By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
Speaking to Eurodevotion, Ettore Messina shared many interesting views and trivia from his career, from the NBA to EuroLeague and back.
Messina counts 29 titles throughout his nearly three-decade career. However, he has not yet achieved all of his goals. “I do not deny that I would like to coach here in the NBA, but if that won’t won’t happen, I’m serene about it. What I would like to continue to be able to choose, as I have done until today.”
No one knows the EuroLeague and the NBA better than Messina, so the question about the difference between the two leagues was normally raised.
“The level is high, being the second tournament in the world”, tells Messina about EuroLeague. “Basically there is the difference in economic power, even the big players in Europe cannot compete on certain figures even with middle-level NBA players. In addition, there is the tendency of players to leave the Old Continent at a very young age, when they have the opportunity, while a few years ago there was more reservation about it.”
Speaking of EuroLeague, one name is nearly a synonym of the competition, that of Zeljko Obradovic’s. Messina acknowledged common elements between their way of playing the game and praised the Serbian coach.
“I think it is common for many coaches to create a system that instead of being a succession of schemes is a succession of actions in which the player must know what to do and how to react responsibly. We often talk about coaches with more or less rigid discipline, but the real subject is related to what players are willing to do. Of course, returning to Zelimir, he is the coach who has had the greatest impact on European basketball ever.”
Back to the NBA, the Italian coach praised Slovenian superstar and rookie Luka Doncic: “He’s phenomenal, especially mentally at this age. The only doubt is about his athleticism. But then again, we start from a phenomenal basis and I’m curious to see how he will balance the ability to do what he does best with what he will have to adapt to this new (to him) way of playing .”
As for one thing that no one knows about Gregg Popovich and Manu Ginobili, Messina had the answer.
“It ‘s very simple, but not at all obvious, and applies to both: they take little seriously. They have such a status as to be a fundamental part of today’s “star system”, but instead they are extraordinary people and it is not easy to maintain that balance and profile.”
Photo credit: FIBA