ZONE OFFENSE: FUNDAMENTALS AND OPTIONS

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amadou gallo fallroberto carmenati seeds: basketball for life

matteo Boniciolli tonino zorzi marques greenthe side screen readings

Player agents in fiba structureinterview with fiba secretary generalPatrick baumann

bill foran robin poundagility

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ZONE OFFENSE: FUNDAMENTALS AND OPTIONS

Joan plaza

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COACHESFUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALLSEEDS: Basketball for Life 4by Amadou Gallo Fall and Roberto Carmenati

The Side Screen Readings 8by Matteo Boniciolli, Tonino Zorziand Marques Green

OFFENSEZone Offense: Fundamentals and Options 14by Joan Plaza

deFENSE Defensive Transition 18by Mike McHugh

Half Court 3-2 and 2-3 Zone Press 22by Don Casey and Ralph Pim

coaches Terminology 26by Ryan Krueger

HOOP MARKETFundamentals, fundamentals 28and fundamentals againby Raffaele Imbrogno

REFEREES AND GAMEADMINISTRATIONRefereeing Post Play Situations 30by Alan Richardson

Right or Wrong? 32

SPORT MARKETING AND MANAGEMENTexecutives and marketingPlayer Agents in FIBA Structure 34Interview with FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann

FIBA RESEARCH AND STUDY CENTREThe Guide to Basketball Facilities 40by Mauro Schiavone

DOCTORS, CONDITIONING COACHES AND TRAINERSCONDITIONING COACHESAgility 42by Bill Foran and Robin Pound

NEWSONE-on-oneFinch looks to build on British Momentum 44

Maher’s ‘Great Ride’ in Women’s Basketball 45

PLANET basketballThe World in Brief 46

OFF-THE-COURTThe Odd - The Funny - The Unusual 50

FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE | 30 2008 | PAGE 3

FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE IS A PUBLICATION OF FIBAInternational Basketball Federation51 – 53, Avenue Louis CasaïCH-1216 Cointrin/Geneva SwitzerlandTel. +41-22-545.0000, Fax +41-22-545.0099www.fiba.com / e-mail: [email protected] COLLABORATION WITH Giganti-BT&M, CantelliEditore, ItalyPARTNER WABC (World Association ofBasketball Coaches), Dusan Ivkovic President

Editor-in-ChiefGGiioorrggiioo GGaannddoollffii

Editorial Office: Cantelli Editore, V. Saliceto 22/E, 40013 Castel Maggiore(BO), Italy, Tel. +39-051-6328811, Fax +39-051 6328815E-mail: [email protected] in Italy.Copyright 2008 by FIBA.TThhee mmaaggaazziinnee iiss ppuubblliisshheedd 66 ttiimmeess ppeerr yyeeaarr..FIBA, Cantelli Editore and the Editor-in-Chiefare not responsible for the opinions expressedin the articles. All rights reserved. The National Federation and their affiliates canreproduce any part or all the magazine for theirinternal use, but not sell any part or all of themagazine to an external publisher without thewritten permission of FIBA.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSGastone Marchesi, Donato Viglione, MircoMelloni, Corrado de Belvis, Lisa Cavallini,Gerald Couzens and Raffaele Imbrogno;Maria Picariello, Media Relations Director ofA.IR Scandone Avellino.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2008 FIBA CALENDARFebruary 200801.02 Start of South American

League For MenApril 200805 - 07.04 NCAA Final Four for Men in

San Antonio, USA06 - 08.04 NCAA Final Four for Women

in Tampa, USA15 - 22.04 Military World

Championships for Men, in San Antonio, USA

19 - 26.04 Olympic Test Event for Women's Teams in Beijing, China

25 - 27.04 FIBA Central Board in Beijing, P.R. of China

26. 04 Draw for the Olympic Basketball Tournaments in Beijing, China

june 200809 - 15.06 FIBA Olympic Qualifying

Tournament for Women in Madrid, Spain

july 200814 - 20.07 FIBA Olympic Qualifying

Tournament for Men in Athens, Greece

29.07 - 1.08 FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament for Men in Nanjing, China

AUGUST 200802 - 05.08 FIBA Diamond Ball for

Women in Nanning, China09 - 24.08 Olympic Basketball

Tournaments in Beijing, China

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE:A one-year (6 issues) subscription to FIBA Assist Magazine

costs Euro 40 (europe), a n d euro 45 (outside europe) to be payed in one of the following ways:

Payment with postal current account n. 28300408 headed to Cantelli Editore(Only for subscription from Italy) Payment with banking transaction c/o Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna ABI 06385 - CAB 36740 - c/c 07400012796S - CIN SIBAN: IT73S063853674007400012796SSWIFT: CRBOIT2BXXXPayment with credit card connecting at the website www.shop.cantelli.netPlease, fill in the subscription form that you can find on fiba.com, and send it, including the receipt, to:BY MAIL: Cantelli Editore - Via Saliceto, 22/E 40013 - Castel Maggiore (Bo) - ItalyBY FAX: ++39 051 6328816FOR INFORMATION: ++39 051 6328836(from 9 am to 1 pm Central European Time)

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30_003 29-01-2008 11:40 Pagina 3

| 30 2008 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE

FIBA EUROPECOACHES - FUNDAMENTALS AND YOUTH BASKETBALL

by Amadou Gallo Fall

SEEDS: BASKETBALLFOR LIFE

by Roberto Carmenati

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Amadou Gallo Fall, from Senegal, hasbeen the Director of Scouting and VicePresident for International Affairs of theDallas Mavericks of the NBA since 1998.He played at University of District ofColumbia in Washington, and he waslater the founder of SEEDS (Sports &Education for Economic Development inSenegal) Academy. He is also Director ofthe NBA Basketball Without Borders forAfrica since 2004.

Roberto Carmenati is the European scoutfor the Dallas Mavericks. He was headcoach in the A2 Italian League in

Fabriano, Livorno and Naples, in A1 inFabriano again, and Milan. He was alsoassistant coach of the Italian Nationalteam B, who won the silver medal at theMediterranean Games, and he was alsoassistant coach of the Oklahoma Storms,the United States Basketball Leagueteam, which won the title in 1999. He is aregular instructor at the SEEDS Academycamp and coaches clinic in Senegal.

Amadou Gallo Fall first proposed the cre-ation of SEEDS, while enrolled atGeorgetown University’s MBA program in1997. Having grown up in Senegal andbeen given the opportunity to study abroadas a student-athlete, Fall envisioned anorganization that would use sports as avehicle to open doors of educationalopportunity for young people in Africa,preparing them for lives of leadership andservice. Fall has lived and modelled thevision for SEEDS and, in 2002, establishedthe SEEDS (Sports & Education forEconomic Development in Senegal)Foundation as a US-registered non-profitorganization.

SEEDS’S mission is “To use sports as avehicle to inspire, empower and supportthe holistic development of promisingAfrican youth, preparing them to becomeglobal citizens and lead positive transfor-mation in Senegal, Africa and the world.”Currently, the Foundation runs innovativeprograms that serve the needs of youngpeople in Senegal, focusing on the areasof education and pediatric health. TheSEEDS Academy, the Foundation’s coreprogram, is a boarding school located inThies, Senegal, serving up to 30 student-athletes per year in a rigorous academic,athletic and leadership development cur-riculum. Additionally, the Foundation issupporting the work of the Dakar-basedLeDantac Hospital and Dr. ClaudeMoreira in pediatric health programsserving youth from Senegal and its neigh-bouring countries. To date, hundreds ofyoung people have been positivelyaffected by the work of SEEDS.

THE BASKETBALL PROGRAM

Basketball is the “hook” used to engagestudents in education and promote theirconsistent attendance and long-termretention at the Academy. The basketballcourt is also the “classroom” whereleadership and life skills are developed.All students participate in SEEDS’ inter-nationally recognized basketball pro-gram, which focuses on the developmentof basketball fundamentals, leadership

and life skills. Teams travel to tourna-ments and events throughout Africa,Europe and North America, exposing stu-dents to a wide variety of future educa-tional and life opportunities. The basket-ball program offers a positive, high-qualityathletic and personal development experi-ence that builds the character, life skillsand self-esteem of our student-athletes.

HOOP FORUM

SEEDS Academy is committed in a long termprogram for the improvement of young play-ers’ basketball skills and for the develop-ment of teaching and coaching strategiesfor Senegalese coaches. The Hoop Forumover the years has become a “can’t miss”event organized by SEEDS Academy duringwhich coaches attend a clinic and youngplayers take part to a skills camp and gametournament. NBA players, such asDeSagana Diop, the center of the DallasMavericks, and coaches, such as the headcoach of Dallas Avery Johnson haveattended the Hoop Forum. The following isan abstract of the lecture that I had the hon-our to give during the 2007 Hoop Forumalong with former NBA players, such as SamPerkins, former player of Dallas, Los AngelesLakers and Seattle, and others.

Learning and acquisition of motor skillsThe execution of a move results from theinteraction of eyes/brain/nervous systemand muscular system. Here is the timeline ▼ Watching an example of ideal-model

of move.

▼ Execution of the move “translating”from the role-model.

▼ Time to create your own idea afterwatching the ideal role-model.

▼ Time to transfer from brain to motor scheme (nervous system).

▼ Time of muscolar reaction.

▼ Speed and quickness of execution of amove.

Players have different reaction times;some react sooner, while some othersneed - we’re talking of difference ofhundreds of seconds here.Nevertheless the learning process andthe improvement process happenthrough phases of up and down, not alonga consistent straight line. This is a veryimportant aspect to bear in mind in evalu-ating players or in making predictions onpotential and upside of players. A player

ALL


can be asked to perform a quick execu-tion only after he has memorized andacquired a correct execution of a specificmove. Conversely, a player can run therisk to pick up a bad habit and a wrongexecution of a move may eventually beresistant to correction and improvement.In teaching a particular movement on thecourt, a good teacher will take his studentstep-by-step, not going to the next stepuntil the earlier steps are mastered. Thisis how we bring this about:

▼ Coach provides a good model or exam-ple to follow (pictures and films arealways good for the players).

▼ Coach demonstrates the way themovement is supposed to be per-formed. He may make the move inslow motion, explaining each stepinvolved in the process.

▼ Coach corrects -according to a priorityorder- mistakes without demandingtoo much too soon.

▼ Coach proposes acquisition of a moveby proper repetition of move.

▼ Coach proposes the quick execution ofthe move once the proper techniquehas been acquired.

▼ Coach asks players to perform andexecute the move in real game situ-ations.

▼ Coach employs real game situationsand introduces special situations.

In Summary: Order of learning: A) Acquisition of proper technique.B) “Clean” the move by removing all

superfluous things.C) Automatic and fluent execution.D) Speed and quickness. E) Defense-reading reaction. F) Game situations. G) Special game situations.

In order to facilitate learning process,coach will rigorously follow the pattern of:▼ Explanation.

▼ Demonstration.

▼ Voice.

▼ Position on the floor.

▼ Correction.

A left handed player should be treated as

a right handed player (in the event playeris 11/12 years old).

Learning CurveThe development of a player is consistenteven when/if it does not appear as a con-tinuous straight line. This is very importanton setting goals and evaluating the poten-tial of a player.Before the learning process of a newmove is completed, it is not a goodthing for the coach to teach a newmove. Correction are easier while theplayer is still acquiring the right motor-habits.Help the player to develop his ownstyle, do not force him to customize hismove (his jump-shot, for example).Easy is right. Help the player to playaccording to this principle. Easy and sim-ple. A great player makes everything lookeasy. He makes it easier for his team-mates, too.

Priority Order in Teaching Subjects:▼ Player needs his execution to be

easy, simple, quick and confident.

▼ Right decision on what, when, andhow for every individual or teamfundamental.

Player who performs fluently does notthink; he just reads the defense and reacts. Stress and develop offense and defense inthe same measure. A good defense is thebest teacher of a good offense. With “beginners”, it is recommended tostart by teaching ball-handling in order tomake the finger flexible and the fingertipssensitive.

Awareness of space dimension: from get-ting open to dribbling, the player must gainground and aim at the goal (rim/basket),with an imaginary line connecting him tothe basket.Passing: start with a chest pass and teachtwo more different passes; do not try toteach all types of passes in the first lesson.Teach players about timing and spacing inthe same time. Goals: the quickest move in smallestspace.Teach the player to read and react. Usethese guidelines: A) If you are open, shoot it.B) If defense is close, dribble the ball.C) If other defenders come to help, pass

the basketball.

