By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
If there was a mid-season award for the best coach in the Euroleague, Luca Banchi would have won it without any competition. The Italian coach continues successfully the tradition of Siena’s assistants who have been promoted to head coaches. But his great achievement has to do mainly with the new era of the team, which reduced its budget and changed the targets. However, Montepaschi continues to be among the best teams in Europe and this weekend they can win the first title of the season.
Siena will try to win the Italian cup for the fifth season in row. The final eight in Milan starts for the champs on Friday and Banchi believes that the mission for his team is tough. “We have a lot of problems and we aren’t in the level and the shape we would like to be now. The format of the final eight is very difficult for us, because our first game is on Friday, which means that we’ll have to play three games in a row if we reach the final. During the last six editions of the final eight in Copa Italia, the winner started its games on Thursday. And I think that it’s the first time that it’s too difficult to predict the winner. I want to check how the team will react in this occasion. We must be open-minded and try to figure out our consistency as team. We must be humble knowing that there is a long way to go”.
The goal of Siena is to win its seventh championship in row and break the Italian record for consecutive titles. But Montepaschi has already five losses in the regular season and doesn’t lead the standings like the previous years. Does Luca Banchi believe that Siena’s level is lower this season or the other Italian teams have decreased the gap?
“We have the same problem as Milan and Cantu during the regular season. And have in mind that we have now better record than them. It’s very hard to remain competitive both in the Italian league and the Euroleague the same time. The new format of the Euroleague gives you only 72 hours to play your championship game. Our roster is not so big and strong, because we don’t have in our bench players like Zisis, Lavrinovic, Thornton or Rakosevic… We have inexperienced players who need time. We have been defeated by teams of good level and of course the situation is not like the past when we had only 2-3 domestic defeats during the whole season. It’s out of ordinary to do so well in both competitions. The new Euroleague format doesn’t help us to remain competitive. Only few teams don’t have problems in whole Europe. Maccabi, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos don’t have too many competitive games in their domestic leagues. But take a look what are doing Barcelona, Fenerbahce and Efes in their domestic leagues. Only Real is doing it perfect”.
– So, do you think that the new Euroleague format is worse for the teams?
“The games on Monday night give us one more day of rest and it’s valuable. In Spain they don’t have this chance and I think that the new format pushes the teams to be more focused during Top16 on Euroleague than in their championships. But everybody is enthusiastic about this new Top16 and I think it’s a positive solution for the fans and TV. The interest on basketball is very high”.
– Siena started Top 16 with five wins. Did you expect it?
“No! Especially after the way that we started the regular season. We got the ticket for the Top 16 only because we won 5 games in row and surprised everybody. We are humble and focused on the new situation. We are able to compete with everybody and we try to have the same approach and desire until the end. I want to have the mentality that we are the best team in the group”.
– Which was your target when you build your team during the summer?
“To be competitive. Our realistic target was to play in Italian playoffs and overcome the regular season in the Euroleague. Everything that happened later was a big surprise. We talked directly with the management. I knew the situation and I tried to rebuild the team by not bringing big names. The biggest motivation was to feel the challenge we had and to stop any comparison between us and the previous teams. We didn’t try to find the new McCalebb, not the new Lavrinovic, not the new Stonerook, not the new McIntyre and also not the new Pianigiani. I was six years together with Simone but there is no comparison between us. I started to build the offense and the defense and our goals. The first one was to have a new soul in the team and a new identity. The process was difficult for everybody. But I think that we have succeed, although not completely. Everybody recognizes we are different and our fans appreciate our try, though we don’t have big names in our roster”.
– Do you have contact with Simone Pianigiani after your “divorce”? Why do you think his results in Fenerbahce aren’t so good?
“I speak with Simone very often. It’s impossible in few weeks to change everything. He is focused on his work, everything that is heard is rumors and as I saw in my travel in Istanbul the management, the stuff and the players are a unit trying to succeed. He has the right tools and he needs only time”.
– How hard was the transition to the head coach position after being six years one of the best assistant coaches in Europe?
“I want to mention that Dimitris Itoudis is the best example for someone who wants to be an assistant coach. But I’m happy, because the management gave me this honored chance. I was six years in Siena as an assistant but for nine years I was a head coach, so it was something natural for me to come back in this position”.
– But you follow a different path compared to Siena’s past. Your team is the best offense in the Euroleague instead of the Pianigiani’s era.
“The right attitude is to adapt to the personnel that you have. The right system is the one that suits best to your players. I’m happy for the past but we have now a different system. You are wrong if you have in mind that we are the best offense in the Euroleague. It happens, but we continue to adapt always to the games. We have changed a lot of things, because for example we play often without a real center. Kasun left, Eze was out, Ress became starter… It’s exciting for every coach to transform your ideas to what you have at hand any given moment”.
– There is also, a common though around Europe that Siena is “Bobby’s team”. How have you managed to get the best scorer in the Euroleague, who was known as very good player, but not for that level?
“People wasn’t sure also for McIntyre and McCalebb. But we are Siena and the challenge is huge. It’s a great situation to become a very good player if you trust our system, our people, the stuff, the fans and the management. When you pick a player you should have also a vision. I try to predict what he can do in my team and not only what he has done in his career until now. So, we had with Brown a common agreement. His European career wasn’t so good, but I gave him the chance to play in the highest level in the Euroleague. He didn’t think the money when he decided to sign. Many people talked bad about him telling that he’s a Eurocup player. I don’t know if there is a separation between Euroleague and Eurocup players. It matters only if the player suits you or not. Bobby accepted his role, he is great in his job, good guy and mostly understood that he can grow bigger in Siena”.