By Alex Madrid/ info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos head coach David Blatt was asked about the comments Barcelona head coach Svetislav Pesic made on the NBA being “not basketball” and that EuroLeague is where the best hoops in the world are played.
“I’ll tell you what I always say regarding that subject: The game in the NBA is different than the game in Europe or EuroLeague. It’s not a matter of what’s better or worst or more qualitative. I don’t agree with that particular part of the statement but I do understand where coach Pesic sees a difference in the game. Because there is. The games are different and personally, I’ve experienced that,” Blatt said in the post-game presser after the loss of his team to Real Madrid.
“It’s a different kind of basketball, there are different rules, a different type of schedule that you have. The players and the way that teams are built are different. The game around the game in the NBA, as opposed to Europe, is different,” Blatt added.
Blatt was the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for one season and a half before being fired on January 2016 despite the team having the best record in the NBA. Before joining the Cavs he had won the 2014 EuroLeague title with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
“Qualitatively I wouldn’t say that one game is better than the other. Absolutely not. But I do very much recognize and understand where he’s [Svetislav Pesic] coming from in terms of the differences and how the game is played. Because it is played very differently. Under different circumstances. Players. Rules. There’s a lot of differences,” Blatt concluded.