By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
The hottest name during last summer in the coaches market was Simone Pianigiani. He left Siena, where his spent his whole coaching lifetime and chose to continue his career in Istanbul and Fenerbahce. The cooperation didn’t had the results every expected and the Italian coach resigned on 25th of February for personal reasons. Eurohoops talked with him after the Final Four in London and focused first of all on his Turkish experience.
– Was the pressure in Fenerbahce so huge?
“My stay in Fenerbahce was comfortable. There is pressure everywhere for the coaches but in Istanbul it was normal. More or less Fenerbahce has 20 millions fans but Siena is a small city of 50.000 people and 5.000-6.000 of them were in the court. So, 10% or more of the population was there and the pressure is the same. It’s normal. But all this is less pressure than the one I put on myself”.
– Do you think that maybe the money and the huge budget of the team increased the expectations?
“When I left the team (because of my personal reason) we were in the first position in the league against teams like Efes, Galatasaray, Besiktas etc, we won the Turkish cup and only in the Euroleague we weren’t successful. But the rules are different because you must build a team with two Turkish players always in the team. Of course, I’m not happy with our results in the Euroleague, but we were in the beginning and the team was new. So, I think Fenerbahce has everything in order to have a great season in Europe. It’s a great club with great fans and they need only time. It’s normal”.
– So what’s your advice to Fenerbahce; patience?
“They need time, like everything needs time. They have everything. My experience with Fenerbahce was very good”.
– This season the Top 16 had a different format. Do you think that helped the teams and the players or made their work harder?
“It’s beautiful situation for everybody. You can see many top games between top teams. Of course it changed our habits because it’s long and tough season. Many players have games also in the summer with their national teams. But we have to handle it because we can’t change it. In the past it was easier for some teams to make a blitz and qualify in the final four. But now if you don’t have long roster and quality players it’s more difficult”.
– During the final four you talked in the Euroleague’s basketball clinic about pick ‘n roll offence, which was your trademark during your years in Siena. Do you think that “pick ‘n roll” is still in fashion or something else is coming over?
“Of course, pick ‘n roll offence will be also in the future a good situation to build an advantage to push the defense in some choice and then start to create. Although every time you find a solution in the spacing, with the motion and the time to be effective, after some years somebody will find something else to put you in trouble. And you should do one more step. This is the history of basketball, the beautiful side of the sport. Because this pushes us, the coaches, to think that we don’t know enough but keep on studying and thinking about basketball solutions”.
– As an expert who follows Euroleague, do you think that the two teams in the final, Olympiacos and Real Madrid push big heavy centers out of basketball having centers like Kyle Hines and Marcus Slaughter?
“Maybe this kind of big guys, who are very quick and mobile and can play in more switching situations also in the defense, is a solution. This is maybe the next type of play because it increases your solutions and you can play faster. But in top level you must keep reading the opponents and don’t increase the number of turnovers”.
– You are also the coach of the Italian national team in its come back in great competitions. What do you expect from your players in Eurobasket?
“We lost Galinari, who is a great player. But we have players who have desire and are growing up in the Italian league. There is a good atmosphere in the team and the federation but we don’t have so many players with Euroleague experience. This is something that we can’t predict how can affect us. But we play with enthusiasm and it’s the right moment for us to work. That’s what we can promise”.