Tag: basketball

Former Kansas @keith_langford wants a Union for US #basketball players in Europe

Keith Langford is now playing with EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (Italy, Euroleague), one of the most important teams in European basketball history and owned by Giorgio Armani: his name speaks for itself.

In today’s edition of the most renowned Italian sports newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport, you can find my interview with Langford claiming the need of a Players Union for the US ballers that “take their talents” to Europe.

The interview is following three tweets from Langford about his brother Kevin’s issues with former team in Greece.

Immagine

Here what Keith had to say:

Tell me about your tweets, and you idea.

“I spent my summer keeping up with the game, reading Twitter and online. It started with my brother, but I’ve just seen there are a lot of issues with players and clubs. It was frustrating to hear that, then I start tweeting about it”.

Did you start working on it?

“I’ve started to work with Linton Johnson [Sassari], we’re trying to understand how to run a Union in order to help other players. It’s important that a guy that’s not having trouble, that is playing for the right team to say something. If the guys on top don’t speak up, nothing can never happen”.

What the next steps will be?

“Linton is in touch with Billy Hunter, the former NBPA president, to get informations. We’ll talk and we’ll meet with him. We know that we have to talk with European leagues and organizations and FIBA, but before getting there we have to be ready”.

How do you rate the agents’ role in this business?

“There are good agents and bad agents. Their job is to put their clients in the best situation possible, but I don’t think the agents’ role really concerns this situation. I think that the most important thing is that American guys get together and try to form something in order to protect all of us”.

Are you satisfied about the level of the cooperation between American and European agents?

“No, I’m not. There are agents that only work for their commission, and they’re not doing their job properly following their client’s career step by step. Me, Johnson and other players with our experience have to get together to fill a gap. Many times even the big American agencies are sending their players without even know where they are going”.

American players often say “I play overseas”. But Europe is not the same everywhere…

“Overseas means nothing. The countries and the clubs are so different. Americans need a platform to prepare them before coming to Europe. There are guys that don’t even know how to call home, almost 100% ignores the FIBA rules. I’ve read a story about Pierre Jackson, who had a great NCAA career but left Villeurbanne because he was homesick. If we could have helped him, maybe he could have saved his contract”.

What a “typical” American player know about Europe before coming here?

“You can do a couple of things, most of the time: Google and check the team’s site. The typical case, when you say to your family that you’re going to play in Europe, they don’t even know where is it. Your relatives and your friends can’t understand where are you and how things are going until they come over here to see you. For them it doesn’t matter if you play in Cremona or Milan, in Portugal or Barcelona. You’re just far from home”.

What can you concretely do?

“Why don’t we make something similar to the NBA Rookie Transition Program? We could organize meetings, classes and other things to let guys understand where they are going, the lifestyle and how to fit in. It takes months to feel comfortable in another country, but you have to be 100% focused on basketball too”.

Any other issues?

“One example is the LOC (Letter of Clearance). I can understand that a club can be in trouble, but if you’re not getting your money and you have the chance to play somewhere else, and provide to your family, it has to be easier to do it. Then, the season length is another issue: It’s 10 months potentially, I think it’s too much. None of this is meant to be controversial, just to make everyones experiences more enjoyable”.

Will you meet the GIBA [the Italian players union], too?

“Of course we will. GIBA has always been great with us. Mason Rocca took care of this in the past, but this organization only works on the Italian League. What I want to do is something that can help everybody in Europe”.

Pietro

Waiting 4 London: My 1st Euroleague TV season review

My feelings (and “awards”) about my work on Euroleague Basketball Magazine (you can find it on Youtube, also check Euroleague.tv).

Things I’ve seen, people I’ve met, thoughts I’ve had.

Enjoy!

Best game attended: Olympiacos Piraeus-Anadolu Efes Istanbul (Playoffs, Game-5)

Not only because of the atmosphere at Peace and Friendship Stadium. Not only because the game was the most important of the season for both teams. It was, in fact, a great basketball game. Anadolu Efes put up a great showing for 25 minutes, then Olympiacos came back strong to finally win it. It was a shame to see Jordan Farmar sitting on the bench because of an injury, missing the last quarter. The game missed some fashion and great quality without him (and, of course, the Turkish side missed his talent).

Honorable Mention: BC Khimki-Olympiacos Piraeus

Khimki has been one of my favorite teams throughout the season. I watched a lot of their games during 2011-12 Eurocup victorious campaign as a commentator with Eurosport Italy, and I was curious to see them in Euroleague. I was not disappointed with the quality of their game, which was brilliant in terms of team identity, chemistry, execution and ability to read the game. They brought all those things to the table when the defending champions Olympiacos visited them in Top 16. And the Greek team answered with a marvelous second half, using their pick and roll play with intelligence and adapting their defense to stop bleeding in the paint, overcoming a 13 points game to force Khimki to their first home defeat in three years in the European cups. Just marvelous.

