By Stathis Trapezanlidis/ info@eurohoops.net
Ettore Messina doesn’t need introductions to the European basketball audience, however the story is quite different in the States. The Italian mastermind will be the first assistant of coach Popovich – as Eurohoops reported exclusively before last season’s Euroleague Final Four – and as he admits this is not the same as being a consultant for the Lakers, his previous NBA experience.
Messina explains: “This is a club and a staff which is already set. In Los Angeles there was a new staff and six people, who were working together for first time. Here there are people with experience, who show me where I have to go, where I have to step in. They are really helpful and I really enjoy this experience”.
However a European coach feels right at home at the most “European” NBA team: “Sure, sure, 100% yes. It is a team that privilege ball movement, movement of players off ball. It eliminates completely isolation so they try to create the advantage with the ball with a lot of movement, pick and rolls. So its very similar to the way European teams play, especially the best European teams”.
Messina is not following closely Euroleague after he decided to join the Spurs, but he doesn’t expect a lot of changes: “No, I follow the league very little, but they (the teams) are always the same. I think that at the end, at the final four, a minimum of three teams will be the usual”.
But of course he is interested in the Itallian national team, which he hopes can be the best possible in the upcoming Eurobasket: “We need the players to play! I mean no injuries, no summers off, we need all the players to be there without injuries. I think this year we did well in the qualification. Last year we just ran out of gus at the final phase of the Eurobasket. I think that if we put Bargnani, Belinelli, Gallinari and the other group of players together, we are going to be very competitive and very interesting team”.