITIONThe tournament demonstrated thetremendous balance in the game, withSpain capturing their first world title over

a Greek team that came from behind tobeat the Team USA in the semi-final.

Many group games, particularly in Hamamat-su, went to the wire.Turkey, a wild card entrant in Japan like Italy,Puerto Rico and Serbia & Montenegro, didnot lose until they were edged out by Greecein a fight for Group C supremacy. Contests in-volving Lithuania, Australia and Brazil werenot decided until the closing seconds. Themost remarkable game in Group C had to beGreece's 72-69 triumph over Australia. Anto-nis Fotsis pulled the Greeks level with a three-pointer just nine seconds from the end, andafter an Australian turnover, Nikos Zisisclinched victory with a three-ball at thebuzzer. "The players and coach of the Greeknational team believe that we can try until thelast second of every game," said star guardDimitris Diamantidis.There were great games at the other venues,


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with Angola losing to Germany in triple over-time in Group B, Lebanon upsetting France inGroup A and China beating Slovenia with athree-pointer at the death to advance to theknockout round from Group D. Friday, Sep-tember 1, was semi-finals day and thosegames won't soon be forgotten.Team USA, Greece, Argentina and Spain allran onto court with undefeated records, fullyexpecting to reach the title game.More than 17,000 fans in the sold-out Saita-ma Super Arena saw the United States fall101-95 to Greece. Yannakis' Greeks, trailingby 12 points, changed from a slower pace toan up-tempo style which utilised the greatpassing skills of guard Theo Papaloukas andinvolved reserve center Sofoklis Shortsiani-tis. Greece fought back to lead at half-timeand win the game, and fans poured into thestreets of Athens. Argentina, the Olympicchampions from Greece, fell to Spain andPau Gasol in the other semi-final. AndresNocioni missed an open three-pointer in thefinal seconds as Argentina lost 75-74, butthe Spanish were deserving winners. Spain,without Pau after he broke the fifthmetatarsal in his left foot near the end of the

victory over the Argentinians, still won con-vincingly over Greece in the final. Pau'spresence on the bench clearly galvanisedhis team-mates. They wore T-shirts whichread "Pau tambien juega" (Pau is also play-ing) as a symbol of unity and inspiration be-fore the game and then played at a 100 milesper hour, especially on defense, in rolling toa 70-47 victory. Spain got huge performances from captainCarlos Jimenez, Marc Gasol (Pau's brother),Felipe Reyes and Jorge Garbajosa. Whetherit was battling for rebounds (Jimenez had11), or double-teaming Sofo, or pressuringthe Greek guards - Spain won every battle."They had us hand-cuffed," said Papaloukas."They wanted the game more. And for me,they really deserved the win." Pepu Hernan-dez, the Spain coach, deserved so muchcredit, and not just for his tactics. He had tocope with the passing of his father, with thenews having been delivered to him justhours before tip-off."We've come out withso much emotion on the court and we areworld champions," said Hernandez. Pau,who averaged better than 21 points and ninerebounds before the injury, was l voted Most

Valuable Player of event. "The pain (in thefoot) has gone now," Pau said after receiv-ing his gold medal. Jose Luis Saez, the Pres-ident of the Spanish Basketball Federation,said of Spain's performance: "It's a lesson ofpride, rage and team effort." Manu Ginobili,Papaloukas, Carmelo Anthony and Garba-josa were, along with Pau, all-tournamentselections. Team USA won bronze by de-feating Argentina, 96-81. USA forward An-thony put on a brave face and said: "We'rehappy with the progress we've made. Unfor-tunately, we couldn't do what we came hereto do, which was win the gold." Winning gold is no easy feat for any countryanymore.

MONTENEGRO BECOMES 213TH FIBA MEMBERThe FIBA World Congress ratified todaythe affiliation of the Basketball Federa-tion of Montenegro as its 213th memberfederation. The membership came intoforce on 4th September 2006 after the FI-BA World Championship has been con-cluded. “I feel great about the decision byFIBA," said the Basketball Federation ofMontenegro President Danilo Mitrovic."It's wonderful for Montenegrin basketballand I am looking forward to the future as amember of the FIBA family.” The BasketballFederation of Serbia will retain the place ofthe former Basketball Federation of Serbiaand Montenegro as a FIBA member.