Mistakes:There are three primary ways of learning: A) Imitating and learning from a good

example and role model. B) From your mistakes.C) From other people’s mistakesMistakes are great teachers and everymistakes brings up a lesson to betaught.Minimize mistakes. Correction is whathelp repetition of the same mistake.Basketball is a game of mistakes andthe team that commits fewest mistakeswins a game.Recognize mistakes. There are mistakesof execution: A) technique execution andB) decision making-mistakes; C) concen-tration and attention. A mistake is not adeliberate act of will, as many coachesbelieve. Good coaches recognize mis-takes by players and try to prevent themfrom occuring again. Coaches oftenbecome frustrated by repeated mistakesand a good coach will learn to keep thisfrustration under control.Examples: you have been practicing withyour team, describing how to make a lay-up. You follow this with a new move forall of your players. However, if yourplayers start to miss their lay-ups, anexperienced coach will understand thatthe player have not mastered the move,and that teaching an additional movewas a mistake. As a general guidelinebefore teaching your players a newmove, test them on the previous funda-mental.Other example: your team is playingvery aggressive defense and coming upwith an impressive number of steals.However, your team is missing a lot offree-throws (below their normal stan-dard). This mistake is not due to a lackof will, but rather it is a consequence ofan excess of aggressivenes. It is aclear indication that your team is nerv-ous. Screaming at the players afterthey miss free-throws is not an answer.

The Practice Plan▼ Make sure that your explanation pro-

vides a quick description of the drill,including rotation. Provide step-by-step technique suggestions and tipsfollowing an order of priority.

▼ Have your practice sessions movefrom ball drills to drills where allplayers need their own ball, then gowith 1 ball for every 2 players, then1 ball every 3 or 4 players, then 1ball for 5 on 5.

▼ Make sure you have all playersinvolved and make sure you can useall basket available.

▼ If you have your assistant coaches,


PAGE 06 | 30 2008 | FIBA ASSIST MAGAZINE



have them work with players on theother baskets.

▼ Rotation is critical and make surethere is not wasted time. Run to get tonew position.

▼ Have the player know that a clock isworking and time is elapsing. Playersneed to understand that in practicesession, like in a game, time is a criti-cal factor. Players need to have gameclock on their mind.

▼ Use quick correction. Stop the drillwhen the execution is completelywrong and it is evident that a newexplanation is necessary. If neces-sary, stop and make a point when yousee that the same mistake is commonamongst many of the players.

▼ Drills must follow a logicalsequence and increase in difficulty

(teaching progression).

▼ Use a variety of drills.

▼ Call each drill by a name so in a shorttime you just call the name of the drilland everybody will be ready for thatdrill.

▼ Keep a journal of your practices ses-sions.

Building a Practice Plan (break it downinto segments of 10 minutes each)▼ Shooting (1 drill of technique acquisi-

tion, 1 drill of game situation).

▼ Individual fundamental (ball han-dling-dribbling – cross over – 1 on 1moves).

▼ Defense (individual and team strategy).

▼ Pressing (for your defense, but for

your offense as well).

▼ Fast break (from 2 on 1 to 4 on 2 plus 2recovering).

▼ 3 on 3 /4 on 4 ( team fundamentals).

▼ 5 on 5 half court (spacing, rhythm,decision making, set execution).

▼ Special situations (inbound plays,jump ball, last shot possession,defense on last shot, etc).

▼ Scrimmage (translate and applyteaching into the game situation).

▼ Shooting (repetition and feeling forthe shot).

▼ Conditioning.

▼ Free-throws (this is what wins basket-ball games).




Matteo Boniciolli has been the headcoach of Avellino, Italian Serie A teamsince 2006. From 1996 to 1999 he wasassistant coach of the Italian men’snational team and was responsible for thenational youth teams. He then coached inUdine, where he won the A2 champi-onship. He also coached the Serie Ateams of Fortitudo Bologna (runner-up forthe title in 2002), Messina, and Teramo.

Tonino Zorzi, the senior assistant atAvellino, Italian Serie A team, is the deanof the Division I Italian championship with1,073 games to his credit. Between A1 andA2, he has coached Gorizia (twice),Padua, Naples (three times), winning anEuropean Cup of Cups, Venice (threetimes), Siena, Reggio Calabria (twotimes), Pavia, Montecatini, Pesaro,Avellino, and Sassari, winning a total offive Serie A2 championships.

Marques Green plays for Avellino, ItalianSerie A team. After a successful collegecareer in the United States at St.Bonaventure University, where he was theall-time leader in assists and three-pointfield goals, he played in two Division IFrench teams, Roanne and Nancy. He alsoplayed in Ankara, the top Turkish team.

Note: The biggest surprise of the ItalianDivision I championship this year has beenAvellino, and not only because it is amongthe best. For the first time in Italy, headcoach, Matteo Boniciolli, created a spe-cial spot on his technical staff, invitingTonino Zorzi, a veteran Division I coach,and one of the best in the country, tobecome his “senior assistant.” Becausehe gave the reins of the team to the small-est player of the Italian Division I, MarquesGreen (1,65 m, 5’ 5”)), Boniciolli showedthat basketball could be played at thehighest level, regardless of size. We askedthem to write an article on how to read theoffensive side screen, a trademark of theteam and of Marques Green, a truly spe-cial basketball player.

by Matteo Boniciolli

THE SIDE SCREEN READINGS

by Tonino Zorzi

by Marques Green

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Screens, also called picks, are basic toany type of offense. Once a player makesuse of a screen, it is practically impossiblefor the defenders to stop all the optionsthe offensive players now have at theirdisposal. Players at every level and everyposition must master how to set a screen,and know how to use it based on themoves of the defenders. First, let’s reviewsome common rules and principles of thescreen.

SCREENER’S RULES FOR SETTING THE SCREENThese are the basic rules of setting thescreen: ▼ See the ball handler, so the screener

can set the screen at the proper time.▼ Stop with a jump stop and make a

strong, wide, low stance to set thescreen.

▼ Set the screen at the proper angle.▼ After setting a screen, the screener

presents himself to the passer andmoves to the opposite direction of theball handler.

The screen’s angle is of utmost impor-tance because this influences whether thedefender of the ball handler will have aneasy or difficult time fighting through thescreen. The screener should approach thescreened player’s defender at an angle of90-degrees on the majority of screensbecause the defender will then have to runfarther to chase the screened player.

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RULES FOR THE PLAYER USING A SCREEN▼ Have vision of all the court and the other four

teammates and their defenders.▼ Make a set-up move to help the screener

set a good screen.▼ React to the angle and placement of the

screen.▼ Read the defender and move accordingly.

A mistake the player who receives the screencan make is to run on the screen or cut off thescreen at full speed. Sometimes the screenedplayer can beat the defender getting off thescreen at full speed, but many other times, read-ing the defense, using a change of pace, andfirst going the opposite way of the defender isthe best way to exploit the screen.

WHATTHE SCREENER MUST DOHere are the basic concepts. On all screens, thescreener must offer a passing option to the ballhandler, either by rolling to the basket, poppingout, or going to the opposite direction of thescreened player. Therefore, the screener mustwatch the reactions of the screened player, aswell as his defender and the screened player’sdefender, and then move accordingly. Thescreener should go to the opposite direction ofthe screened player to offer a good passingline, as well as to avoid further congestion inthat area with two defenders.

SIDE SCREEN“I played at St. Bonaventure,” saysMarques Green, “and I must thank coach



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Jan Van Breda Kolff, who, with the help ofassistant coaches Mark Wade and KennyBlackney, patiently taught me how to readthe screens and react accordingly. Thishas been a tremendous help in my profes-sional career. Among the several types ofscreens, off and on the ball, the sidescreen is a vital part of any offense, eitheron the offensive secondary transition, asan entry of a play, as the last weapon whenthe time is running out, or for creating ashot for a certain player. The side screen iscreated by the screener fronting or with hisback to the sideline. To be able to read the screen is a matter ofconstant practice and game experience.What is really demanded is patience on thepart of the ball handler. A player must notrush or react to the two defenders on thescreen. Instead, you have to watch theirmoves, as well as the positioning of all theplayers on the court. Then, you are ready toreact. You mustn’t move at full speed,because you can lose control of the ball orget called for an offensive charge. Instead,change pace, both when approaching thescreen and then when going around thescreen. In a split second, you have to figureout what is best to do by reading the movesof the defenders. Remember: take what thedefense gives you. Let’s now examine thedefensive reactions of the two defendersand how to beat them.”

Aggressive show of the screener’s defenderand lazy defense by the ball handler’sdefender. Usually in this case, there is hole inbetween the two defenders, so I make amove that I call “slick.” I split the twodefenders by driving hard in between them(photos 1, 2 and 3). I can also fake to go tothe screen, then make a crossover dribble,and go to the basket or take a jump shoot.

Very aggressive screened player’s defender.If the ball handler sees that his defender isvery aggressive and tries to push him awayfrom the nearby screen, I usually make one ortwo drives. I may fake to go to the screen,make a quick crossover dribble and go in theopposite direction for a jump shot or lay-up, ifI am open (photo 4, 5 and 6). If the defensecollapses on me, I may try for a pass to anopen teammate.

The screener’s defender does not showand the ball handler’s defender goes overthe screen. I make one or two slow drib-bles to read the situation and then fadeaway for a jump shot (photo 7, 8 and 9).

The screener’s defender does not show andthe ball handler’s defender goes under thescreen. I take a jump shot right away.


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The screener’s defender traps with theball handler’s defender. I make two drib-bles back to create space, then I pass tothe screener, who has rolled to the bas-ket, or a teammate, who passes to the

screener (photos 10 and 11) or I try tobeat the big man (photo 12).

Soft show of the screener’s defender andsoft recovery of the ball handler’s defender.

I make one dribble back and try to beat thescreener’s defender, who is usually a bigman (photos 13, 14 and 15).

The screener fakes a screen and then

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cuts to the basket. I pass the ball to him orto another teammate, who is open and himto the screener .

The defender of the ball handler pushes himto the baseline. I have three options: ▼ Drive to the middle and pull up for a

jump shot.▼ Pass to the screener, who has rolled to

the basket.▼ Pass to the teammate who made a flash

cut from a low post position on the helpside to the corner of the free-throw areaon the ball side.

Here are some tips on how to read and reactto the side screen. Sight. It is a mistake to only watch the twodefenders involved in the screen. You mustsee all the court, the other three defenders,and your other four teammates.

Dribbling. Do not always use a speed drib-ble, but change the pace of the dribble asyou bring the defender to the screen, andwhen you get by him and the screener’sdefender, who will often try to pick you up.Do not try a spin or reverse dribble whenusing a screen. I find that I briefly lose thecomplete view of all the court. In addition,when I am executing the spin dribble, Iexpose too much of the ball to the defender,who has a chance to steal it. If I am forced tomake a spin dribble after a screen, I immedi-ately make a crossover dribble. I prefer touse a crossover dribble in front, between thelegs of behind the back, so I maintain com-plete vision of the court and keep the ballwell protected at the same time.

Beating two defenders. When I have achance to beat the screen (except when Isplit the screen by slipping directly inbetween the two defenders), I try to beat onedefender at time, always maintaining courtvision and ball protection.

Shooting. Due to my size, I prefer to make ajump stop and then a jump shot when I beatthe screen. I will also try to make a running“rainbow” lay-up (tossing it high in the air),without going completely under the basket.

Leaning on the defender while shooting.After I beat the screen and I go to the basket,if the defender is on my side or behind me, Ilean on him. This allows me to cut him offand “freeze” him momentarily, so I am ableto shoot.”

Special thanks to Raul Morisco andGiuseppe Graziano of doctorphoto.it for thephotographic service.


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FIBA EUROPECOACHES - OFFENSE

Joan Plaza is the head coach of RealMadrid, team that he led in 2007 to the winof both the Spanish title and the ULEB Cup.Before coaching in Madrid, he begancoaching in 1995 for Joventut Badalona, butin the same season passed to C.B.Tarragona. The following season he wentback to Badalona, first as coach of theyouth teams (winning a Under 20 Spanishtitle) and then as assistant coach of themen's team. In 2006 he's called from RealMadrid and he became the third coach inthe history of Liga ACB to win in his firstseason the National title. In 2007 he alsowas named ULEB Cup Coach of the Yearand ACB Coach of the Year.

