HUN - Ratgeber’s new adventure

ISTANBUL (EuroLeague Women) – You may not know this, but one of the best coaches in Europe also dabbles in rock music.

Just ‘Youtube’ Laszlo Ratgeber and see what comes up.

In one video is not a coach walking the sidelines, but rather a man wearing sunglasses and a pair of wings.

And he’s rockin’ and rollin’.

It is not the sort of thing you expect to see in a basketball coach but that is Ratgeber, blowing off steam maybe.

And really, what’s not to like about it?

On the plus side, one might say that Ratgeber doesn’t take himself too seriously.

That’s a compliment.

He knows how to chill out.

It would be a mistake to think Ratgeber isn’t serious, though.

"This is only a hobby," he says.

"Andras Lovasi, the star singer of Hungary's most popular rock band "Kiscsillag" (Little Star) is a good friend of mine, and he asked me to join his group occasionally.

"It is a good entertainment and relaxation…

"But I know who I am. .

“I don't mix things up.

"I know I am a basketball coach in the first place."

Ratgeber the coach is a different man.

He goes back and forth in front of the bench, wearing a suit and trendy spectacles.

He is enthusiastic, and that enthusiasm spreads.

Ratgeber also wins.

Enthusiasm and winning - it’s why Turkish champions Fenerbahce have put what can best be described as their basketball revolution into the hands of Hungary’s best-known women’s coach.

The 2010-11 campaign will indeed be a new adventure for Ratgeber.

He will move to Istanbul and coach a team that is trying to join the elite in the women’s game.

Ratgeber will coach Fenerbahce.

In Europe, the Russian clubs have dominated.

“Of course, our goal is to make the Final Four,” he says, “a place where Fener has never been before.”

Most people expect them to make it, too.

Fener have not just brought in Ratgeber, oh no.

They have also splashed out big bucks on maybe the best women’s player of all time in Diana Taurasi.

The United States Olympian played for Ratgeber at Spartak Moscow Region and helped him win the EuroLeague.

“Obviously, signing Diana Taurasi is a sensational move,” Ratgeber says to FIBA.com.

“I said it would be a great job to coach Fener since I’ll have an opportunity to see the Maradona of women’s basketball trains and plays every day.”

Voted as the Final Four MVP the last two seasons, Taurasi won’t have to do it alone.

She has joined 2006 FIBA World Championship MVP Penny Taylor of Australia in Istanbul as well.

“Penny Taylor is also a fantastic player,” Ratgeber said. “I am especially glad to be able to finally coach her. A forward-tandem like this on my team, it’s a dream come true.”

New rules

Next season is the first under the new rules in Europe that a player must compete under the nationality of the country she represents in international competition.

In the past, Taurasi played at Spartak with an Italian passport and Taylor as a Brit.

Taurasi must now play as an American, and Taylor as an Australian.

“Since the overseas spots have been filled on our roster - what a pity that Taylor’s British and Taurasi’s Italian passport are not valid in European basketball any longer - we can strengthen our team only with European players,” Ratgeber says.

“That’s why we have signed Ivana Matovic, surely one of the best centers on the continent. I am sure she is coming as a highly motivated player, and I hope next season I’ll be able to write down the sentence: the best center in Europe – not just one of the best.”

Serbia’s Matovic is moving to the club from Polish giants Lotos Gdynia, whom she represented in last year’s EuroLeague Women All-Star Game.

“And we still have a couple of names on our minds, so the boosting period for the team is not over yet.”

Hungary international Anna Vajda, who once played for Ratgeber at MiZo Pecs and with Hungary’s national team, has been linked with the team.

“Let us not forget about the Turkish contingent, that is the heart and soul of the team for me,” Ratgeber says.

“Birsel, Meral and Saziye on the outside positions, Yilmaz and Nevin inside - they’ll have to lead the way in aggressive defense and brave and creative offense.

“They will play an important role. I have seen them many times as an opposing coach, either at Fener or on the Turkish national team, and I have a very high respect for what they have accomplished and I trust them unconditionally.”

Spartak still team to beat

Ratgeber parted ways with Spartak at the beginning of last season.

It was a strange move in so much as he had just led Spartak to the European title.

But Spartak’s former supremo Shabtai Von Kalmanovic decided to make a change and instead handed the reins to assistant coach Pokey Chatman, someone the Hungarian has a great deal of respect for.

Even with Taurasi’s departure from Russia, Ratgeber believes his old team to be formidable.

USA point guard Sue Bird will return for a fifth season and Lauren Jackson, the Australia international, is also coming back after spending the 2009-10 season Down Under.

Many will think, and for good reason, that UMMC Ekaterinburg have the best team.

They swept Spartak in the Russian Superleague Women finals, 3-0, and will have French champions Celine Dumerc and Sandrine Gruda and Team USA’s Candace Parker again as well as other leading Europeans.

When it comes to Europe, though, Ratgeber believes there remains one team to beat.

“The runaway favorite to win EuroLeague can’t be any other team but four-time champions Spartak Moscow,” he says.

“Where Sue Bird is the point guard, the team will always be the favorite for the final victory.

“Lauren Jackson is back, the strong Russian core is intact, (Anete) Jekabsone has stepped forward. They’ve signed great young quality players. They have a lot of Final Four-experience, an excellent coach and a very effective staff, led by Anna Arkhipova (Von Kalmanovic).”

As for UMMC, Ratgeber says: “They will do their best to win the trophy this time – not that they have not tried to do this in the past.

“Hats off to them for what they have accomplished in the past, anyway. As for the quality of their roster, they will be the strongest team this season in Europe. Because of the new passport-rule, UMMC will be the last of the Mohicans, the last of the mammoth teams of the past.”

UMMC had so many quality European players that they didn’t need to have any restructuring.

Other teams like Ratgeber’s Fenerbahce have a shot at glory.

“A long row of challengers are in waiting,” Ratgeber said, “Fener being one of them.

“These teams have gone through a facelift – Prague, (Ros Casares) Valencia, to name a few - and I expect a step forward from the Italian teams, too. I feel they are going in the right direction. But let’s not forget that the transfer window has not closed yet. A lot of clubs will have brand new teams, and those who will be the first to make a homogenous group out of their players will enjoy a huge advantage.”

Fenerbahce factor

Maybe those wings in the youtube video say something else about Ratgeber.

Might he be some sort of angel descending on Istanbul?

Fenerbahce can hardly wait for him to start work.

The feeling is mutual.

“I can hardly wait,” Ratgeber says.

“It’s been worth waiting for since last November to get a job for this is a real challenge for me. Fenerbahce is a great club and I am more than happy to sit on the bench there.”

The enthusiasm of Ratgeber already abounds, too.

He is already thinking big thoughts and transmitting those to a wider audience. He wants Fenerbahce to be a team that everyone knows, and for Istanbul to be the center of international basketball even after the FIBA World Championship is staged there this summer.

“Moreover, it would be a fantastic experience to have the next Final Four in Istanbul,” Ratgeber says.

“We already have a fabulous football stadium, and now a similarly wonderful basketball arena is under construction, which we will share with the men’s team and have a chance to play in front of 10,000 spectators.

“The fans of Fener are a different story. They are fantastic and they are real fanatics. I have seen them at football and basketball games live.

“For me, as a former coach of Pecs, it would be a great experience to play the Final Four on our home court. I had this experience in the past (at Pecs). I know how beautiful this can be. And I know how the supporters could be the sixth player of the team. And the seventh and the eight.

“But we still have a very, very long way to go.”

Jeff TAYLOR
FIBA