Find more stories on www.fiba.com

1. Spain 2. Greece 3. USA 4. Argentina 5. France 6. Turkey 7. Lithuania 8. Germany 9. Angola

AustraliaChinaItalyNew Zealand NigeriaSerbia & Montenegro Slovenia

17. Brazil JapanLebanonPuerto Rico

21. Panama QatarSenegalVenezuela

FINAL STANDINGS

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MULTI-TALENTED NASH IMPRESSES ON THE PITCHAs a two-time NBA MVP and an Olympianwith his country Canada, Steve Nash's abili-ty with a basketball is unquestionable. Whatcame as something of a surprise was hisability with a soccer ball. The point guard,who lives in New York during the off-season,trained with the New York Red Bulls of MajorLeague Soccer, and did rather well. Nash didnot look out of place among the Red Bullssquad, and even managed to get in a numberof shots on goal. Former USA World Cupcoach Bruce Arena, now with Red Bulls, wasimpressed by what he saw. "I think (Nash)could probably play in this league," he toldthe club's website. "Obviously, he's asuperbly conditioned athlete. The way youwatch him play in the NBA, he's a pointguard that probably plays over 40 minutes agame and you see his fitness level is good onthe soccer field as well." However, Nash him-self was not entirely fooled by his own per-formance with the New York squad, recog-nising he wasn't put to the full test. "They justwere great," Nash said. "They really made iteasy for me, they made it a lot of fun for me.They're lucky, they have a great group ofguys. They seem to have a good time, but arevery focused and I think that's probablycomes down to Bruce a lot." The players hadgood reason not to challenge Nash. Theywere under strict orders from the coach.

"My biggestconcern washim gettinghurt," Arenasaid. "A friendof mine is oneof the assis-tants atPhoenix so Idon't want tosend back theMVP of theNBA in anambulance."

NEWS

“ROUND MOUND OF REBOUND” GETTING POLITICALUS Dream Team member Charles Barkleyhas confirmed his intention to run for gover-nor of Alabama in the future. The Alabama-born 43-year-old is looking at the prospectof running for the post in 2014 as he firstneeds to move back to his birth-state fromhis home in the Valley, Arizona. "You have tolive there seven years, so I'm looking for ahouse there as we speak," said Barkley, whohas been inducted in the Basketball Hall ofFame recently. "I want to speak for peoplewho can't speak for themselves. Americadiscriminates against poor people. Americais divided by economics. If you're born poorwhite, black or Hispanic you're going to bein a bad neighborhood. You're going to go toa bad school. That's not right. "Just living inthis world you see the discrepancy betweenthe rich and the poor. "It's not getting closer.It's just getting wider every year. It's veryfrustrating for me as a person who startedthere (poor). I said to myself, 'Man, if I could-n't have played basketball that would havebeen me.' You just can't sit back and let thathappen. I'm going to keep doing that, speak-ing out. I think I've been really blessed in mylife. If I was just to be rich and famous andhave a big house and a big car and live hap-pily every after, I think I'd let the big felladown who gave me the gift to get to the Hallof Fame. I truly believe that."

With regards to his polit-ical affiliation, Barkleyadded: "I'm an inde-pendent. I think Republi-cans are full of it and De-mocrats are a little lessfull of it." Barkley, nicknamed"Round Mound of Re-bound" during his play-ing days, retired fromthe NBA in 2000 havingplayed 16 seasons withthe Philadelphia 76ers,Phoenix Suns andHouston Rockets. Find more stories on www.fiba.com

THE ODD - THE FUNNY - THE UNUSUALOff-the-court


MUTOMBO STEPS UPHOSPITALAPPEALDikembe Mutombo has launched an appealto raise millions of dollars needed to com-plete and operate a new hospital in his homecity of Kinshasa, Congo. The 15-year NBAveteran has already pumped $15 million ofhis own money - almost seven times his cur-rent salary - into the project, but needs a fur-ther $7 million to complete construction be-fore finding an annual budget. The 300-bedBiamba Marie Mutombo Hospital - namedafter Dikembe's mother - had the ceremoni-al opening on September 2, and begun toreceive patients a few weeks later subjectto the delivery of a steriliser. However, theneed to find further funding remains, whichis why the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation isseeking to recruit 100,000 donors who willpledge $10 a month to the project for a year."With this we can reach even the (lower in-come levels) of the American public," hesaid in USA Today. "People in my countryare dying and I want to save them." Mu-tombo is well known for his extensive chari-ty work both in America and Africa, but thehospital is his biggest single project, begin-ning back in 1997. When the hospitalopened, the emergency room, operatingroom, intensive care unit, outpatient careand internal medicine department were thefirst to open their doors. It is expected totake up to two years to get all departmentsopen. Congo's ambassador to the UnitedStates, Faida Mitifu, is convinced it will beworth the wait. "This hospital is definitely a godsend for thepeople of Kinshasa," Mitifu said.

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spain's winning offense - fiba

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