There are many ways to play against azone defense. Some offensive options thathave been used in the past are still effec-tive; others, on the other hand, are littleused for a variety of reasons.It takes many practice sessions to make azone offense work. A factor that must not tobe forgotten—and needs more space toadequately explain—is the psychologicalcomponent involved in the zone offense.Your players need the confidence in under-standing the fundamentals and must havethe patience needed to search for and findthe weak points of the zone defense.

To get around a zone defense, the fastbreakis often employed to reach the frontcourtbefore the defense has had a chance to setup, and an attempt is made to score rightaway. The start of the fastbreak does have afundamental role against the zone defense,and this requires that players make thequick transition from defense to offense, sowe will be able to have more attackers thandefenders on the frontcourt.Even though there is a numerical advan-tage, I find it amazing that the transitiongame is little used. One reason may be thelack of time during a practice session, or adistinct focus placed on working on otheroffensive priorities. Some coaches feel thatthey see more man-to-man defense thanzones, so they spend all of their practicetime working against man-to-man. I want to review how we attack a zonedefense. Starting from the assumption thatthe zone defense is already set-up (2-3, forinstance) when we arrive at the frontcourt,

by Joan Plaza

Zone Offense:Fundamentals and Options

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D.2

D.1

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FIBA EUROPECOACHES - OFFENSE


D.5

D.6

D.4

we typically attack for few seconds with fouroffensive players versus five defenders. Ourcenter will be the last to arrive because hehas typically battled for the defensiverebound and passed the ball down court. There are some options we have that willallow us to take a shot before going into ourfive-on-five offense against the set-updefense. We can pass on one side and goaway with the cuts off the high post to the lowpost on the ball side. The wing will then cut tothe lane (diagr. 1), followed by the screen ofthe center 5 for the wing 2, who comes up andreceives the ball from 3 (diagr. 2).It is vitally important that the players be ableto read and recognize the defensive varia-tions and slides. Being able to engage twodefenders by staying in between their spotswill often create problems and doubts for thetwo defenders. They may not realize who issupposed to cover the offensive player (diagr.3), and when this occurs, it is a chance to getan open shot.

Driving right in the gaps to divide the zone isalso one of the oldest and most efficient waysto beat the zone—although it’s also one of theleast used attacks. Dribbling straight into thegaps of the zone forces sudden defensiveadjustments and provides us with an advan-tage, usually on the opposite side of the court(diagr. 4).Aside from some exceptions, dribbling aroundthe key, not straight into the gaps of the zone,

is useless because it does not create slides ofthe defenders and is mainly a loss of time. In order to split a zone defense, directscreens on the ball help achieve the neces-sary effect. To make it work effectively, theangle of the screen becomes critical. Youwant to keep the defender blocked so theycan’t move. When it’s not well executed, thedefender can get away and force the offen-sive player towards the sideline (diagr. 5).

Ball reversal is another important actionagainst a zone defense. However, manyteams do not pass the ball as well as theyshould. Instead, they pass the ball as if theywere playing handball and pass it only aroundthe lane. What they really need to do is makepasses that will split the defense (diagr. 6).A good way to split the defense is to passinside, followed by an outside pass. Thiscauses the defense to compress and decom-press and affords the offense a chance tobreak the defense and get an open shot.When the ball comes in the paint, the zonecollapses. Quickly passing the ball outsidecreates a certain defensive imbalance andthis offers the chance to get open shots orbetter drives to the basket (diagr. 7).

Skip passes, which are passes from one sideof the court to the other, are suitable yet riskyif the players have not practiced themenough. Players must be able to read theslides of the zone, especially on the weak

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side. They must be able to recognize when thedefenders on the weak side collapse toomuch. With skip passes, we are able to forcethe defender of the last line of the zone tocome out and cover the player who receivesthe pass. This defender has a lot of distanceto cover and this will often allow our player toget an open shot (diagr. 8).

The ideal way for getting a shot after a rever-sal pass comes from the use of screens on theweak side. The players not directly involved inplaying near the ball can screen on the weakside, while the ball is reversed. This createsthe opportunity for an open shot because thedefender on the weak side is usually watchingthe ball side of the court and usually isn’taware of what is going on the other side(diagr. 9).

A major goal is to create a situation wherethere are two attackers against one defender.To reach this situation of defensive upset,we’ll use any kind of variation of the optionspreviously explained. We can create themjust after having split the defense up withpasses, cuts, screens, and by driving into thegaps of the zone. It demands a lot of patienceand ability on the part of the players to reachthis point (diagr. 10).

Another point to remember is to space thelines out as much as possible. Often, thedefender of the zone may find himself in asituation where he has to guard two attack-ers at the same time because of the excesstraffic we created inside the zone. The ideahere is to look for any kind of cut, especiallyon the weak side, that allows us to get behindthe back of the defenders near the baseline.This will force them to stay in this area whilethe rest of the players move over the free-throw line, or almost at the level of the three-point line. This movement creates a big space(diagr. 11).

Finally, I’d like to point out the need for offen-sive rebounding against the zone. With aman-to-man defense, the defender of theshooter can block him out and the other fourdefenders will try to find their men to blockout as well. In short, aside from some excep-tions, each defender has a particular offen-sive player to block out. However, in the zonedefense there is no defined responsibilityabout who is to be blocked out. Use this toyour advantage because this generates moreoccasions to get offensive rebounds.

I spend a good portion of practice sessionsworking on offensive rebounding against thezone defense. The key is to practice it enoughso it becomes instinctive to the players. Theplayers must automatically think that the

teammate who is shooting will miss the shot,and crash the board for the rebound.

Besides the few suggestions I have offered,there are other formulas that will give you theopportunity to improve your zone offense.Sometimes they will be adapted to the qualityof your players, sometimes to the level of thecompetition, and sometimes they will be con-ditioned from the time you have to work inpractice. However, when the time is spent onattacking a zone defense, it will be time wellspent. It will allow your players to recognizeand read any type of defense. Come gametime, they won’t miss a step as they go aboutvigorously and effectively attacking the zone.

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FIBA EUROPE

by Mike McHugh

COACHES - DEFENSE

Mike McHugh came to New Zealand fromhis position as head coach of the ACTAcademy of Sport basketball program inAustralia. He had previously been headcoach of the Canberra Capitals in theAustralian WNBL, and had worked at theAustralian Institute of Sport. He has alsohad a role on the coaching staff of theAustralian Opals. He coached theWellington Saints (Men) in New Zealand'sNBL, whom he led to the 2003Championship. McHugh is currently headcoach of the Tall Ferns, New Zealand'snational women's basketball team, whowon silver medal at the CommonwealthGames in 2006.

The greatest enemy of truly great defenseare turnovers and poor shot selectionFast break defense requires communicationand organization, our first priority is basketdefense, cover the "runner/s", second isslowing down the progress of the "ball", thisrequires an immediate channel to the near-est sideline by the handler's defender andthirdly matching up with the remaining of-fensive players in order of potential threat. The most important aspect is achieving thisis communication, if there is no effectivetalk we cannot defend the fast break. ▼ We must have an offensive plan that

gets us good shots and a plan for offen-sive rebounding, which allows fordefensive balance. We must developour offensive rebounding game as bestwe can.

▼ 3, 4, 5 are "attack rebounders" and go tothe boards every time we shoot.

▼ We must cover the long rebound bypositioning 2's and 1's at the foul line.

▼ When 2 and 1 shoot from the corners,they must rotate to long rebounder "out-let" outlet spot.

It is vital that an offensive rebounder has tovigorously contest in order to rebound. Ag-gressive offensive rebounding ensures thedefensive rebounder is more concerned

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with protecting the ball than igniting thefast break. The offensive rebounders mustget two feet in the lane and attempt to"touch" the ball.We prefer to have four offensive rebound-ers and one safety (diagr. 1). X4, X5 and X3attack offensive board, X1 is the safety, andX2 covers the long rebound and preparesto immediately channel outlet to sideline.The concept of defensive transition is to"slow" the attack, get the ball on a sidelineand match up most to least dangerous. Ide-ally, we have a guard-type positioned nearthe foul line for the long rebound. This play-er is responsible for immediate channelingof the outlet receiver towards the nearestsideline.The safety player's first responsibility is toprotect the basket. If possible we want thesmaller safety to invert with the first frontline player, who is in a position to do so.The smaller player is therefore able to bereleased to deny any ball side pass to thefront court. If the smaller player cannot re-lease, she must communicate which playermust play ball side denial. The last re-bounder back acts as a "plugger." The re-maining rebounder monitors the weak sideat the high split.From these positions we match-up. Our pri-ority is from most dangerous to least danger-ous. When a fast break score is no longer athreat, we begin our designated defense.Safety is generally covered by X1 or X2 i.e. If1 has penetrated key for shot, therefore X2 issafety. If a circumstance arose where bothX1 and X2 were in the key (i.e. 2 posts X2, 1drives to the basket), then X3 would read thesituation and take safety.The movements of the defenders after theoutlet pass of the opponents are drawn onthe following diagrams. X2 "herds" handler1 to sideline, not attacking the ball, but al-lowing 1 to dribble slowly, X1 is safety, X5becomes the "plugger" in a help position onthe split line to prevent any middle penetra-tion, and X3 and X4 "sprint" back to matchup (diagr. 2).As the runner 2 sprints through the key andcuts for pass from 1; X1 goes to defend thereceiver on X3's instruction, and X3 be-comes safety, X5 continues to plug the mid-dle and X4 sprints back to cover the weakside (diagr. 3).X1 has matched up on the ball handler 2; X2is denying the return pass to 1, X3 is deny-ing feed to 3, and X5 and X4 are matchingup on the trailers (diagr. 4).

FASTBREAK DEFENSE

In any situation where we turn the ball overor our extended defense is beaten, wemust revert to fast break defense. Theserules are:

▼ The first responsibility is to protectthe basket.

▼ The second responsibility is tochannel the ball and prevent a quicksecond movement.

▼ The next responsibility is to match upwith the most dangerous receiver.

▼ The next responsibilities are tomatch up as best we can.

a) Take away the lay-upb) Make the opposition run half court

offense.c) Be able to contest the rebound, if a

quick shot is taken.

1. Defensive transition roles▼ We must have one guard communi-

cate "safety" and retreat to preventthe basket. She will go as deep asthe deepest offensive player, andmust cover any "runner" against thelong pass and deny the lay-up. If oneguard drives to the basket his part-ner is the safety. In our offensivesets usually one guard is the "safety",the other is the long rebounder "out-let".

▼ Closest man to rebounder/inbounderis the "plugger", she pressures theoutlet pass. She must not allow therebounder to explode by him on thedribble. She then supports the on ball


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defender against middle penetrationby forming a middle triangle betweenthe ball herself and her man. She is ina position to trap or run-and-jump withthe handler's defender if the gameplan calls for it. At all times she com-municates to the "outlet" that she hashelp in the middle.

▼ Player closest to the outlet side (X2 orX1) gets to the foul line to cover thelong rebound and then identifies theoutlet receiver. She tries to force thereceiver to catch the ball going backbelow the foul line. This will immediate-ly slow their fast break, don't let them"turn-and-go". She is the "outlet", thencontains the handler and influences herto sideline. Se will stay with the balluntil "switched" by the safety or defen-sive assignment.

▼ Other two players are "sprinters". Firstplayer back sprints to release the safe-ty and protect the basket matching upwith the next most threatening playershading the ball side. Next player backwill match up shading the help-side.

▼ At this point you must have:

a) Basket protection by the "safety". b) Ball channeled and contained by the

"outlet".c) Middle coverage by the "plugger".d) Triangle coverage by the "sprinters".

2. Influence the ball to the sidelines▼ This allows us to establish a ball-side

and help-side early and enables ourhalf-court defense to be set up.

▼ We will have the "plugger" positionedin the shallow middle (split line) toassist the player defending the han-dler. If the player with the ball turnshis defender to the middle, the "plug-ger" must help her contain the han-dler and allow her to channel himback to the side. This will help eatsome clock, we may also have the"plugger" trap, if a non-handler hasthe ball or we want to take the ballout of a good player's hands.

3. Establish our half court defense▼ We must now establish a defensive

perimeter where we want the ball.This perimeter is 1.5 metres outsidethe three-point line and on a sideline.

▼ At this point we want:

a) On ball containment.b) Help/denial defenders one pass from

the ball. c) High split active.d) Low split active.

