Bob Elphinston: "It's a fairytale for me!"

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - Bob Elphinston was elected as the new president of FIBA at the FIBA World Congress in Tokyo.

The term begins after the World Championship and lasts four years until 2010.

PA Sport's Jeff Taylor spoke to the Australian about his early involvement in basketball as a coach and about his vision for basketball.

FIBA: Bob, congratulations on becoming the new president of FIBA. You have been deeply involved in the sport in Australia for a long time. How does your background in the game help you in this new role?

Elphinston: "Having been involved some 30 years as a coach, and having been involved with the game, coaching young boys and girls under 10 years of age, to being involved with the national team, coaching many state teams from my home state of New South Wales, taking tours of Europe and USA and elsewhere, gives you a really good feeling for the game. Regrettably, I never had any real sort of playing career because I came into the game too late. The refereeing and the coaching side, that gives you a feel for the game and led me getting involved in the administration of the game at a very early age."

FIBA: Looking back at the start of your career, could you have ever imagined when you discovered basketball at a teaching college that you would eventually take on a role like FIBA president?

Elphinston: "It's a fairytale for me. It's about being at the right place at the right time, but it's also about how hard you work and your passion. As soon as I discovered the game of basketball, while training to become a physical education teacher in Sydney, I just loved the game. I loved the skill levels (required), the athleticism, and particularly from a coaching perspective, it's one of the few games in which the coach is actively involved during the competition. In most sports, you prepare the athletes, send them out and they are on their own. Basketball is different. The coach is every bit as important as the player. That's what makes it exciting. I loved the 30 years of coaching. I only gave up coaching because of the opportunity to work on the Olympic Games bid for Sydney. And then, I worked on for the next 10 years after we won the bid. I was the general manager and then progressed into seven years of organizing the Games."

FIBA: What would be the one rule you would like to change in basketball?

Elphinston: "I get frustrated sometimes by what happens in the last 90 seconds of a game, when a team is down and they are forced to foul. It becomes a free throw possession, and particularly, if the officials don't determine there should be an intentional foul, it just becomes poor as a spectacle but I understand the issues."

FIBA: Here at the FIBA World Championship, you watched games in Hiroshima, Hamamatsu and Saitama. What do think of some of the teams here?

Elphinston: "I like the way the Greek team plays, Turkey plays with tremendous passion. If you look at the change in that team since the EuroBasket last year in Belgrade which I was at, it's just remarkable. I commend the Turkish coach, and the federation, for taking the step they did to reinvigorate their team. Brazil were disappointing, they've got the players but struggled each game. Lithuania were impressive. You have to admire them because they are such a small country but achieve such basketball success. And they are a young team. Needless to say how much I am impressed with the USA team although they lost in the semi-finals. It seems that the players really bought into the team philosophy of Jerry Colangelo and Coach K and I hope they will continue on that road. Argentina and Spain have proven again, that they are among the top teams in the world."

FIBA: Is there a player who has stood out for you in Hamamatsu?

Elphinston: "The player I admire that I've watched is number four for Greece, Theo Papaloukas. I saw him at the EuroBasket last year and liked him there. He can play any position on the floor, is a great team player and is a real good role model for children to watch."

FIBA: Greece are the European champions, yet some people might not appreciate the way they play. For example, they don't score as many points as some teams but if you watch them, they play tough-as-nails defense.

Elphinston: "They pass the ball very well, defend very well and as a number of people have said to me, in the last 90 seconds against Australia when Australia led by seven, Greece never held back. They came back and they had that confidence in each other. Their big guys are mobile. They have a good team."

FIBA: How much did it hurt, though, for you to watch Nikos Zisis beat your country with that last shot?

Elphinston: "This World Championship is a bit of a roller-coaster. Australia got that great win over Brazil, Turkey was a game we should have won, to be 10 to 14 points in front of them and not finish it off, and then of course the Greek game, three or four bad mistakes in the last minutes, the technical foul. I really felt for (coach) Brian Goorjian because I have a great admiration for him. He's a really skilful coach and is very passionate about the game. He's Australian. Yes, he was born and brought up in the United States, but he is an Australian citizen. He loves the game in Australia and contributes so much. I felt very, very much for him that night."

FIBA: There are some great players and wonderful people in other teams like Brazil. Don't you think it's sad to see them go home after the group games?

Elphinston: "What it emphasizes is the great depth in our sport. It is a credit that FIBA expanded the tournament to 24 teams. We've increased the depth in the Championship considerably, and it's not just the depth of the European teams coming. Having the wild cards is justified. Look at Turkey, Italy, Puerto Rico and Serbia & Montenegro - the formula has worked. I think we need to stick with 24 teams for the foreseeable future. I am very pleased with the progress of the African teams. Angola, I was able to watch them play in Hiroshima and in Saitama. They were a very impressive team, not just athletic. They played with a lot of purpose, good defense, discipline and the other African teams have shown good play. Nigeria beat Serbia & Montenegro. Also in Asia, Lebanon coming from a war-torn environment and beating France."