Best trip: Moscow, Russia

It was my first time in Russia. And it was a great way to celebrate that watching two top level Euroleague games (CSKA-Panathinaikos & Khimki-Olympiacos). I didn’t had time for sightseeing, just a little walk in the Red Square and a couple of coffees. However, it was great to sit down with 16 great players (4 for each team) and get a inside look on their team’s life (especially those that were traveling), spending almost a week there.

Best Interview: Vassilis Spanoulis (Olympiacos Piraeus)

When I sat down with him (we were in Russia at Olympiacos’ hotel, during a Top 16 trip) I felt that Vassilis really understands who he is. A big time player and an important personality for his club and the sports we all love in his country. He was concrete, lucid and pleasant to listen. In fact, I had the same feeling when I spoke with him a few minutes after the regular season victory in Milan (where the home fans rewarded him with a standing ovation) and also in other post game interviews (after the game in Khimki and after Game-5 against Anadolu Efes). He knows that talking to the media is a part of his work and he does it with style. It’s a true pleasure, as a journalist.

Best post game interview: Heiko Schaffartzik (Alba Berlin) after the game vs. Brose Baskets Bamberg

Quote: “We never got down in any way and when we received a punch we gave them two back in their face. And that is what made the difference today”.

My All-Interview 1st Team

Vassilis Spanoulis (Olympiacos Piraeus)

Quote about his work behind-the-scene to get ready for each game: “It is mental preparation, self-criticism, watching lots of videos of yourself because when you watch videos you face the truth, because if you don’t see it you could say that a moment in a game was not your mistake but someone else’s mistake. But when you see the video you see what is real. Of course you need character to pass difficult situations because in the end who is more mentally strong will take the titles”.

Roko Ukic (Panathinaikos Athens)

Quote about playing with Panathinaikos: “It is better to be the host than the guest in that gym [OAKA] and the fans give us support and they support us even when we lose. All that feeling is great even when you see all the flags up on the roof and you feel you are part of something important and that really makes you feel special”.

Kelvin Rivers (BC Khimki Moscow Region)

Quote about his role with Khimki: “To be honest with you I have completely no idea what my role is. I just fit in where I can you know. Whatever is needed whether it is to go and play defense or at times just try to take over when it is needed. I do what I know I can do and I do not do anything I am capable of doing”.

Andy Panko (Unicaja Malaga)

Quote about his Panathinaikos’ stint: “I always wanted to play in Spain, even in the summer, I told my agent that my priority was to play in Spain but when Panathinaikos came, I mean I got to be stupid to pass that up so it was a great opportunity for me to play for one of the best teams in the history of basketball”.

Ioannis Bourousis (EA7 Emporio Armani Milan)

Quote about his life in Italy: “Of course I like my Greek philosophy but Italian life is a lot easier. It is more relaxed. You know Italy. ‘Vai tranquillo!’ [in Italian], you know Italia!”

Coach: Rimas Kurtinaitis (BC Khimki Moscow Region)

Quote about the clutch-time decisions: “I don’t want to tell that those decisions are right, but they’re happy. I don’t know how to explain that, it’s just a feeling coming from inside. I do a lot of things just by feeling, as a former player. if you ask me why I made a substitution or why I call a play, sometimes I have no answer. I just feel we must do what I feel”.

My All-Interview 2nd Team

Marko Popovic (Zalgiris Kaunas)

Quote about his father playing basketball: “I remember him [his father] playing very well because my mum took me to my first game when I was three months old and since I walked into the gym at that time I have never left it. Basketball is basically in my blood”.

Earl Calloway (Unicaja Malaga)

Quote about his life in Malaga: “It’s very relaxing. Everything shuts down from two to five and they just go and enjoy life so that is pretty interesting. There is no stopping in America. A thirty-minute break and you are good to go”.

Rimantas Kaukenas (Zalgiris Kaunas)

Quote about a funny anecdote when he played in Israel: “A few times when I played in Israel there were some funny things because some people thought I was Dolph Lundgren! If I walked outside in the mall in Tel Aviv, people sometimes came to me asking ‘Are you Dolph Lundgren?’ [smiles]”.

CJ Wallace (FC Barcelona Regal)

Quote about a funny moment during a waiting in the airport when he was playing in Capo d’Orlando, Italy: “We had to keep ourselves entertained, we were a small team in Italy, you know we couldn’t buy fancy iPads and stuff like that so we played hide and seek and it wasn’t a very big airport so there weren’t a lot of places to hide and there was a store kind of near the base…and while the guy was counting I went in there and put on a helmet and had a bag and just kind of stood in the window for a little while. The lady that was working in the store was very nice, she let me get away with it but no-one found me for like 15 or 20 minutes and I won!”.

Kresimir Loncar (BC Khimki) 

Quote about playing in Russia: “I have been here for a long time and I can speak Russian but it is not easy for a European player to come to Russia. I think that the players who come here in the first year can see that this is an unbelievable city. It is cold but it is cold in other European cities as well. If you want nice weather then you go for the summer to Ibiza”.

Pietro