▼ The principle focus of our defensivetransition and half court defence willbe to make every effort to influenceour opponent to use up the shotclock. We will deny quick reversaland not allow middle penetration.Now we have the ball where wewant it, on the sideline and we havea used clock.

▼ Once the ball is forced to be caughton the sideline we will pressure witha trace hand, space it at arms lengthand split the jab foot. The defenderon the ball must contain penetrationand contest any shot.

The success of our defense will be di-rectly related to our ability to maintainour stances throughout the possessionand to go from one stance and one posi-tion on the floor to our new stance andnew position on the flight of the ball,with explosive quickness.

DEFENSIVE PRINCIPLES ON MAN TO MAN AND

ZONE

Philosophy▼ Effective individual containment.

▼ Constant basket protection.

▼ Extend the perimeter of defensivecoverage to be as disruptive as pos-sible.

▼ When the ball penetrates our perime-

ter coverage, all other defenders con-verge to a position to defend our bas-ket.

▼ Once the perimeter coverage is pene-trated all pressure is eliminated, there-fore basket protection becomes ourprimary consideration.

▼ Man-to-man offers the best pressure,zone principles offer the best basketprotection, and thus we will combinethe two concepts.

▼ Winning the possession game is ourpriority.

ON BALL DEFENSE IN THE HALF COURT

▼ Defender guarding the ball below thefoul line extended: containment witheffective hand pressure. Help defenseis to provide security against penetra-tion.

▼ Defender guarding the ball above thefoul line extended: total pressure,channel to sideline/corner. Immediatepass receiver's defense contests thepassing lanes (open/closed stance) oris packed in, an open stance helpingon middle penetration.

▼ Help side defenders protect the basketwith zone principles: establish"high/low split positions". Front all lowposts unless scouting decrees other-wise.

▼ All defenders must be in constantcommunication.


FIBA EUROPECOACHES - DEFENSE

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FIBA EUROPECOACHES - DEFENSE

Don Casey coached at Temple Universityfrom 1973 to 1982. He was then assistantcoach of the NBA teams of Chicago, LosAngeles Clippers, Boston, and as headcoach, again of the Clippers, as well asthe New Jersey Nets. He also coachedScavolini Pesaro in Italy. He has con-ducted basketball clinics in Africa,Europe, South America, and Asia.Currently, he is Vice President of theNBA Coaches Association. He is theauthor of “Own the Zone” (McGraw-Hill,2007).

Ralph Pim is an associate professorand chief of the competitive sports ofthe Military Academy of West Point.He coached at Limestone Collegeand Alma College, and also wasassistant coach at Central Michigan,William & Mary, and NorthwesternLouisiana University. He is author ofseveral basketball books.

DOUBLE-TEAMSEvery team that wants to surprise theopponent must be able to double-teamon every type of defense. How to dou-ble-team is the same for man-to-mandefense and for zone defense. While twodefenders double-team the ball handler,the other three have to form a triangle.One of these players floats and goeswhere needed, while the other covers allmoves to the basket. When the basket isprotected, any defense can risk to dou-ble-team the man with the ball.

DOUBLE-TEAM RULESThere are five basic double-team situa-tions in every type of defense: the guardwith the guard; the guard with the for-ward; the forward with the guard; theforward with post; and the guard withthe post. Double-team is based on quick-ness and surprise, and all the defenders

should follow the following rules:▼ Three steps rule. The defender, who

goes to double-team, must be able toreach the ball handler in three rapidsteps.

▼ Don’t break up the double-team rule.The defenders must assume a largebase and put one of their feet asclose as possible to their teammate’sfoot.

▼ Active hands rule. The defendersmust have their hands active tryingto deflect the ball.

WHEN DOUBLE-TEAMINGThe defenders must know when to go todouble-team. Some of the best situa-tions include the following offensivesituations: a pick and roll; a dribblingwave; a guard passing the ball to the for-ward and follows the pass to receive ahand-off pass; a pass to the post and thepasser goes to the angle. When a team knows when and how todouble-team, there are several tactics ofdouble-teaming that can be used withevery type of defense.

LEADING GUIDES TO DOUBLE-TEAMHubie Brown, two-time NBA HeadCoach of the Year and member of theBasketball Hall of Fame, affirms thatthere must be guideline rules for double-teams, but also that coaches must beflexible and permit their players to becreative. Brown identified these as themost important principles to follow inorder to double-team. The best spots on the court where dou-ble-team are the sidelines, the base-lines, the angles, and the half court line.Play at contact with the ball handler andclose to him. Do not let the ball handlerpass through the double-team. Once youdecide to double-team, do not to stop orhesitate and stay in the “no men’s land.”

Teach players not involved in the dou-ble-team to understand what the dou-ble-teamed player may try to do. Oncethe double-team is done, let the mostdistant player from the ball free. Do notpermit the offensive players on the helpside to cut quickly toward the ball toreceive a pass. Coach the defenders onthe rotation on the help side. Keep thedouble-team until the ball handler passesthe ball and the ball is in the air. Do notpermit a penetrating pass that goes outof the double-team. If a back pass isforced, keep on playing zone defense,and try to double-team again. Guard theshooters closely and do not let them getfree.

HALF COURT 3-2 ZONE PRESSHalf court 3-2 zone press can be both anaggressive defense and a passive one.You need this in your offensive arsenalbecause each opponent presents differ-ent challenges: there can’t be only onedefense that you use with every team.Created in the 1950s by John Egli, whocoached at Penn State University, Iexpanded upon his basic concepts tocreate various options. When you adoptthis 3-2 defense, it’s fundamental to keepthe ball outside the middle lane of thecourt and the post area. Once the ballgoes to the high post, it can be easilypassed to both the sides of the court andto the angles, making this very difficultto cover. The defenders must be trainedto push the ball toward the sideline andto the angles, where there are excellentdouble-team opportunities. Moreover,the spots on the court where double-teams occur limit the spaces for theoffense and permit the three defendersnot involved in the double-team to setwhere they have major opportunities tointercept a pass. This is the initial set-up of the defenders

by Don Casey by Ralph Pim

Half court3-2 and 2-3 zone press

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FIBA EUROPE COACHES - DEFENSE


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the ball on a pass to the angle. X4 sets upunder the basket and defends against apossible lob pass.

DOUBLE-TEAM IN THE ANGLE (AFTER A PASS FROM THE WING)Diagram 6 describes the double-team inthe angle after a pass is made from thewing from 3 to 5. X3 follows the pass tothe wing and double-teams with X5. X1can set either on the passing line behindthe wing, or at half distance between thewing and the basket (see the diagr. 3 forX1’s position); X2 covers the high-postarea and guards the diagonal passes; X5slides out of the lane and double-teamsthe ball handler, while X4 comes out of thethree-second lane and sets up beyond thelast block of the free throw line.

EXIT PASS FROM THE ANGLE TO THE MIDDLE LANE OF THE COURTIn diagram 7 we can see the position onthe court of the defenders when the ballgoes out of the double-team and reachesthe middle lane of the court, with a passfrom 5 to 1. X2 slides out the lane, setsnear 1’s outside shoulder, and tries to getthe ball from him. X1 defends on the wing;X4 cuts in the lane, comes out and sets upin an in-between position between theangle and 4, ready to fake and intercept apossible pass from the middle lane to thewing on the help side. X5 cuts quickly inthe lane and sets up on the last block ofthe free throw line, while X3 does thesame thing on the weak side.

DOUBLE-TEAM IN THE WING (AFTER A PASSFROM THE MIDDLE LANE OF THE COURT)When the ball goes out the double-teamin the angle, and is passed to the middlelane and again to the wing on the weakside from 1 to 2, the following moves haveto be made by the defenders (diagr. 8).X2 slides to the high post area, near theelbow of the free-throw line, and thenruns to double-team 2 with X4. X1 cuts inthe lane and sets up on the elbow of thefree-throw line on the strong side. X5goes to an in-between position betweenthe angle and the ball, ready to intercepta possible pass to the angle, while X3goes under the basket to steal any lobpass.

DOUBLE-TEAM IN THE ANGLE (AFTER THE PASSFROM THE WING)Once the ball is passed from the wing tothe angle, from 2 to 4, the defenders moveas shown in diagram 9. X4 follows thepass to the angle and double-teams 4 withX5. X2 slides in an in-between positionbetween the wing and the angle to avoid

and the double-team at the half court(diagr. 1). As the ball comes up the court,X1, X2 and X3 spread the defense quicklyto the half court. X1 and X2 go to double-team once the ball handler drives to oneside of the court and goes over the halfcourt line, establishing the strong side.X3, who went initially toward the half-court line, goes back to play as an “inter-ceptor” of a possible pass to the weakside. X4 slides to the wing, anticipatingthe pass in this area of the court. X5comes up and anticipates the offensiveplayer, who is on this side of the court. When the ball is passed from 1 to 2, thesewill be the defensive slides (diagr. 2). X1follows the pass and double-teams withX3. X5 guards any opponent who, is in thehigh post. X4 slides in the low post, coveringthe basket, while X2 slides back to the elbowof the free-throw line. Let’s see the defensive cover when theball is passed from 1 to 5 (diagr. 3). X5defends on 5 by using the fundamentals ofman-to-man defense. X1 double-teams onthe high post with X5, X3 slides down nearthe lane and he’s responsible for anypasses on this side of the court. The idealline drawn between the ball handler andthe angle gives a landmark for how far X3must slide down. X4 slides back coveringthe zone near the basket, while X2 slidesand is responsible to cover any pass onhis side of the court. In diagram 4, defensive slides are shownwhen the ball is passed from 1 to 4. X4defends 4 by using the man-to-man funda-mentals. X2 double-teams the ball handlerwith X4, while X5 guards any opponentwho comes in the low post. X1 slides backin the middle lane, while X3 covers thearea near the basket.

2-3 ZONE PRESSThe initial set of the 2-3 zone press is thesame of the classic 2-3 zone. The surpriseelement for the opponents begins whenthe ball is passed from the guard to thewing. At this time, the front court of thedefenders double-team, instead of comingout and then comes back as in the regularzone defense.

DOUBLE-TEAM IN THE WING (AFTER THE PASS FROM THE MIDDLE LANE)In diagram 5 the double-team on the wingis shown after the pass from the middlelane of the court from 1 to 3. X1 initiallycovers the high post area and then quick-ly goes to double-team the forward, 3,with X3, who comes up; X2 cuts in thelane and covers the elbow of the free-throw line on the double-team side; X5 isin a position where he can fake and steal

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a back pass to the wing. X1 covers thehigh-post area, and defends on diagonalpasses, while X3 goes out of the lane andsets up on the last block of the free-throwline. Exit pass out of the double-team in theangle toward the middle lane of the courtIn diagram 10 we see an option to coverthe exit pass out of the double-team in theangle toward the middle lane of the court,from 5 to 1. We saw this in diagram 7. X2goes to the wing to try to stop a quickchange of the ball side. X1 becomes thetop defender of the zone and sets up onthe ball handler’s outside shoulder. X3slides in an in-between position betweenthe offensive player and the wing, readyto intercept a possible pass from the mid-dle lane toward the wing. X4 slides in thelane and sets up on the block of the free-throw line on the weak side. X5 slides inthe lane as the last defender of the zone tocover the basket.

DOUBLE-TEAM ON THE HIGH POST(AFTER A PASS FROM THE MIDDLE LANE OF THECOURT)I will now describe a double-team on thehigh post after a pass from the middlelane of the court, from 1 to 5 (diagr. 11). X1turns and double-teams on the high postwith X5. X2 slides slightly under the ballline; X3 sets up at half the distancebetween 3 and 4 in an angle, while X4covers the basket.

DOUBLE-TEAM IN THE WING (AFTER THE PASS FROM THE HIGH POST)This double-team is illustrated in diagram12. X3 slides towards 3, who gets the ballfrom 5, and double-teams with X1, whofollowed the pass. X4 comes out of thelane and goes to the angle. X5 slides downin the lane to cover the basket and grabany lob passes. X2 cuts in the lane, settingup on the elbow of the free-throw line onthe ball side.

DOUBLE-TEAM IN THE WING (AFTER THE PASS FROM THE WING)In diagram 13 I will describe the defenders’

moves when the ball comes out of the dou-ble-team with a pass from the wing to theangle, from 3 to 4. X4 comes out, does not let3 drive to the angle and double-teams withX3, who has followed the pass. X5 sets upon the last block of the free-throw line. X1denies the return pass from 4 to 3 or, asshown in the diagram, slides to an in-between position between the angle andthe wing, while X2 defends on the high postand is ready for any lob passes.

