Poll: Euroleague coaches at NBA Live
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How do you feel about this unique opportunity, during NBA Europe Live, to show fans across the world what Euroleague Basketball is all about?
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Ettore Messina, CSKA Moscow:
"I am honored to be the part of the organization for such an event. The opportunity to play against the best NBA teams is exciting. I hope we can offer them some good, spectacular play that will be remembered by the fans not only in Russia or in Germany but also in Europe as the whole."
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Neven Spahija, Maccabi Tel Aviv:
"It's an exciting event and a good chance for European clubs to know where they stand. It's a special feeling for me in particular because I've coached twice in San Antonio's summer leagues and I know the Spurs club very well. We are going to give the fans a lot of reasons to cheer. It's too early to tell if we can win, but we're sure going to give our best effort." |
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Jasmin Repesa, Lottomatica Roma:
"I'm really glad because the basketball fan will enjoy it, but at the same time, I personally feel just like before any other preseason game. Then again, I'm also sure that the arena full of fans will produce special and unique emotions." |
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Dusko Ivanovic, Winterthur FC Barcelona:
"It's a good chance to show people the level of European basketball. Of course, we are still at the beginning of the season and it's not going to be a crucial game. We want to win, but it won't be big deal if we do not." |
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For European basketball, what are the lessons of Indianapolis, Athens and Japan?
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Ettore Messina, CSKA Moscow:
"European teams proved they can play against the U.S. team. Team basketball usually allows you to reach goals more easily than the individual game, and I guess that became clear for everyone who watched the games of those tournaments."
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Neven Spahija, Maccabi Tel Aviv:
"We learned again that we can compete with American players and teams. Their natural talent is the best, but the American teams suffer from lack of tactics. The USA team didn't come ready for the event. If they would have played as a team, no one had a real chance of beating them, but they didn't. As for the European teams, they had shown the world that they do have great basketball players and advanced skills and tactics." |
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Jasmin Repesa, Lottomatica Roma:
"Today the difference between European basketball and the NBA is not as significant as it was 20 or even 10 years ago. European basketball is on the right road." |
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Dusko Ivanovic, Winterthur FC Barcelona:
"Europeans have played at a very high level. In Indianapolis, Athens and Japan, the USA team didn't played well. The result was that Serbia, Argentina and Spain became champions. We have to learn from everybody, but for me the only thing better about American basketball is that they are more physical. This is it. But anyway, we have to keep working." |
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What has European basketball done right to make people talk about us lately in the same breath as American basketball?
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Ettore Messina, CSKA Moscow:
"I think there are two things that mainly help to get such a result. First of all we have a high quality, exciting basketball competition. Of course, I mean the Euroleague. The second reason is the results that were shown by the national teams at the World Championships in Japan this year and at the Olympics in Athens in 2004."
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Neven Spahija, Maccabi Tel Aviv:
"For many years, we European coaches have learned from the Americans. We gathered a lot of knowledge and today some of the best coaches in the world are European. Europe also produces some of the best basketball players, not just for European leagues, but for the NBA as well. The top clubs in Europe have amazing organizations, just like in the NBA, and that helps as well. American basketball still has an advantage, no doubt about it, but I think the main difference is in the budgets." |
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Jasmin Repesa, Lottomatica Roma:
"European basketball has produced many excellent players who have taken on important roles in the NBA. Also, during last two World Championships, in Indianapolis and Tokyo, two European countries have won." |
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Dusko Ivanovic, Winterthur FC Barcelona:
"We worked very hard during the last 20 years, and we have proven our playing level over the last few. It is not a coincidence: we have a very good basketball playing level. But our marketing is not as good as America's." |
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Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Euroleague.net
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