 The Euroleague Basketball Institute's Basketball Rules Summit, a two-day effort to motivate debate on how the rules and regulations currently influence spectacle, clarity and fairness of European basketball, is underway in Barcelona. Brought together by Euroleague Basketball, a panel of experts comprising the most experienced on- and off-court observers of its competitions will analyze proposed changes and new rules interpretations with an eye toward making the game experience better for fans while respecting the long-standing authenticity of basketball in Europe. For that reason, the 13-member panel brings together a wide range of viewpoints from respected professionals who have in common a devotion to basketball. Indeed, in all cases, their day-to-day work involves playing, coaching, managing, selling, analyzing and otherwise promoting basketball. These specialists range from the most successful and experienced coaches and players in Euroleague Basketball competitions to veterans of refereeing, club and league management, broadcasting, marketing and journalism. What's more, all are basketball multi-taskers: coaches and referees who write books, general managers who were players, journalists who coached, and so on. Their collective expertise will be applied to the task of identifying ideas for changes that could improve European basketball in the near future.
In a first, Euroleague Basketball seeks to diversify this debate by bringing all stakeholders to the table to offer their unique perspectives and bring the best possible result. Highlighted by three of Europe's most successful coaches ever - Ettore Messina, Zeljko Obradovic and Aito Garcia Reneses - plus the greatest sixth man in basketball history, Theo Papaloukas, the panel also includes giants of management, like Saski Baskonia president Josean Querejeta, Cibona Zagreb great Mihovil Nakic and Adriatic League president Rado Lorbek, who all played and won at the highest levels. Also from on the court come two of the signature game officials of their generations, Luigi Lamonica and Costas Rigas, the Euroleague Basketball Director of Referees. From off the court, broadcaster Flavio Tranquillo, journalist Frank Lawlor and marketing executive Glenn Chin have made decades-long careers of building basketball audiences before, during and after the games are played. Together, these experts will seek to take the magic of European basketball and put its rules and regulations to the service of making the game they love even better for its devoted fans.
Expert Bios
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Aito Garcia Reneses, Spain
One of the best known coaches in the world, Aito has had a whistle around his neck in each of the last five decades, since he began coaching in 1973. His trophy case includes a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics to go with a ULEB Cup, two Korac Cups, nine Spanish Leagues and five Spanish Cup titles. Aito has been a regular contributor to the Mastermind Coaching Seminars of the Euroleague Basketball Institute and last season he penned a weekly column for Euroleague.net in which he shared details of his basketball philosophy.
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Costas Rigas, Greece
Costas Rigas has been involved with the game of basketball for half a century as a player, referee and now Euroleague Basketball’s Director of Referees. Costas was among the leading game officials of his generation and refereed Olympic and World Championship finals as well as four Euroleague Final Fours among 23 title games in his career. He was named in 2008 as one of 50 legends of the first 50 years of European club basketball. Costas, who was appointed to FIBA’s technical commission in 2010, is an expert in basketball theory and still lectures at basketball camps to train young referees. |
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Ettore Messina, Italy
Ettore has been among the game’s elite bench masters over the past quarter-century. A two-time Alexander Gomelski Euroleague Coach of the Year award winner and a four-time continental champion, Ettore has coached four Euroleague clubs in three countries and lifted 25 trophies while on the bench. He has also won the European championships silver medal with the Italian national team. He is the author of a book on basketball, now in its second printing, and a blogger on basketball. Ettore was selected one of the 50 Greatest Contributors to European Club Basketball and has been a regular contributor to the Mastermind Coaching Seminars of the Euroleague Basketball Institute. |
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Flavio Tranquillo, Italy
Widely regarded as the voice of basketball in Italy, Flavio was born in Milan, where he graduated from the famous Bocconi University in economics. Since 1981 he has worked in radio and since 1985 in television, covering the Euroleague and the NBA as a TV analyst for, most recently, SKY Italy. A student of the game, Flavio is also the author of one basketball book and has collaborated with Superbasket magazine and Euroleague.net as a contributor. |
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Frank Lawlor, United States of America
