By Niki Bakouli
The best is yet to come for coach Chris Fleming. Bamberg is still the team to beat in Germany and himself is proving to be one of the best coaches in Europe, even though his team could not make it to the Top 16 of Euroleague. But Germans are known for planning ahead and Fleming, an American, has adapted in that mold and he is setting the bar high for his team and for the German league. In the meantime he talks to Eurohoops.net about the Euroleague play offs.
– First of all, how is it to work for the most successful championship all over Europe, cause this year revenues rise to 14.9% (69.5 million euros) ? Where every game is a celebration of basketball? Do you think is possible for German BBL to reach its goal of becoming the number one domestic league in Europe by 2020?
“I think the German BBL has done a good job of investing in infrastructure over the last 10 years or so. Where teams in other leagues have invested heavily in highly paid pro players the German teams have been building practice facilities, arenas and hiring youth coaches. All of this coupled with a strong economy makes me think that Germany has a good position to accomplish the goal of being the #1 domestic league by 2020”.
– You are a grand metre of offensive philosophy. And German league is being known about offence. How pleasant can this be for the crowd and for every team -to enjoy basketball? And how difficult is for the players to adopt your demanding plans?
“I don’t know if I would characterize myself as an offensive coach. I think that any team without a defensive mindset is not going to win anything important so in Bamberg we try to start there. Of course fans enjoy high scoring games but the fans here in Bamberg enjoy winning. I think the players don’t have a difficult time adjusting to our plans for them. Our offensive philosophy is based on individual improvement and our motion principles. I think the players enjoy the freedom they get once they are about to reach the level that we require of them”.
– German basketball will get a new team in Munich or Hamburg or not and how important would that be for basketball in Germany?
“I think the addition of Bayern München has really helped the league. First and foremost because it is one of the biggest and well know sports clubs in the world. But it is also a necessity for the league to have good clubs in their big cities. It would be great if Hamburg and Cologne could also find a way to bring basketball to those cities”.
– What’s your suggestion for other leagues, if they want to become profitable? If they want to have sell outs, the best possible atmosphere?
“I am not a financial expert and I would not like to sell myself as such but I think two things are important. First you have to market your product – tell the people why they need to come see the team play. Wolfgang Heyder (Manager in Bamberg) has been very successful creating new fans through a grassroots program that starts kids playing at a young age. They bring their parents to the arena. The formula works well here in Bamberg. My second suggestion is to offer the fan something extra when he comes to the arena. The big sports in the United States are dependant on filling the arenas to be able to cover their high cost of paying players – they do an excellent job in creating a show atmosphere around the game to attract fans that might not normally come to the games”.
– We read about Bayern’s decision -last summer- to do whatever it takes to reach the elite of European basketball. What was the first impact to Beko-BBL? The competition is this season higher than ever?
“The impact is enormous. Basketball in Germany has struggled for years to get games on TV. Bayern has helped push our media presence in the right direction”.
– About your team, you were at the most difficult group -in Euroleague’s regular season- and you didn’t reach Top 16. What you would you do different if the première was next week?
“To be honest it is still difficult to talk about. We had some very good games but lost several that we needed to get through the group. I think that we struggled during that time getting everyone to accept their roles. We have done that well over the last few months but it in my opinion cost us our place in the Top 16. If the première was next week as you asked I would not worry. In our current form we would get into the round of 16”.
– Can you please tell me if European basketball is the… best school for young players (not of course educational wise)? Cause we have many cases which prove European basketball helps a lot.
“I think the European “school” is difficult to describe because of the diversity of the systems in the different countries. I think that a young player in one of the top European clubs generally gets to learn basketball better than he could anywhere else in the world. Obviously different systems work for different people but in general the emphasis on individual skill development and team basketball is excellent in many parts of Europe”.
– Jordan Farmar said that in US they are too many superstars but in Europe players have much higher basketball IQ. Which are your thoughts about this statement?
“I think the emphasis that the media puts on individual players may be in some cases good for marketing that game or the shoes that the player is wearing but at the same time it changes the priorities of a team game . Also the NBA game is laid our for 1 on 1 and gives their unbelievable athletes more room to work and less need to pass. The international rules allow the defence to shrink spaces around the ball and the teams can only score consistently by working together. I believe Jordan makes a good point”.
– Can you give me your predictions for this year’s Final Four? And who can be the MVP at the play offs for the four winning teams?
“My predictions on the series would be the following: CSKA (Kirilenko), Siena (McCalebb) even if I must admit that I am rooting for Olympiakos here because Kyle Hines was our player last year and I would love to see him get the chance to play in the Final Four, Panathinaikos (Diamantidis) and Barca (Navarro)”.