DOUBLE-TEAM IN THE ANGLE(AFTER THE PASS FROM THE HIGH POST)Some coaches think that going from ahigh-post double-team to an angle dou-ble-team is too difficult, while othersbelieve that this may be very advanta-geous. In diagram 14, we can see how todefend when the ball is passed from thehigh post to the angle, from 5 to 4. X2double-teams 4 with X4, who has comeout the lane. X1 covers the elbow of thefree-throw lane on the ball side. X5slides on the block, while X3 slides underthe basket. Another way to double-teamin the angle is shown in diagram 15. X1,X2, and X4’s responsibilities are still thesame, while X3 and X5 follow these rules:X3 sets on the block and X5 slides downin the middle of the area in front of thebasket.

EXIT PASS FROM THE DOUBLE-TEAM IN THE ANGLE TOWARD THE MIDDLE LANE OF THE COURTIn diagram 16 are the defenders’ move-ments against the exit pass from the dou-ble-team in the angle toward the middlelane of the court (from 4 to 1). X1 slides upand guards 1, with the ball, while X2slides on the left elbow of the free-throwlane. X4 slides beyond the line of thethree-second area, as X5 does on theopposite side, while X3 cuts in the laneand sets up on the other angle of the free-throw line. X3 and X5 can also changetheir positions. X5 slides toward the angleof the free-throw lane and X3 cuts andsets beyond the line of the three-secondarea.

Taken from the book “OWN THE ZONE”, Don Casey and Ralph Pim,

McGraw-Hill, 2007.

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FIBA EUROPECOACHES

by Ryan Krueger

TERMINOLOGYRyan Krueger has been the assistantcoach of Virginia Commonwealth forayear and of Maine Central Institute fortwo seasons. For four years he hasworked with the New Jersey Nets, atfirst as a video coordinator and, begin-ning last season, as assistant coach. Hehas written two books, "Yellow BrickBasketball Drills", whose proceeds go

toward the social campaign "Coachesvs. Cancer". He has also been an in-structor at Five-Star Camp. He is cur-rently assistant coach at Rutgers Uni-versity.

There are so many things as coaches thatwe love about this game which otherpeople just can’t understand. Celebrating

with your team in a tiny, dingy lockerroom after a big road win. Team dinnerswhere the rookies have to sing. The ca-maraderie and brotherhood that coachesand players share that only comes frombeing around each other every singleday. These are all things that are onlyspecial to you if you’re a coach. One as-pect of the game that doesn’t get talked


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about very often is terminology. We allhave our own secret code whether weknow it or not. We repeatedly use certaindescriptions to present situations thatarise.

Having a consistent terminology helpsyou in a couple of ways. The most im-portant is that it allows you to be a bet-ter teacher. It helps you get your pointacross more quickly. This makes sensebecause you are generally using lesswords to describe something. You canpaint a picture or describe a situationto your players using one simple wordyou’ve made up as opposed to using anentire sentence to do the same. I al-ways want to be as short, concise, and

“Hammer Action” – Starts with a 1/3 hatpick (SPR where the 3 has his back to thebaseline). 4 and 5 are at the weak/oppositeelbow and 2 is at the top of the key. As 1drives baseline, 2 (top of the key) gets a dou-ble flare at the weakside elbow getting himopen in the weakside corner. 1 throws apass along the baseline for a corner threepoint shot from 2.

▼ “Horns” – 4 and 5 at each elbow with 2and 3 in the corners. 1 can use either bigfor a pick and roll.

▼ “Munch” – Out of a box set, 1 swings theball to opposite side of the floor and thenthe big gets a double back pick for apostup.

▼ “Pinch Post” – guard with the ball at thetop of the key, big at the elbow. Guardpasses to the big and gets into a twomen game off the elbow.

HERE IS A LIST OF SOME OTHER RANDOM

NBA TERMINOLOGY

▼ “ATO’s” – after time out plays

▼ “Basket cut” – guard feeds the post andcuts over top (middle) of the big.

▼ “Go cut” – guard feeds the post and cutsbelow (baseline side) of the big.

▼ “Butter” – our call at the end of the shotclock (5 seconds remaining).

▼ “Drag” – pick and rolls in transition.

▼ “Lifted” – refers to a big being high,spaced for a jumpshot, as opposed tolow on the block.

▼ “Pocket pass” – the pass we makewhen a guard curls versus a hard show.On the catch we immediately look tobounce pass to the screener since hisman showed up and left him open.

I also think that using special terminologyhelps promote a sense of culture on yourteam. It’s something that is unique to yourteam, that no one else does. I know I wouldthink it was pretty cool if my high schoolcoach used college terminology when I wasplaying. If I’m a college player and I’mdreaming of playing in the NBA, I wouldthink it was pretty cool to be learning NBAterminology. I overhear our players usingour team terminology talking with one an-other all the time. These may be words thatwe have totally made up but they havemeaning to us. Those words are our termi-nology. Its part of our team.

to the point as possible when addressingour players. What’s important is for themto get the information but then to use thatinformation playing the game, not standingand listening. I will list a few examples ofwhat I mean.

I am a huge believer in individual break-down drills. We are a big pick and rollteam so our pick and roll attack is some-thing we work on frequently. One thing Ialways want my ball handlers to do is lookto beat their man away from the pick androll. If the big is screening such that theball handler is coming off to his righthand, I want the ball handler to seewhether or not he can beat his man by notusing the screen. We always told ourplayers to “be a threat to beat your manaway from the screen.” That takes a longtime to say. So I came up with one simpleword that inherently has nothing to dowith pick and rolls or basketball. I callbeating your man away from the pick androll “bingo”. At first our coaches thoughtI was crazy, but if you ask any of ourguards about “bingo”, they will know ex-actly what you are talking about. Termi-nology becomes very useful during agame when you can use it to quickly tellyour players what kind of action the op-ponent is about to run and how you wantto guard it. Lets say you hear the call for ateam to run a side pick and roll. Wewould normally call out “side pick – blueit”. This is what play they are running andhow we want to guard it. But many teamsthese days don’t set a traditional angleside pick (screener’s back to the side-line). Instead they set the screen with thescreener’s back to the baseline, bringingthe ball handler to the baseline instead ofto the middle. We have a special call forthis type of side pick. We call this a “hatpick”. Why we call it this I have no idea,but its unimportant. What’s important isthat our players know what it is and knowhow we defend it. A traditional side pickwe would “blue” but a “hat pick” wewould “red”. Now we can quickly relayto our players “hat pick – red it!” as op-posed to “side pick but bringing the ballhandler baseline – red it!” That’s just toolong and clunky to say.

THE FOLLOWING ARE TERMS

WE USED TO DESCRIBE OFFENSIVE ACTIONS

“Floppy” – baseline screening action with 4& 5 setting pin down screens for 2 and 3.

“Hawk” – post up with 2 starting at thetop of the key and getting a pick from abig (4/5) at the elbow. Similar to a UCLAcut.

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FIBA EUROPECOACHES - HOOP MARKET

by Raffaele Imbrogno

In this section, we introduce the latest books, videos, CDs, andother tools that are primarily aimed at coaches, but certainly usefulfor all of our readers. Please send your suggestions and commentsabout our basketball-related media for review in this section.

Fundamentals, fundamentals and fundamentals again

Raffaele Imbrogno has been coaching since 1980. He is anInstructor for the Italian National Coaches Committee of theFederation and has been Director of the Italian BasketballFederation Study Center. Imbrogno is also the author of se-veral technical basketball publications.


As Carlo Recalcati, the coach of theItalian national team, has often re-marked, we desperately need teachproper offensive and defensive ba-sketball fundamentals to all of ourplayers.

This observation is not only true forItalian basketball, but for the entirebasketball world. Luckily, a series ofDVDs about teaching the ABCs of thegame has just arrived from the Uni-ted States, and it focuses on whatCoach Recalcati has been clamou-ring for: basketball fundamentals.Let's take a look at these offerings.

The popular Internet siteHoopsking.com has just produced aDVD series entitled "Advanced Ba-sketball Training" that promises to

bring all of us to the highest game le-vel. The series includes on-courtcommentary from leading basketballcoaches, including Ganon Baker, JayHernandez, Dorian Lee, and JasonOtter.

Four DVDs have been produced byGanon Baker: "How to Survive andThrive as an Undersized"; "GanonBaker's Basketball School: Dribbling& Driving"; "Ganon Baker's Basket-ball School: Passing", and "GanonBaker's Basketbal l School : Bal lHandling".

The first DVD, almost two hours longand dedicated to guards, focuses oneight qualities. It begins with a se-ries of physical conditioning drills,fol lowed by dri l ls to improve the

weak hand, drills to quicken bothhands in ball handling, drills to im-prove quality of driving to the basket,and how to create space betweenyou and defense.

The last three sections are dedica-ted to getting free without the ball(paying particular attention to pivo-ting), how to shoot from the three-point line, how to use "middle-range"shots, how to go strong to the ba-sket, and how to improve overall ba-sketball comprehension. Baker'spoint is to remove every excuse thatwill keep you from becoming a "big"player.

In the second DVD, Baker showshow to improve ball control, espe-cially in situations with defensive

30_028_029_imbrogno 26-01-2008 8:36 Pagina 28


pressure. Drills with one, two, andthree balls are utilized, as well asdrills with specially weighted tennisballs. Finally, great care is dedicatedto starts from a standstill positionand off a dribble. In the third DVD, Baker presents mo-re than 30 drills that can be utilizedalone or with a teammate. Baker de-tails all types of passes, and thentakes the player through the mostcompetitive and difficult drills.

In his fourth and last DVD, Baker de-monstrates 25 ball-handling drills ofeasy and moderate difficulty, fol-lowed by 24 high-difficulty drills de-signed to significantly improve ballhandling. Each drill is designed tobring about improvements instrength, stamina, and technical

skill. Jay Hernandez has produced threedifferent DVDs: "Pro Scoring Moves","Freeze Pullups", and "Heavy TrainerWorkout". In his first DVD, he pre-sents an interesting series of one-on-one moves in order to beat thedefender (pound pivots, trigger se-ries, two-footed steps backs, and theslide by move). In his second DVD,he focuses on getting shots off aftera dribble.

Close attention is paid to maintainingproper form. Finally, in his third DVD,Hernandez demonstrates variousdrills with the weighted ball (drib-bling with one ball, two balls, andpass-and-shoot drills). Dorian Lee has two DVDs: "DorianLee's Art of the Quick Release and

Explosive Finishing Moves".In his Explosive Moves DVD, Lee clo-sely examines shooting situations af-ter catching the ball and after reco-vering the ball from dribbling. At theend of the DVD, eight drills are pre-sented. In Explosive Finishing Moves,Lee demonstrates several ways toget to the basket: driving from themiddle, the side, and from an angle.He offers a series of interesting drills.

Jason Otter's DVD, "From the Streets tothe Court", shows how moves born onthe playground (spin moves, crossover,shutters, behind the back and in-and-outs) can be translated to the gym.

There you have it: 10 very good DVDsat a very good price. Enjoy theworkouts.

30_028_029_imbrogno 26-01-2008 8:36 Pagina 29


REFEREES , SCORER ’S TABLE AND COMMISSIONERS

Refereeing post playsituation

by Alan Richardson

Alan Richardson has been a FIBA refereefrom 1978 to 1998. He then became RefereeClinic Instructor from 1996 to 2000. Since2000, he is the Technical Advisor of theReferee Department of the Euroleague.

Post play has developed an element ofpower and leverage that puts pressure onreferees to balance the physical prepara-tion of the players with actions that createan unfair advantage. Aggressive play isacceptable, but rough play is not. Roughplay invariably develops into violent con-frontations, which test the referees'knowledge of the rules and their interpre-tation. Points of emphasis have beenaround for a long time, but they serve toremind referees about how to penalize var-ious illegal moves by players, which dis-lodge, displace or dispossess opponentsunfairly.