FIBA: Will the Olympic tournament be expanded?

Elphinston: "People would love to see 16 teams, but whether that's achievable, I don't know. The numbers are restricted across the 28 sports. Football is the only sport that has 16 teams. The other team sports - handball, hockey, volleyball - have 12. But basketball has been a huge success in the recent Olympics, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens. The Olympic movement enjoys very much to have basketball at the Games, so we'll try very hard to have 16 teams."

FIBA: Have they been marketing the sport well in Turkey, where the 2010 FIBA World Championship will be staged?

Elphinston: "Yes, I've been impressed with what they've been doing. I've been to Turkey two or three times, I have seen the passion of their team and the enthusiasm of their federation led by Turgay Demirel. I think they will host a very good World Championship, certainly on par with Japan. We're intent on making each of the World Championships better than the previous one. And the people are very passionate about the sport."

FIBA: What about 2014? Where will the FIBA World Championship be played?

Elphinston: "France and Serbia & Montenegro lost out last time to Turkey, and I'm certain France could do a very, very good job hosting the World Championship. There will be good competition elsewhere. It's probably time Europe got the opportunity. FIBA want to make sure our world championships, also for women and juniors, are staged under the very best conditions for players and in an environment where we can hope to promote and develop the sport."

FIBA: How well is FIBA doing in the development of players and coaches around the world?

Elphinston: "I'm impressed with the work in the five zones we're doing. We have a very enthusiastic FIBA development manager in Zoran Radovic, a former player. We've got really good coaching guides, DVDs. The program we do in conjunction with the NBA, Basketball Without Borders, has been a big success and I'd like to see that expand. And, I like to see us find more ways of securing more money in the sport through commercial opportunities so we, in turn, can channel that money into development. Africa is a wonderful opportunity for us. We'd like to see that sport grow even more there."

FIBA: How is the relationship with FIBA and the NBA right now?

Elphinston: "There is a good working relationship with Patrick Baumann, our secretary general, who does a wonderful job for the sport between himself and (NBA commissioner) David Stern, and I'm looking forward to spending more time on that relationship. We're particularly pleased with the new Central Board which has been approved at this conference here. One of the Americas representatives is Val Ackerman, who has had a major role in the WNBA. So, we want to work with them about developing the sport of basketball at all levels around the world. The NBA is valuable tool in that regard, so we want to work with them but we want them to respect us in what we are doing."

FIBA: How much potential is there in the UK, bearing in mind the 2012 Olympics will be in London?

Elphinston: "We've been excited about the opportunities for basketball in the UK. And I have been pleased since London won those games, the organizing committee there has been very keen to work with FIBA and England's, Scotland's and Wales' national federations have worked together as they look ahead to a Great Britain team. We needed a competitive men's and women's team out of Great Britain, not just a team that is going to make up the numbers. Also we want a team that has some longevity that will act as an incentive for young boys and girls to play basketball. Everyone tells us that basketball is a very, very popular game in the schools and the young age groups. Football gets the profile, and I'm sure there are players that need to be recruited back to the UK. England and Scotland played at the Commonwealth Games and whilst England were not a full strength, there was enough to suggest that they could be a good team. FIBA Europe have worked with us to ensure that Great Britain have changed their rules to enter into the European competitions in 2007 as opposed to England competing because we want them to get ready and earn a spot."

FIBA: Is basketball on the way down in Australia?

Elphinston: "We're on an upward trend, to be honest. There was a boom period in the eighties and early nineties. We have a very strong team sport public interest in Australia. We have our own game, Australian Rules Football, which dominates, we have rugby league and rugby union playing in international competitions and now our football (soccer) team is on the world stage. Put in cricket and a few others, it's a very tough sports market. I think basketball is on the way back, and we have a couple of new clubs in the NBL which is very important - the second one out of Melbourne which is called the South Dragons, captained by Shane Heal, playing in a 10,000-seat arena which is where the Commonwealth Games were played. Basketball Australia is very proactive, and you can see the young people who are coming through and making it to our senior teams. We're always in the medal hunt in the World Junior Men's and World Junior Women's Championships, so I think the future is bright."

FIBA: How do we take basketball to newer heights?

Elphinston: "That's a real challenge for FIBA, and one that I am excited about. First of all, we need to make sure that the hosts of our World Championships are strong hosts and that we can present and promote a really, truly worthwhile event. Secondly, we need to gain increased commercial support through sponsorship, marketing which will give us more money to increase development. The television exposure for this tournament is going into 155 countries. We need to continue to work with the NBA and the WNBA and we must continue to develop the game in areas like Africa, give them support when we can. Increase our programs in coaching expertise and refereeing. The Beijing Olympics will be huge for us. The basketball arena there is a magnificent new arena."