By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
In less than 10 days, the center of European basketball will be Badalona, thanks to the 2019 EuroLeague Coaches Clinic. Ettore Messina, Xavi Pascual, Georgios Bartzokas, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Pablo Laso and Zeljko Obradovic will share some of their secrets between 4th and 7th of July. You can still register here and be part of the first ever clinic of the newly created EuroLeague Head Coaches Board.
Why? “Easy: Messina, Pascual, Bartzokas, Jasikevicius, and Obradovic. It´s basketball´s Disney World”, said Real Madrid‘s coach Pablo Lasso to Eurohoops. Laso will be one of the main speakers in the clinic, however, he is not the host of this edition: “I think it would be fairer to say that Xavi Pascual would be the coach-host to this first 2019 EuroLeague Coaches Clinic. But that doesn´t mean I am any less excited about this clinic which will become a platform for learning and leadership in the basketball coaching community”.
In a global basketball environment with a European coach, Sergio Scariolo, being part of the NBA champions Toronto Raptors, Lasso believes that we leave in a basketball age where everything around the world is connected: “I think that the whole basketball community is more attune than in the past. Players are faster, more athletic, coaches are more strategic, more tactical. Technology and know-how have allowed for that. However, it is true that Spanish basketball has become increasingly relevant in European basketball”.
And that’s why it was time for the EuroLeague Head Coaches Board to emerge. As Laso explained: “I think that it can only bring improvement to European basketball; by offering coaches a platform to showcase some of their experience and learnings for the betterment of the sport, as well as offering a stable and secure infrastructure for clubs to improve their management of rosters. It´s a win-win for everyone”.