Coaching globalization

PARIS (The Monday International Show) - Two tidbits of information that went largely unnoticed this summer concerned the two coaches of the last NBA finals and their international influences.

After trouncing Panathinakos in a pre-season game played with NBA rules in San Antonio, Greg Popovich told local reporters that he was relishing the idea of dissecting the game tape to study the offensive systems of coach Obradovic, someone he believes could be coaching a number of NBA franchises!

Popovich is known for using some of Argentina's systems too.

Pop's former assistant, Mike Brown, took the same open-minded approach by seeking the advice of Ettore Messina to improve his team's poor and somewhat stereotyped attack this summer after being swept by the Spurs.

His star, Lebron James, worked on his outside shot with extra practice and shot the lights out with Team USA in Vegas.

Brown and James were inspired by some aspects of FIBA style ball in order to progress and only the GM, Danny Ferry, stagnated as far as improving the roster by not signing any new players and even having trouble coming to terms with Pavlovic and Varejao.

Of course he is handcuffed by Hughes' and Ilgauskas' overly huge contracts but other teams like Boston and Orlando improved through free agency this summer and might bypass the Cavs!

The question would seem to be, can offenses utilised in international ball be of use to the NBA where the court is more spread because of the wider 3 point line, rectangular key, and the defensive 3 second rule.

In the NBA, defences have to move more to close out on 3 point shooters and the defence is less compact in the paint which means a player like Tony Parker is more efficient in the NBA than in FIBA ball with his quickness off the dribble.

It's true that in the era of the global 24 second clock, offences everywhere pretty much start and end with the high pick and roll.

Roanne's coach made an interesting point to me before playing Barcelone's armada in the Euroleague last thursday, saying that the stronger the team and the level played the more simplistic the system because success depends on individual initiatives from the best players more than anything.

Barcelone coach, Ivanovic used alot of high post passing from Jordi Trias and back door cuts which ressembles the princeton offensive principles used in the NBA by Adelman, Byron Scott and Eddie Jordan.

Swinging the ball, driving and kicking and hitting mid range jumpers are staples of FIBA style b-ball and for me the better teams in the NBA master these aspects of the game to complement the typical NBA isolation play (example Duncan on the low left block).

Three of the top five players on both the Spurs and the Cavs are international players and soon international coaches will be on NBA benches which should further the osmosis already occurring through the globalization of coaching methods.

Good team work and smart basketball are universal and go all the way back to coaching legends like Iba, Wooden and Dean Smith in the US or Nikolic in Yugoslvia.

The fact that Pop and Brown looked into some european recipes this summer is a sign of the times!

George Eddy