LEGAL GUARDING POSITION

A player is entitled to any position on the

floor, not occupied by an opponent. Onceestablished, it is illegal for any opponent todislodge or displace that player from hisposition. It is equally true that having estab-lished such a position; a player cannotextend his arms or legs to prevent an oppo-nent from moving to a new position. An armbar by the defensive player in the post hasto be watched in order to determine if thearm is straight or bent. If the arm is straightand displacement of the offensive playeroccurs, this is a foul. Changes in positionmust be achieved by speed and agility; therules are designed to recognise the playerwho gets to the spot first and establishes alegal position. Referees therefore need torecognise when body position is legallyestablished and when to penalise oppo-nents who try to change the status illegally.There are a number of illegal plays associ-ated with post play:

UNDERCUTTING

When an offensive player posts up with his

back to the basket, watch for the defensiveplayer moving in behind, in a direct line to thebasket. If the offensive post player receivesthe ball in that situation, with both feet on thefloor, there are a lot of quick moves designedto beat the defensive opponent. The defen-sive player will tend to work through the ver-ticality of the offensive player by pushing intothe buttocks/legs of the offensive player andcreating an unstable position. This creates anunfair advantage for the defensive player.There will be times when the offensive playersits back on the defensive player in order toprevent being fronted and to have a betterchance of receiving the ball. This is also ille-gal and creates an unfair advantage. Morethan often, these two situations occur at thesame time and referees must react quickly toavoid illegal action/reaction. Preventativeofficiating should be applied through the useof verbal warnings for both players to"straighten-up". If this does not work then anearly double foul may make for a better game.

BUMPING

When an offensive player receives the ball,watch for attempts to back into the basketover the defensive player. Backing-in consistsof either a partial turn and a half step into thedefensive player in order to move him back-wards or it can be with a dribble, with back tothe basket, which displaces the defensiveplayer backwards by a series of "bumps".Offensive players tend to get away with thatbecause the contact is at close range anddoes not involve much displacement witheach bump. However, referees must remem-ber that if the defensive player is in a legalguarding position and the offensive contacton his chest displaces him then a charge foulmay be called. If the offensive player reallywants to get to the basket then he needs to goaround the defensive player, which some-times involves hooking.

HOOKING

Post players are not always quick with theirfeet. Once an offensive player receives theball and "bumping" is ineffective, he will

30_030_031_richardson.qxd 26-01-2008 8:41 Pagina 30


attempt to reverse around the defensiveplayer. This is much easier if they areallowed to wrap their free arm around theback or across the hip of the defensive play-er, delaying his reaction long enough to getone foot on the floor closer to the basket.This is illegal because the offensive playerhas extended his body position with anextended arm in order to prevent the move-ment of his opponent. This is sometimes dif-ficult for referees to see but by watching forthe moment of receiving the ball in the lowpost, the lead referee should move along thebaseline towards the basket. This willenable the referee to be behind the defend-er and see the illegal move of the offensivepost player. The centre referee can also helpon this play if the move screens out the leadas the offensive player rolls into the paint.

HANDCHECKING

The most effective way for a defensive play-er to counteract the offensive move to thebasket, other than getting weak-side help, isto retreat to a new position in the offensivepath to the basket. This is easy to do with ahand check if the offensive player has toturn and move to the basket too. Watch for

the defensive player spinning and reachingfor the offensive player when beaten by hismove. If the defensive player, instead, con-tinues to face up to the offensive player offthe reverse move, it becomes a classiccharge/block situation. Watch the defensiveplayer and if contact in the new position ison his chest then it is a charge, if its not thenit is a block. If the defensive player is beaten,you may want to suck on the whistle until ashooting motion begins and it becomes ashooting foul. Penalise the hand checking inorder to discourage it further.

HOLDING

In situations where the offensive player getscloser to the basket than the defensive play-er whilst waiting for the ball; such as whenthe defensive player tries to front the offen-sive player or when two offensive playersswitch and one moves to the blindside of thedefensive post player. The only way theoffensive player will get the ball in that caseis on a gentle lob pass that gets over thedefensive player but falls short of the weakside help. Invariably in this situation theoffensive player places a hand on the hip ofthe fronting defensive player and prevents

him from backing up during the lob pass.This becomes an easy lay up for the offen-sive player. The strong hold on the hiprestricts the motion of the defensive playerand creates an unfair advantage. This is ille-gal and should be called. Watch the playersrather than the ball in such cases.

CONCLUSION

Ignore the ball and focus on contact. Somereferees have problems with this becausethey are anticipating the act of shootingwhen the ball is close to the basket. In postplay the good calls are made on illegalmoves without the ball. Teamwork betweenreferees is essential here if the primary offi-cial is to focus on the post players whilst hiscolleagues cover the rest of the play. Therole of the lead official is important becausehe must focus on the developing post playrather than looking for the ball out on thefloor. Post play is a game within the game.Size and strength are winning factors in anygame but not where illegal contact that dis-places, dislodges or dispossesses oppo-nents is allowed to go unpunished."Take care of business before businesstakes care of you".

30_030_031_richardson.qxd 26-01-2008 8:41 Pagina 31

1. No; Article 17.3.12. No; Articles 41.1.1, 41.2.13. Yes; Articles 4.1.3, 4.2.34. Yes; Article 8.55. Yes; Articles 12.3, 43.3.36. Yes; Article 18.3.17. No; Article 12.4.88. No; Article 19.2.49. Yes; Article 29.1.210. No; Article 35.1

REFEREES AND GAME ADMINISTRATION

RIGHT OR WRONG?


ANSWERS

The following questions focus on the docu-ment, “FIBA Official Basketball Rules:Official Interpretations”. A free download isprovided on the FIBA website(www.fiba.com). For additional clarifica-tions, explanations or examples, pleaseconsult this document.

QUESTIONS

1. On a throw-in, shall the 5-second countcontinue until the ball touches a player,other than the thrower-in, on the play-ing court?

2. B3 commits a holding foul against A2.This is the 4th team foul for team B inthe period. Shall A2 be awarded twofree-throws?

3. A10 requests to enter the game as asubstitute for A4 at the next opportuni-ty. During the next dead ball, but beforean official has beckoned A10 to enterthe playing court, a technical foul iscommitted by A4. Shall the A4 foul beconsidered a player's foul?

4. A shot for goal has left A3's hand; s),when the signal sounds to end the 1stperiod. After the signal has sounded,but before the shot for goal ends, anunsportsmanlike foul is committed byA5. Shall this foul be considered tohave happened during an interval ofplay?

5. A2 is awarded one free-throw. Beforethe release of the ball on the free-throwattempt, both B4 and A4 enter therestricted area. The ball does not enterthe basket. Is this a jump ball situation?

6. Shall the assistant coach have the rightto request a time-out?

7. On the alternating possession throw-inthat begins a period, the ball has beenreleased by thrower-in A2, but has notyet touched a player on the playingcourt when a foul is committed by A5.Has A5's foul occurred during an inter-val of play?

8. A1 is awarded one free-throw. Beforethe ball is placed at the disposal of A1for the free-throw, A10 substitutes forA5. Following A1's successful free-throw, a time-out is awarded to team A.A5 now asks to re-enter the game as a

substitute for A1. Shall the substitutionbe permitted?

9. An A3 shot for a field goal is in the airwhen the 24-second signal sounds. Theball then touches the backboard, butdoes not touch the basket ring, afterwhich it is immediately rebounded byB2. Shall the 24-second signal beignored and the game continue withoutinterruption?

10. A4 and B4 are charged with technicalfouls for disrespectfully communicatingwith each other. Is this a double foul?

30_032.qxd 26-01-2008 8:39 Pagina 34

pubblicità 29-01-2008 12:16 Pagina 4

SPORT MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT

Please provide us with some back-ground information on the FIBA Li-censed Players' Agents program, whichis supervised by FIBA's Development Di-rector Zoran Radovic and Legal AdvisorDr. Dirk-Reiner Martens. I believe thatthe idea came up in 2003 and the overallconcept has actually taken shape in2007. What have been the steps that FI-BA has taken during these four years toput the project in place?Actually, FIBA's idea to bring the agentsinto the institutional basketball familystarted in 1996-1997. At that time, severalproposals came up, but none of theseideas eventually took shape andpassed... Most probably the project wastoo ambitious. There were also too manydoubts, too many unanswered ques-tions, and we were perhaps not ready totake such a step at that point and time... In 2003, FIBA again reviewed this wholeconcept and over the course of almosttwo years we undertook researcharound the world to get a precise andoverall idea of the whole situation: whatwas going on in this specific area, whatwere the most important problems andissues, etc. In March 2003, we organizedan informal meeting in our offices, inGeneva, where we invited 12 agents,mainly from Europe. We listened to theiropinions and concerns and shared withthem all the possible options that couldbe envisioned. During that informalmeeting, the agents themselves startedto ask us, FIBA, to do something directlyto regulate all issues relating to theirwork. They directly asked us to take aleading role in this whole project, sincethey considered FIBA an entity that theycould partner with and trust... We decided to accept that challengeand started to closely follow all the de-velopments in basketball, and in othersports. We also paid attention to somelegal areas and some experiences ofother commercial entities. In 2005, wehad another informal meeting with the

same representation of agents and had avery positive outcome, coming up withsome draft regulations... This draft wasfirst approved by the FIBA Central Boardand then the 2006 FIBA World Congress,which met in Japan, rubber-stamped thewhole regulation governing the players'agents. The first test for agents tookplace in March 2007.

All sports agents dealing on the interna-tional basketball scene are supposed tobecome FIBA certified agents. What arethe main benefits they receive?The main reason behind having only cer-tified agents as professionals operatingin the basketball world is simple: to regu-late the whole market. Relations be-tween agents, players, coaches, clubsand national federations, all transfers-everyone and everything benefits fromsuch a step! Things become easier,smoother, done in a more professionalway and, last but not least, more trans-parent. There are plenty of indications thatprove that, in the world of sports, andbasketball in particular, certain aspectshave not been regulated the way theyshould have. In some cases, there areplayers who are changing their agentsall the time when and how they want,without respecting any contracts. Thereare also many cases where it is not clearat all who is the legitimate person enti-tled to represent a particular player. Inaddition, certain clubs do not fulfill theirobligations towards their players andcoaches and/or towards their agents. Insome other cases, certain transfers arequestioned. When all of the above is tak-en into consideration and the market isregulated in the correct way, the newscenario logically benefits everyone in-volved-agents included, of course. By having certified agents, the wholebusiness is much more transparent: theircomplete details, including their CVs/bi-ographical sketches, as well as the list of

all the players and coaches that theyrepresent will be easily accessible,since it will be all displayed on www.fi-ba.com. FIBA-certified agents will be the onlyones allowed to make business for inter-national transfers of players. In addition,certified agents are entitled to use theFIBA Arbitral Tribunal (FAT), which is anew and completely independent bodythat can be used for the resolution ofconflicts. Therefore, from now on, it willbe much easier for players, coaches,and clubs to resolve any disputes.

What are the main benefits that play-ers/coaches and clubs currently getfrom dealing with FIBA-certified agents,as opposed to the past when they had todeal with every type of representative?Dealing with FIBA-certified agents willbring them more guarantees, more secu-rity. They will now be handling businessrelationships with people, who have theknowledge, who are well-prepared, whoare professionals, who have a relation-ship with FIBA, and who operate on aninternational level.

What are the necessary requirements totake the FIBA-certified agent test? We ask the applicants to provide us witha certificate of non-conviction that hasbeen issued not more than six monthsbefore. In addition, all applicants mustbe at least 18 years of age. Applicants have to be knowledgeable ofall agents' regulations and must becomefamiliar with the age limit regulationsstated in FIBA's Internal Regulations. The day of the test, we divide applicantsinto different small groups. For each ofthese groups the procedure is the same:first, we do a presentation on the FIBAArbitral Tribunal and then we have aquestion-answer session. Every appli-cant is welcome to raise as many ques-tions as he or she wants because we tru-ly believe that it is crucial that all their


Player Agents in FIBA StructureInterview with FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann

30_035_038_baumann.qxd 28-01-2008 12:30 Pagina 34


doubts, even the smallest ones, arethoroughly clarified by our experts. This process usually takes about 90minutes and we then proceed with thetest itself, which consists of 25 ques-tions with multiple-choice answers. Ap-plicants need to have 18 correct an-swers in order to pass the test. We havean average of 21-22 correct answers,with only a few applicants getting allanswers correct.