Frank has spent 25 years as a basketball journalist covering the top players and teams in Europe and the United States. He gained practical basketball experience as a head coach in the Spanish second division for the 1997-98 season. Since 2001, he is editorial director for all Euroleague Basketball websites, as well as Euroleague Game of the Week play-by-play announcer. |
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Glenn Chin, United States of America
Glenn boasts more than 20 years working in sports-related global brand innovation and marketing with a flair for strategic thinking. He was a pioneer at EA SPORTS, where he worked his way up from marketing assistant to Vice President of Global Brand Management and launched the NBA Live game. Glenn subsequently worked as the Global Brand Director for Nike Basketball, where he created and managed their global re-branding. He founded sports and entertainment consultancy Most Prolific in 2010. |
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Josean Querejeta, Spain
As Saski Baskonia club president, Josean is the mastermind who turned Caja Laboral into a perennial Euroleague contender. First a great player, Josean won back-to-back Spanish League crowns with Real Madrid. He took over as Baskonia president in 1988 and has grown the club into a two-time Euroleague finalist, in 2001 and 2005, the year he won the Euroleague’s Executive of the Year award. Widely respected for his professional acumen, Josean is a member of the Euroleague Commercial Assets Executive Board. |
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Luigi Lamonica, Italy
Among the world’s most experienced basketball referees, Luigi has worked the last two Euroleague title games among four Final Fours over the last decade. He has also officiated gold medal games at the European and World Championships. Luigi became a referee in his teens and has officiated over 400 international games. He published an autobiography detailing his experiences and basketball outlook in 2011. |
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Mihovil Nakic, Croatia
Mihovil Nakic was a star player for KK Cibona Zagreb in the 1970s and ‘80s and today serves as that club’s Adviser for Sports & Communication Director. Mihovil was a teammate of the late, great Drazen Petrovic, with whom he led Cibona to the club’s only two Euroleague titles, back-to-back in 1985 and 1986. He had previously won the Saporta Cup with Cibona in 1982, and repeated that feat again in 1987. Mihovil also won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. |
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Rado Lorbek, Slovenia
Few men have been involved in the game of basketball from as many viewpoints as Rado. He was a star player himself, is the father of three professional players (Erazem, Klemen and Domen), and has worked in management roles at every level: club, league and international. Rado was general manager of Union Olimpija Ljubljana when Euroleague Basketball was created in 2000, and subsequently led the creation of the Adriatic League in 2001. He continues to serve as the president of the Adriatic League. He is a member of the Euroleague Commercial Assets Executive Board, as well as the ULEB Vice President. |
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Theo Papaloukas, Greece
No one has seen more Euroleague basketball this century than Theo Papaloukas, the competition’s career leader in games played, assists and steals. Theo was the 2007 Euroleague MVP, one of his four times on the All-Euroleague team, and is two-time champion. He is also a member of the 2000-to-2010 All-Decade Team and was selected among the 50 Greatest Contributors to European Club Basketball. With the Greek national team, he won a World silver medal in 2006 and a EuroBasket gold medal in 2005. Unique among superstars, Theo has started fewer than 10% of his record 235 Euroleague games as perhaps the greatest sixth man in basketball history. |
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Zeljko Obradovic, Serbia
Zeljko is the winningest coach in European basketball history with a record eight Euroleague titles, not to mention the only person ever to win the World Championships as both a player and a head coach. He also won Olympics silver medals in each role. Upon retiring as a player, he became a coach literally overnight, a career change that has seen him gather 30 trophies in 20 years on the bench. A two-time Alexander Gomelskiy Euroleague Coach of the Year winner, Zeljko was selected one of the 50 Greatest Contributors to European Club Basketball and has been a regular contributor to the Mastermind Coaching Seminars of the Euroleague Basketball Institute. |
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Moderator
Eduard J. Scott, United Kingdom
Eduard is the Chief Operations Officer for Euroleague Basketball. He has a degree in Electronic Engineering and a Master’s in Sports Marketing & Communication. He has worked as the Membership Officer at England Basketball and the Video Coordinator at Michigan State Women’s Basketball. |
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