By Niki Bakouli/ bakouli@eurohoops.net
Germany and Italy are the European countries with the most representatives at Las Vegas Summer League and Michael Koch is one of coaches who are looking for players. We met with Telekom Baskets Bonn’s head coach and old time friend (from his great career with Panathinaikos) to discuss the purpose of his presence at the Summer League and many more. He was with his son, Kevin “who is my computer, actually. He knows everybody, so… he is a big help”.
– First of all, how are you?
“I’ m doing fine, thank you. I’ m here searching for players, obviously. Las Vegas Summer League is a big spot, where everybody meets. You can talk to agents. I just saw Johnny Rogers, my teammate at Panathinaikos, who now is working for Oklahoma City Thunder. You see a lot of familiar faces, but it’s also business. I will stay for a week; try to find two more players for my roster, for my team in Bonn”.
– You have noticed that there aren’t so many guys from Europe here…
“There are not so many, but still you can see a lot of teams. There are 5-6 teams from Germany. It’s very difficult for a European team to find players here, cause the Americans use more their picks or the guys who are going to play at the NBA, so you need a little bit of luck to find a player who doesn’t want to stay here and to bring him to Europe. It’s not enough to watch one or two games. You have to stay for as many games as you can, since this is the only chance to see on the court all the players and maybe find the one who suits you, the one you can pay”.
– It’s true that BBL had a 14.9% rise to its revenues this year, an amount of 69.5 mil euros, with the capacity rising over 30%. So, you can certainly pay…
“It gives you some security to know you have a certain budget; the president tells you here is your money, the money you can use to have the players you want. So the players know that if they will come to Germany, they are going to get what they have signed for. Because of the financial crisis, we might not give so much money, but the players can know everything we give is a sure thing. At the end of the season, they will get their salary to the last cent. The financial crisis is everywhere. Maybe in Germany we are in a better situation, we build new arenas, we have more spectators, basketball is popular, of course football is still the big sport in our country, but we are picking up… You know now we have a Greek coach in our league?”
– Kostas Flevarakis came to New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig…
“Yes! I remember him. When I was playing for Panathinaikos, he tried to get me to PAOK, but… I stayed at PAO”.
– I guess you know all about Panathinaikos’ new era, a team where you had great success and the fans still love you…
“I know they still love me and I really thank them. It’s kind of a little bit upset. But you have to think what you are going through as a country. Spain maybe follows and it comes to the point that the culture, the community, the cities and everything should get back to the basics and start over again. And it’s not going to help 2-3 teams to pay up to 20 millions for players and for a club which belongs to a country with this kind of problems and the fans cannot come to the gym, because they cannot pay for the tickets”.
– Olympiacos had this year the lower budget of their recent history and… they got Euroleague and Greek Championship…
“You see? They tried so hard for many years; they signed big time players, NBA players like Josh Childress and Linas Kleiza, they couldn’t make it and this year with a young team, with uprising stars, with players who tried hard, who can hustle and try, they got everything. Money makes it easier to get you to the top, but it’s not a guarantee you will make it”.
– So, what are you looking for?
“For a power forward and for another guard and I have a list with up to 10 players, for each position, since the market moves so quickly. You seat over here and somebody signs, so you need to have many plans. Hopefully we are going to find our guys”.
– Most of the Americans don’t like the idea of playing overseas. Yesterday, James White told me that is something he suggests to everybody…
“White is the best example of a player with a long time career in Europe, going back to US playing excellent, as everybody can see these days. Antony Parker for a long time he was in Europe, he made big games and then made it to the NBA. In my opinion NBDL is terrible, so yes Europe is a really good choice. Over the years many more NBA scouts coming to Europe and watch the players. Of course you need to find an environment that fits you right”.