By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Young upstarts managing to overtake veterans has been a rarity, more or less stalling European basketball. Olympiacos head coach Giorgos Bartzokas noted the issue during the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. Virtus Segafredo Bologna and Spain senior national team boss Sergio Scariolo concurs.
“It’s an objective fact, not an opinion,” he stressed talking to journalists ahead of Italy’s LBA Serie A UnipolSai Semifinals, “There is no doubt, we all agree. Not because Giorgios did not make an interesting point, but because we all know about it. This is a serious problem.”
The 62-year-old tactician took over Virtus Bologna in 2021, leading the storied club to the 2022 7DAYS EuroCup championship and from there back to EuroLeague.
“Since there is the possibility to play with the status of local player despite not being born or trained in a specific place, players with two, three, four seasons in the youth sector – depending on the different countries – are being developed, but they are not selectable,” he added on youngsters around Europe, “They usually don’t have that love and attachment to the team, the ability to inherit values and pass them on, that plus from the point of view of these intangibles, which really create teams and which are their foundation.”
“Of course, it tends to disappear. When a team has a strong core of local players, it, therefore, has a commitment and a sense of attachment, a willingness to extreme effort and sacrifice superior to others,” concluded the Italian coach, “Of course, you can get there in other ways, but it helps a lot if you have it.”
Sergio Scariolo on young players in Europe (Italian)
Preparing for the next round of the domestic league’s Playoffs, Scariolo’s side is set to face Bertram Yachts Derthona Tortona. Game 1 of the best-of-five series will be played in Segafredo Arena tomorrow, Sunday.