Igor Kokoskov (SLO), Slovenia v Kosovo (Photo: Ales Fevzer)
22/11/2019
Jeff Taylor's Eurovision
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Before you judge a coach, take a minute and examine the whole picture

VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) -  When I attended FIBA EuroBasket 1997 in Spain, my first international tournament, I was struck by not only the talent on the court but the acumen on the sidelines.

The coaches were exact and demanding in their play-calling. The preparations before games were precise. No one could veer from the game-plan.

Ettore Messina was at the helm of Italy and Zeljko Obradovic was in charge of Yugoslavia. Both were 37 and already on their way to becoming two of the best coaches Europe has ever had. Yugoslavia won that EuroBasket Final over Italy, 61-49.

Obradovic coached Yugoslavia to the title at EuroBasket 1997.

In Athens at the FIBA Basketball World Cup the next year, I saw the late Sergei Belov coach Russia to a late victory over the Americans in the Semi-Finals but his team then lost to Obradovic's Yugoslavia in the title game. Obradovic had total control of the situation. He shouted until he was red in the face for much of the contest and his players followed his lead.

Obradovic wasn't always successful. At the 2004 Olympics, his Serbia and Montenegro team didn’t get out of the Preliminary Round following losses to Argentina (83-82), New Zealand (90-87), Spain (76-68) and China (67-66) and the following year at the EuroBasket on home soil, Obradovic’s side was soundly beaten by Spain (89-70) in its first game and then edged by France, 74-71, in an elimination game before the Quarter-Finals.

France's 74-71 win prevented Obradovic and Serbia and Montenegro from reaching the Quarter-Finals.

Serbia and Montenegro, with Dejan Bodiroga, Marko Jaric, Vladimir Radmanovic, Zeljko Rebraca, Nenad Krstic, Dejan Tomasevic, Igor Rakocevic and Milan Gurovic, amongst others, didn't even make it to the showpiece phase of the event, the Quarter-Finals in Belgrade!

Had Obradovic, a great coach in the late nineties for the national team but not in 2004 and 2005, suddenly become bad? Hardly. There are different dynamics at work and coaching a national team is tough.

One of his assistants on the 2004 and 2005 teams, Serbian Igor Kokoskov, was this week put in charge of the national team. It happened just two years after Kokoskov led Slovenia to the EuroBasket title with a 93-85 triumph over Serbia in Istanbul.

Something that Kokoskov said about his coaching philosophy this week really stood out, the fact "that every successful team, above all, builds on the creativity and abilities of the players of that team."

Is this where Serbia and Montenegro failed in 2004 and 2005? Maybe, but there are clearly other factors that contribute to a team's success. Mike Krzyzewski, after the team's 101-95 upset by Greece in 2006 at the World Cup in Japan, did well as the USA coach. He persuaded some players that were used to being the first or second options on offense to instead concentrate on what the team needed, like defense or rebounding. The USA didn't lose another game under Krzyzewski through the Rio Olympics, his final tournament.


I was thinking about the subject of coaches and their worth this week when SIG Strasbourg, led by France national team coach Vincent Collet, was getting walloped by 16 points at home to Lietkabelis in the Basketball Champions League with 15 minutes remaining.

How good of a coach is he really, I wondered. Strasbourg actually stormed back to tie the game but ended up losing, 66-63.

"Coaching is easily criticized," a coach at this year's World Cup told me. "On the outside, it's easy to have all the answers. And there are so many different parts of coaching. Guys on the level of Collet are all top quality."

When I mentioned that Collet's Strasbourg team had lost at home to Lietkabelis on Wednesday night, he replied: "Seasons are long. Not good to overreact to every result. To be great teams, people need adversity. Guys that last like that (Collet as France coach) are doing something right."

Collet had talent this summer. Rudy Gobert is a tremendous shot blocker for the Utah Jazz while Evan Fournier of the Orlando Magic is a tremendous scorer. Nicolas Batum of the Charlotte Hornets has been outstanding in his career, though not as much lately. Nando de Colo was the best player in Europe when he was on the books of CSKA Moscow.

Collet engineered a famous French win over the USA at the World Cup in China.

Collet also had to get the best out of less heralded players like New York Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina, Zenit St Petersburg's Andrew Albicy, Boston Celtic Vincent Poirier and Pinar Karsiyaka's Amath M'Baye.

France survived and advanced to the Quarter-Finals of this year's World Cup, where they beat the two-time defending champions USA, 89-79, and then in the Third-Place Game against Australia, Les Bleus came from behind and won, 67-59.

For the second time in five years, Collet led France to the podium of a World Cup.

I asked M'Baye about Collet a couple of weeks ago.

"I think he has one of the best basketball IQ's out there," he told me. "He wouldn't have been doing what he has for so long if he did not.

"As far as managing people, he's done that very well. I give him credit."

Someone that has seen Collet coach a lot of games in France is Canal + commentator George Eddy.

"Collet is the best coach Team France ever had!" he told me.  "He jelled great with the Parker-Diaw generation and won an historic number of medals.  Like Gregg Popovich or Steve Kerr, his style is ball and player movement with less dribbling and one on one, and lock-down defense. He's a very honest and humble person with an immense knowledge of basketball history and current day tactics.

"The one blemish on his record is five finals lost in a row with Strasbourg in the French league but you have to be darn good to qualify for the five finals. He won two titles in the French league with LeMans and Villeurbanne."

Sometimes national team coaches will endure a difficult summers and other times, they'll positively fly. Neno Ginzburg's Czech Republic and Mike Taylor's Poland didn't advance from the Group Phase at EuroBasket 2017 but this summer reached the Quarter-Finals of the World Cup.

Andrej Lemanis did a terrific job at the helm of Australia in recent years. The only thing missing was a bit of luck.

Andrej Lemanis was just seconds away from leading Australia to Olympic bronze in 2016, but they fell to Spain. He was only seconds away from guiding Australia in this summer's World Cup Final but again, Spain won their game after two overtimes. Those losses do not make Lemanis a bad coach. Getting to the Semi-Finals of a major tournament is a huge accomplishment. Who knows? Had Ben Simmons played, or had Jonah Bolden not pulled out for personal reasons shortly before the World Cup, maybe the extra talent would have been the difference for Lemanis and Australia.

There are so many factors to consider, like the number of quality national teams a coach has to lead his team against. Who predicted that Argentina would thrive the way they did in China, for example? That was the team that kept Collet and France out of the Final. There are a lot of good teams out there.

A coach needs talent, team chemistry, great point guards and luck. He needs players to buy in, something that maybe did not happen in 2005 for Obradovic.

Ultimately, a coach can only be as successful as his players allow him to be, players that want to put on the national team jersey.

Jeff Taylor
FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.

Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor, a North Carolina native and UNC Chapel Hill graduate, has been a journalist since 1990. He started covering international basketball after moving to Europe in 1996. Jeff provides insight and opinion every week about players and teams on the old continent that are causing a buzz.