By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
As Giannis Antetokounmpo is preparing for his All Star Game coming out party in the States, not only Greece, but also Zaragoza in Spain will be watching and Willy Villar, the person who invested first in the rookie player, speak to Eurohoops about him.
Villar is the sports director of CAI Zaragoza, the team that signed Giannis back in December of 2012 when he didn’t even had the right to exit Greek borders, since he wasn’t a Greek citizen and didn’t had any traveling documents. Almost two years later, Antetokounmpo’s name is spelled different, he is an NBA player, but Zaragoza is still proud of him and Villar explains why…
– What did you see two years ago in Giannis Anetokounmpo and you decided to invest om him, when he was virtually unknown specially outside the Greek borders?
“I saw a completely different player to the any other. Giannis did things that I had never seen another player with his height doing on the court”.
– Why do you think no top Greek teams, specially the two big ones Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, decided not to sign him when he was available?
“I have no opinion on that. For me the most important thing was the opportunity to sign him quickly once I went to Greece to see him”.
– How did you felt the night of the draft?
“I was very excited and very happy for him. It was the beginning of an incredible story of a player with a tremendous future”.
– You were expecting him to play at least one season in Zaragoza before continuing his career in the NBA?
“We were hoping that he would play for us but the reality has been different. However we were happy for the player who had always the dream of playing in the NBA”.
– You are a sports director who is really involved into picking talent for the team, in the way NBA general managers do. Why do you think that in Europe this is not rule, but the exception and most directors or team managers are involved mainly with their team’s logistics and not with basketball related matters?
“I will not comment on other colleagues, because I think this work is really hard and many of them do a great job. I have my way to work and I don’t think that it’s better or worse than the others, maybe different”
– Do you think that European clubs, specially considering the financial situation, have to invest more on finding and shaping talents from an early age, no matter in which level the teams compete?
“If you do not have large economic resources in my opinion this is the only way that can guarantee you success. I have no doubt that if you want to be competitive, you must do more than teams which have large economic resources. When betting to unknown talented players there is always a big risk and how to assess that risk is the key to growth”.