Since some national federations al-ready have their own agent programs inplace, how did the national federationswelcome the FIBA program? The French Basketball Federation hasgovernmental regulations for agents. InItaly, there are two associations ofagents in place: one is controlled by theItalian Basketball Federation itself andthe other by a syndicate of agents. Inboth cases, there are certain require-

ments and regulations in place and weare currently in the process of trying toestablish a common way for those twocountries to work with us. Israel has also recently set up someregulations governing players' agents.In the United States, there is also a legalrequirement for agents in about 35states. They have the National Basket-ball Players Association (NBPA), whichhas been taking care of agent issues ina serious way for about 19 years. Need-less to say, we have links with those or-ganizations; they are part of our strate-gic plan. As a matter of fact, we did apresentation before the NBPA and theyeventually endorsed our whole projectand distributed all of our materials aspart as their annual assembly's workingpapers. Increasingly, more Americanagents are obtaining a FIBA license aswell.I believe that we are going in the right

direction because we have followed athorough process that has focused ongetting acquainted with all the already-existing models, systems, and regula-tions. Some countries are currently try-ing to establish their own national certi-fied agents programs and we are help-ing them to do so. A good example isRussia.

What are the advantages of getting anFIBA-certified agent license rather thanone issued by a national federation?The answer is simple: if you want todeal with international transfers, youneed to become a FIBA-certified agent.On the contrary, if you operate on a na-tional scale and only deal with localplayers and coaches from the country inwhich you are based, then you don'tneed to get an FIBA license.

What is the position of the ULEB/Eu-

re




So far, we have had 130 people whopassed the test and received their license.We really do not have a precise idea of theamount of people that are interested inbecoming a FIBA licensed agent. Our ini-tial guess was that around 200 peoplewould eventually become FIBA-certifiedagents, but this number might end up be-ing a too small an estimate. For us, this is simply not about numbers.

This is about reaching a certain quality, acertain level of performance, and gettingto really understand the problems andviews of all parties involved. It is very im-portant that only FIBA-certified agents arethe ones who do the business in basket-ball.

Let's say that a representation companyhas 30 agents working for it. Do all of

roleague with regards to the FIBA Li-censed Players' Agents program?It was already absolutely clear for usthat we would need to bring everyone,all parties and organizations, on board.There is no question for us: we are allbasketball, each and every one of us.We have had very successful meetingswith the ULEB and the Euroleague andhave built a good and solid cooperation.In April 2007, on the occasion of theirGeneral Assembly, both of these organi-zations completely endorsed the FIBAPlayers' Agents Regulations and agreedto the concept of the FIBA Arbitral Tri-bunal. In addition, we have also hadmeetings with the European BasketballPlayers Union and they also applaudedthe whole program. I would summarize the situation as fol-lows: we believe that we are going inthe right direction since all basketballentities throughout the world are on thesame page with regards to our program.From the outset, we have received fullsupport from all organizations.

How and when will the requirement beenforced that only FIBA licensed agentsbe authorized to operate in the interna-tional basketball scene? FIBA certifiedagent licenses have only been availablesince March 2007, so how much timehas an agent in order to get his FIBA li-cense?It was simply not feasible for us, from allstandpoints, logistically, time-wise,from an operational point of view, to im-plement and enforce everything startingfrom day one. It was simply impossible. In 2008 we are planning to conduct testsin the Americas, Oceania, and Europe,continuing to license agents, and ex-plaining the program throughout theworld. This is a process that obviouslyrequires some time. After that, some-time around late 2008 and in the begin-ning of 2009, we will be in a position tobe much stricter and will really makesure that all rules are enforced. In aboutthree years we will not have a singleperson operating on the internationalscale and dealing with internationaltransfers who is not a FIBA licensedagent. This is one of the reasons why Iwould strongly encourage all agents togo through this process as soon as pos-sible.

How many agents have already passedthe test? What are FIBA's expectationsor goals with regards to the number ofofficially licensed agents in the future?



these agents need to get a FIBA license oronly the one(s) signing the contracts?We are being very practical here by only re-quiring that the person, or persons, signingthe contracts get their FIBA license(s). For us this is not about creating a money-making machine. We are investing in peo-ple, in time, in IT systems, and in many otheroperational aspects to provide the bestpossible service.

How often do tests take place? Andwhere will the next ones be held?In 2007 we already held two tests in Eu-rope and one in Oceania. This year, wewill organize two tests in Europe andone in Oceania, plus we will stage oneor two in the Americas. The dates areyet to be confirmed, but we will mostlikely stage one in the Americas, Eu-rope, and Oceania in March, and one in

Americas and Europe in October. If there is a need, we might eventuallyorganize another test in the Americas in2009. Due to the l imited number ofagents in Africa and Asia, all Africanand Asian applicants are required tocome to Europe to take the test.

What types of financial requirementsare needed to opt for a FIBA Players'Agents license?We created this program with the soleobjective to service the agents, andcreate better conditions for everyoneinvolved in basketball. FIBA is investingits money and funding everything in or-der to provide a service with very limit-ed costs for the agents.The fee required for an applicant to takethe test is 250 Swiss francs, which isaround 150 euros. Afterwards, once onehas passed the test and has obtainedhis or her license, there is an annual feeof 1,000 Swiss francs, which is a bit over600 euros a year. Needless to say, thesefees are relatively modest. The monies collected in fees is re-invest-ed immediately into the service. We havea person dealing directly with all agent-related issues. We are also slowly start-ing to link our letters of clearance andtransfers to the players' agents; there isan agent section on our website. We arealso considering creating a letter ofclearance in electronic format. We willcontinue to make investments in a strate-gic field such as this one.

Is the license the only requirement orare there any refresher courses that FI-BA certified agents will be requested toundergo on a periodical basis? In the future, we will be organizing re-fresher seminars and will be up-datingagents on the new developments. In ad-dition, our goal is to be completely trans-parent. This is why all the informationcan be easily found on www.fiba.com. Allawards and decisions, the complete FATrequirements, and the list of the playersand their representatives will be dis-played on our website.We strongly believe that our websiteconstitutes the best possible referencetool for our certified agents. We don'twant agents to have to cope with un-necessary expenses, especially takinginto consideration that this program al-so entails a time-consuming workloadfor them.

Letters of clearance will include allplayers' agents' details. What is thereasoning behind that?




Nowadays it is extremely rare for a playernot to have an agent. In order to simplifyand speed up the whole process, we haveto start by knowing who are the people in-volved in a transfer. Therefore, we musthave all players' transfers linked to thename of an agent. For instance, we haverecently begun to request that the copiesof all the transfers between national fed-erations be delivered to FIBA.

Please describe how the FIBA ArbitralTribunal (FAT) will work. FAT is a completely independent tribunalcreated to resolve disputes betweenclubs, players, and agents. The tribunalwill review cases of club versus player,player versus agent, or agent versus club.FAT, which represents a true revolution inthe world of sports, will hopefully be asimple, quick, and inexpensive way for re-solving the disputes that may arise be-tween the various parties.FAT is seated in Geneva, but is not an inte-gral part of FIBA. It is rather a completelyindependent tribunal presided over by Ms.Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler of Switzer-land, one of the most prominent and pres-tigious arbitrators in the world. FAT arbi-trators render a decision within six weeksfrom the end of the proceedings on an ex-aequo et bono basis. Decisions are based

on general considerations of justice andfairness, without reference to any particu-lar national or international law.

Is FAT a supra-national tribunal? What kindof legal and enforcement powers does ithave when it relates to specific countriesand/or jurisdictions?According to the New York Convention, rat-ified by about 170 countries, arbitrationssuch as FAT's are recognized and en-forced. However, we do recognize that in a numberof countries, labor disputes, which can bedisputes between a player and a club, can-not be settled by means of arbitration. Inthose cases where a FAT award or decisioncannot be enforced in a specific country,FIBA, while it has no power to enforce FATawards, does have a provision that statesthat this International Basketball Federa-tion can sanction parties who fail to honorFAT awards. Those sanctions range from fi-nancial penalties, to bans on internationaltransfers in the case of players or clubs, towithdrawal of agent licenses. Moreover,we are studying the possibility of banningthe participation of teams in internationalcompetitions.

What are the main points of difference be-tween the FAT and the Court of Arbitration

for Sport?Procedures in front of FAT are much quick-er and less expensive. In addition, its deci-sions and awards are taken by a single ar-bitrator on an ex-aequo et bono basis,based on justice and equity. The Court ofArbitration for Sport, which features threearbitrators, is the last instance to go in thecase of an appeal. Its process takes con-siderably longer and is more expensivethan FAT's.

The first FAT case was recently decided,which involved a dispute between theplayer, Djuro Ostojic, and the PAOK Thes-saloniki basketball club in Greece. Whatwas the outcome?This was a relatively easy case becausePAOK decided not to participate in the pro-ceedings. This award, like all future cases,was made public and can be found on ourwebsite. Djuro Ostojic recently asked FIBAto sanction PAOK because PAOK refused tohonor the FAT's award. We really want to be as transparent andclear as possible because we believe thatthere is no reason to hide anything. In manysports, people are proud to make publicearnings, salaries, taxes' figures, every-thing. We strongly believe that the fact ofbeing transparent will help basketball togrow even more.


pubblicità 29-01-2008 12:15 Pagina 3


FIBA RESEARCH AND STUDY CENTRE

The Guide to BasketballFacilities

Mauro Schiavone is an architect and a con-sultant for sports installations for the ItalianOlympic Committee of the Lazio Region inItaly. He also serves as a consultant for na-tional and international sports Federations(football, volleyball, hockey, basketball,skating, boxing), and he collaborated withIAAF from 1980 to 1987, and FIBA from 1994to 1996. An expert in the management andmaintenance of sports installations, he hasalso taught courses for sports managers ofthe Italian Olympic Committee and othergroups.

Ten years after the publication of the "Guideto Basketball Facilities," the revised edition

will soon be released. This new guide,packed with practical advices and informa-tion, targets all types of facilities and all typesof basketball. For here we have a game thatis continually increasing in popularity, onethat calls for the latest, updated rules and re-gulations. The evolution and progress of oursport has clearly had an impact on the facili-ties that welcome and accommodate it, andthis inevitably gives rise to new requests andnew problems. Playing rules change. Athle-tes, coaches, and spectators change; theirneeds and expectations change. Even ba-sketball facilities change, and so does theirmission. Recent experience has shown aneed for facilities to be more versatile, and

more accommodating to users, spectators,and investors. Whether indoor or outdoor,large or small, old or new, basketball facili-ties of today should be all inclusive and non-exclusive. A game as big as FIBA's clearlybears upon all these elements and possibili-ties, and so we must try to identify the basicrequirements entailed in organizing basket-ball events in a sports facility. Written tomeet FIBA's need to continue to inform andeducate all potential organizers of large ba-sketball events the world over through its“Study Centre for Sports Facilities”, this newguide, extending to outdoor events, is beingupdated to reflect the latest international re-gulations and organizational requirements

by Mauro Schiavone

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that have materialised over recent years in re-lation to sports facilities. The purpose of the gui-de is to continue to provide a concise yet com-plete reference aid with updated information onall the aspects that organisers, both public andprivate, must address when hosting an interna-tional basketball event in a sports arena. Thecontents of the guide range from sports-techni-cal matters to managerial related topics, tou-ching on security issues and concluding withthe proposal of a model-facility. This new guideis produced by architect Mauro Schiavone, edi-tor of the first edition published in 1996, underthe supervision of Aldo Vitale, Director of the FI-BA Study Centre. In updating this new guide,the editorial staff draws from the experienceand competence of FIBA partners, profitingfrom their knowledge and familiarity with thevarious materials, equipment, and systems inuse, all proven and tested over the years, andfrom innovations and experiments with newcomponents and installations.

CONTENTS

Starting with an analysis of the prevailing regu-lations of the International Basketball Federa-tion governing sports facilities and equipmentfor use in official competitions, the guide goeson to introduce the general aspects involved inthe planning of basketball facilities according tothe kind of competition or event to be staged,such as national team or club competitions. Thehosting of events must correlate with the de-mand for basketball venues in a specific area,

and with a facility's actual location. This newedition probes aspects such as flooring andacoustic systems, as well as the requirementsof the technical area surrounding the court, su-ch as television recording equipment, a pressarea, photographer stands, and VIP areas. It al-so covers more obvious elements concerninggame equipment. From baskets to balls, from lu-minous information boards to clocks, from whi-stles to basket supports. The book explores is-sues regarding the use and maintenance ofsports facilities with a view to achieving maxi-mum long-lasting efficiency, not only of the buil-dings themselves, but also the utilities within,the fixtures, fittings and the equipment, relyingon the standard required maintenance, bothplanned and supplementary. One chapter is de-dicated to management planning developmentbased on the management program followed byone particular basketball facility that does not li-mit itself to basketball but also hosts numerousother sporting activities, shows, and events. Inthis facility, the cost of energy-saving systemsrepresents a substantial part of the budget,alongside the security and public safety sy-stems. The book also considers the homologa-tion procedures for indoor basketball facilitiesfor existing venues and those yet to be built, aswell as the procedures affecting installationsand equipment for outdoor basketball.

