 At the halfway point of his team's first-ever Euroleague campaign, Sergio Scariolo and Khimki Moscow Region are sharing first place in Group D with some lofty names: Panathinaikos and Real Madrid. Others might say that Khimki has accomplished a lot already, but Scariolo is the first to recognize that with those same two teams on his schedule in Week 6 and 7, respectively, Khimki still has a big battle ahead in the effort to reach the Top 16. For that reason, as he states in one of his Fan Mail answers, humility is the best policy right now and hard work the only way for a newcomer such as Khimki to make its good start into a successful season. "There are no secrets or shortcuts," Scariolo said. "You've just got to work hard every day. We started growing from the moment we got together on September 27th, after several players and I got back from the European championships. We had to use our time well and, fortunately, we didn't have any big injuries so far, so we were able to work well, to work in the right way. Our limitations are clear in terms of talent and experience, but we are trying, for example, to improve on defense, something that depends more on your daily work than your talent."
Hello, coach. How much has it helped to have two players that you coached this summer on the Spanish national team, Carlos Cabezas and Raul Lopez, with you at Khimki? Best of luck,
Jorge Santiago - Vigo, Spain
"At the beginning of the season, certainly it was helpful. We had so few players coming back from last year, and nine new ones. So to have two who, while also new, were not completely new, was of course helpful. Apart from the basketball issue, I brought them here to try to bring the right spirit and mentality to work and compete, to stay together as a team. Those were the crucial issues about having those two players."
Coach Scariolo, there are several Khimki players who are in the Euroleague for the first time this season. How did you try prepare players like for the jump in the level of competition?
Pierre David - Monaco
"There are no secrets or shortcuts. You've just got to work hard every day. We started growing from the moment we got together on September 27th, after several players and I got back from the European championships. We had to use our time well and, fortunately, we didn't have any big injuries so far, so we were abel to work well, to work in the right way. Our limitations are clear in terms of talent and experience, but we are trying, for example, to improve on defense, something that depends more on your daily work than your talent."
Mr. Scariolo. I would be grateful to learn your opinion about the favorites of this year's Euroleague. Will Panathinaikos repeat or will the Spanish Armada of Barcelona or Real Madrid, or even the Greens' archrival, Olympiacos, conquer the trophy? I thank you in advance,
John - Greece
"I think that all the teams you named have options, yes. I would put Montepaschi in that group also, and I wouldn't exclude from that group Maccabi and CSKA. For different reasons, I think they all have chances. What happened this year, too, is that some of the teams people think of as the top candidates - Real Madrid and Panathinaikos in one, Barcelona and Montepasch in the other - are in two groups now, which means that in the Top 16 the situation could be a little more open than if those favorites were spread out in different groups. So that could be interesting from the point of view of the Top 16."
 Hi Mr.Scariolo, Congratulations for bringing at least a little bit of Italy to the last European Championships, and for your leading your team to a victory which was harder to obtain because everyone assumed it. What do you think about the inverse tendency of the last couple of years which has seen NBA players coming to Europe, instead of the reverse? Thanks a lot!
Valerio D'Angelo ( Rome )
"I think that the first part of the trend was an economical one. There were great offers that made it more convenient for players to play in Europe than in the NBA. I hope that the second part of the trend will be for basketball reasons, that players who are not ready for the NBA, or tried and didn't fulfill their expectations, should come back. Most of the time, these players are still young and on time to have a great European career. So, I hope there will be some important comebacks in the next couple of years, even if the financial crisis will not let European teams make unbelievable offers. Europe, from a basketball point of view, is an excellent place to compete, to play and to enjoy the game."
Hello, Sergio, and congratulations on winning the European title with Spain. When you coached Unicaja, it seems the style of play your team had was more energetic than the Spanish national team had. What does that depend on: the type of players, the situation within the group, the competition? Thanks,
Rafa - Barcelona, Spain
"Unicaja reached the best results of its history because players went beyond the expectations about their potential. The Spanish national team fulfilled expectations in a fantastic way because, when everybody was healthy and when we reached the right level of togetherness, we could fulfill that tremendous potential, a potential much higher than any club could have. It's a different situation and, of course, players always determine how a team plays, much more than the personal tastes of any coach."
Hi, coach. Almost no one ever heard of Timofey Mozgov before you took over at Khimki last year and now he is one of the best centers in Russia. What are the keys for his development and how good can Timofey be? Good luck this season.
Vladimir Egorov, St. Petersburg
"Timofey works hard. We decided last season to take him from the second team and put him in our starting five. We thought it was what the team needed, a young Russian player developing a lot. We knew it was a risk, but we also knew that mid-term it would pay off. It paid off in an even shorter term than we thought. Timo is now in a situation where the expectations are higher. The NBA is all around him, for instance. Now, he must focus on his game, from a pure basketball point of view, because he still has a great chance for improvement. He has been playing serious professional basketball for only one year, so he has to make up a lot of experience on the court. I was expecting this little standby situation, in which he is not improving so fast as before, but I think he'll get back soon to improving quickly. I have already seen some interesting things in practice."
Hello, Coach Scariolo. Looking back on the Eurocup final last season, losing to Lietuvos Rytas in the fourth quarter, how did you feel? Good luck coach!
Paulius Kutkaitis, Lithuania
"I have to give credit to Lietuvos Rytas for their win. They deserved it. My only regret is that our best players, even though they got to the Final Eight, had recently returned from important long-term injuries: Lampe, Garbajosa and Delfino. I only regret not having had one week more to work and prepare the Final Eight with all of them. But still I have to congratulate Lietuvos Rytas. They deserved it."
 You won the European championship with Spain and Ettore Messina is regarded as the best coach in Europe. Both of you are Italian but the results of the Italian national team and its clubs beside Siena are disappointing. What does it say about the state of Italian basketball today ?
Julien Guerineau, France
"I think, naturally, that for the Italian League, the fact that one team is so far over everybody else is not good. You must congratulate Montepaschi for their success. They deserve it. But of course it's not good to have one team so much above the others. From the national team point of view, first of all they have to create the pleasure to play for the national team, the togetherness, the desire to participate. I think that besides the names of the coaches or players, the point is to create a great atmosphere in order for everyone to be happy to participate and to make it easier for the coach to do his job."
Mr. Scariolo, I have been a big man of Keith Langford since he played here at the University of Kansas and was so excited by his last game against Asseco Prokom. Do you think Keith can be a star in the Euroleague?
Nate Bergman, Kansas City
"I think he can become a star. This is his first year in the Euroleague, and therefore also his first trying to do things a little bit different, the things that are needed to be a dominant player at the highest European level. He must keep improving. Maybe it will take more or less time, but I am positive about him. I knew he had to adjust to a new situation, because he had not played on the same level as compared to what he's trying to do now. I am also optimistic that he will make it, step by step, to the highest level."
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