NEW TO THE GUIDE

This revised edition also investigates severalareas that were not covered in the first edition.Technological services: This chapter assessesservices and technological systems typical for asports complex, such as air-conditioning instal-lations, electrical systems, and artificial andemergency lighting. Facilities for the public,staff, tradesmen, athletes and officials, and do-ping control areas and offices are also asses-sed. Security: The safety aspects are examined.These complex matters involve managementexecutives since these people are ultimately re-sponsible for everybody using the facility, inclu-ding in-house staff, athletes, officials, managers,or the general public. Reduction of architecturalbarriers: This chapter looks at how sports facili-ties, both new and already existing, can bestwelcome the widest spectrum of visitors possi-ble. Event organization: Aspects and require-ments, requested and necessary, for a venue tobe able to host an event at the local, national, orinternational level. Correlations between FIBAand the NBA: The differences between the te-chnical requirements requested by FIBA andthose characteristic of the National BasketballAssociation. Designing a model venue: Thischapter offers an array of alternative ways toplay basketball, and puts forward an example ofsports facility planning where the playing area isintended to host not only basketball events butalso various other sporting activities, shows,and performances.

Figures from Erminio Ravasio


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DOCTORS , TRAINERS AND CONDITIONING COACHES


Agilityby Bill Foran and Robin Pound

Bill Foran is project coordinator for the bookand is cofounder of the National BasketballConditioning Coaches Association. He hasbeen the strength and conditioning coach forthe Miami Heat since 1989. Before workingfor the Heat, Foran was the head strength andconditioning coach at Washington StateUniversity (1981-1985) and the University ofMiami (1985-1989).

Robin Pound is associate coordinator for thebook and is cofounder of the NationalBasketball Conditioning CoachesAssociation. He was the strength and condi-tioning coach for the Phoenix Suns from 1991to 2003 and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercuryfrom 1997 to 2003. Pound was an assistantstrength and conditioning coach for theUniversity of Oregon from 1979 to 1985 and thehead strength and conditioning coach at theUniversity of California at Berkeley from 1985to 1991.

DEVELOPING AGILITYTo improve agility, you must perform qualityrepetitions of a variety of agility drills thatmimic the movements required during thegame. Agility drills train the body to reactmore quickly and under control. By perform-ing drills repeatedly in a practice setting, youbecome better when the skill is needed duringthe game. Just as shooting jump shots andfree-throws will help you become a bettershooter, practicing agility, thereby making youa better, more efficient all-around player.By practicing agility movements, you willlearn to cut down on the wasted motions thatcause fatigue faster. And by learning to do thedrills correctly and under control, you willlearn to move more efficiently.Because of individual physical differences,agility movements and technique aredescribed only in general terms. Playersmove through a number of horizontal and ver-tical planes and must perform a variety ofunpredictable movements rapidly. Agilityinvolves acceleration, deceleration, andchange of direction while moving at a fastspeed and under control. The development ofthese components involves speed, power,

quickness and balance. Basketball agilityrequires you to move rapidly and undercontrol. You must train other compo-nents-flexibility, strength, speed, power,and balance- because these compo-nents contribute to improve agility.

YEARLYTRAINING SCHEDULEAgility training should play a major role in ayearly conditioning program.Off-season: During the off-season, playersshould make their greatest gains becausethey have more time to train. The off-sea-son is the time to learn new drills anddevelop proper technique for all drills.Entire workouts can be devoted to agilitytraining. Agility training should be done 2or 3 days a week.Preseason: Agility training continues, butthe workouts are shorter and the workgets sharper. Agility workouts should beonce or twice a week, depending on theneeds of individual players.In-season: Agility training is limited to afew drills that may be done as part of thedaily dynamic warm-up. Players who donot play many minutes can continue agili-ty training throughout the season. Theamount depends on the needs of individ-ual players.

GUIDELINES FOR AGILITYAgilty training requires proper footwear(basketball shoes) for agility drills. Drillsshould be done on a nonslip surface, suchas a clean gym floor.Perform drills at slow speeds first, begin-ning with a proper technique and foot-work. When you can perform repetitionssuccesfully and under control, you canincrease speed. For every agility drill, startin the ready position: feet shoulder-widthapart; ankles, knees and hips flexed in aquarter-squat position; head and shoul-ders slightly forward with hips and anklesin a straight line. Keep knees and hipsflexed and your center of gravity over thefeet. The body cannot move quickly when it isstanding straight up. From this position,

D.4

D.1

D.2

you are ready to move in any direction andcan hold this position if bumped from anyangle. This ready position is the most effi-cient position for moving and reacting.Agilty drills should be short in duration(anaerobic), approximately 20 to seconds.Each workout should include a variety ofdrills that involve multiple changes ofdirection as well as sprints, backpedals,shuffles, hops, skips, turns, rotations andjumps. Workouts should start with a good

D.3

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of the lane facing the free-throw line.2. Sprint to corner 1 and backpedal back to

the start (diagr. 1).3. Shuffle to the right to corner 2 and shuf-

fle to the left back to the start.4. Backpedal to corner 3 and sprint back to

the start.5. Shuffle to the left to corner and shuffle to

the right back to the start.

Jump, shuffle, jump1. Start in the ready position in front of and

below the right edge of the backboard,facing the baseline.

2. Jump up as high as possible with bothhands above your head. Touch the back-board if you are able.

3. Land on both feet and immediately shuf-fle left. Jump as high as possible in frontof the left edge of the backboard.

4. Shuffle back to the right edge of thebackboard and jump as high as possible.

5. Continue this over-and-back pattern for 3to 5 repetitions.

Extended-lane drillsAcceleration, deceleration, backpedal, jumpand shuffleSetup: Set 4 cones feet apart along the free-throw line extended, starting 3 feet from theleft sideline. Set cones at 3 feet, 6 feet, 9 feetand 12 feet from the sideline (slightly lessthan 1, 2, 3 and 4m).1. Start in the ready position behind the left

corner of the baseline and sideline,facing the court.

2. Sprint to the first cone and backpedal tothe baseline (diagr. 2).

3. Sprint to the second cone and beckpedalto the baseline.

4. Sprint ot the third cone and backpedal tothe baseline.

5. Sprint to the fourth cone and backpedalto the baseline and the edge of the lane.

6. Immediately jump as high as possibleand then shuffle across the lane on thebaseline and back.

Caution: Do not step on the cones.Advanced version: Repeat the drill all theway back to the starting position.

Four-way closeoutSetup: This drill is done along the free-throwlane.1. Start in the ready position at the baseline

along the left side of the lane, facing thecourt.

2. Sprint up the lane to the free-throw lineand stop quickly in a defensive stance.

3. Shuffle left a 45-degree angle for 2 shuf-fles and right for 2 shuffles, thenbackpedal to the start.

4. Repeat this sequence on the right side ofthe lane.

Five-spot closeoutSetup: Spread out 5 cones evenly around thrthree point arc.1. Start in the ready position under the

basket, facing the court.2. Sprint to the first cone, jump stop, and

backpedal to the start (diagr. 3).3. Repeat the sequence to the second,

third, fourth, and fifth cones.Advanced version: a coach or teammatestands at the first cone with a basketball.Sprint to the coach and react to the coach. Ifthe coach pump fakes, react to block theshot. If the coach moves to the right or to theleft, defensive shuffle a step or two to cut offthe coach. Immediately backpedal to thestart as the coach moves to the secondcone. Repeat the sequence to the second,third, fourth and fifth cones.

Full-court drillCircle run1. Start in the ready position on the base-

line at the end of the right lane, facing thecourt.

2. Run up the right lane and run counter-clockwise around the first jump circle(diagr. 4).

3. Continue to the left of the half-court jumpcircle and run clockwise around the cir-cle.

4. Continue to the right of the far jump circleand run counterclockwise around it.Finish at the baseline.

5. Return from the left lane so the patternon the way back is opposite.

Taken from the book "CompleteConditioning for basketball", National

Basketball Conditioning CoachesAssociation, Bill foran and Robin Pound,

Human Kinetics, 2007

warm-up and flexibility program and finishwith a cool-down.

AGILITY DRILLSLane shuffle, sprint, backpedal1. Start in the ready positions at the right

corner of the baseline and lane, facingthe court.

2. Shuffle to your left across the lane.Touch the line with your left foot, changedirections and shuffle back to the start.

3. Immediately sprint up the free-throwline. Shuffle to your left across the laneand back.

4. Quicly backpedal to the starting position.Caution: be aware of the baseline wallduring the backpedal finish.

Lane agilitySetup: Set a cone in each of the 4 corners ofthe free-throw lane.1. Start in the ready position outside the left

hand corner of the free-throw lineextended, facing the baseline.

2. Sprint to the baseline past the cone.Defensive shuffle to the right past thecone. Backpedal to the free-throw linepast the cone and defensive shuffle tothe left to the starting edge of the free-throw lane.

3. Immediately change directions anddefensive shuffle to the right past thecone, sprint to the baseline past thecone, defensive shuffle left past the coneand backpedal through the starting line.

Four corners1. Start in the ready position at the center

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NEWS

The 2012 Olympics are a long way off,but that doesn't mean Great Britaincoach Chris Finch can't start dreamingabout the possibilities. "I've alwayssaid the thought of medaling in 2012 isnot just a pipe dream," Finch said toFIBA. "It's not beyond the realms ofpossibility. We're a long way from that,but we're doing everything I believe inthe right way and we have got the rightsuccess at the right time." That suc-cess, of course, is the country's pro-motion-winning campaign to FIBAEuroBasket Division A. They ranroughshod over all opponents thissummer. Britain now have a chance toqualify for the FIBA EuropeChampionship that is to be staged inPoland in 2009. When London was awarded the 2012Games, basketball's world governingbody FIBA said they wanted to be surethe Britain's men and women will becompetitive enough and only then


One-on-one

FINCH LOOKS TOBUILD ON BRITISHMOMENTUM

would they guarantee the Brits theplaces that are normally reserved forhost nations at Olympic Games. OnceFinch had his team together - and thatincluded Luol Deng of the Chicago Bullsand Scotland's Robert Archibald - noteam was able to match them inDivision B. Finch, who played basket-ball in England with the Sheffield

Sharks and then coached the team, isright now holding the reins to Belgianleague leaders Dexia Mons Hainaut. Heknows that in Division A, the games aregoing to be more difficult. They willface teams that have played in recentEuroBaskets. Finch says it's vital forBritain to reach the EuroBasket inPoland. "We need that tournamentexperience", Finch said, "to try and getto FIBA EuroBasket 2009 and 2011,which are very similar tournaments towhat we'll see come 2012 and when wehave that experience on top of our[overall] experience, I think we canreally sharpen our results to try and get

something done in 2012." The Olympicsare five years away, but Finch doesbelieve he has a good nucleus of play-ers to work with. "I think we have gotthe pieces of a good team and we haveto put them together," he said. “Wehave to maintain the momentum thatwe have started. Most importantly, wehave to maintain the level of profes-

sionalism that the program has beenrun with over the last couple of years. Ifyou can get the players involved, keepthem happy and get them to play hard,then I think you have gone 75% of theway to success. We have talented play-ers and we have to try and get that last25%. I think in the couple of years wecan make some moves in the top divi-sion. It's about getting that experience,understanding each other and goingthrough the fire together. I think wehave to build. We have enough knowl-edge, talent and skill. What we neednow is the experience together to startand grow."

30_044-045.qxd 26-01-2008 8:42 Pagina 44

Find more stories on www.fiba.com

When Tom Maher leads China's women atnext years' Beijing Games, it will be the thirdnational side he has coached at an Olympics.Maher, 57, led Australia to bronze in 1996 inAtlanta and four years later to silver inSydney. He also guided New Zealand on anunexpected run to the quarter-finals of theAthens Games in 2004. Maher has, not sur-prisingly, formed some strong opinions aboutthe women's game. He answered some ques-tions from Jeff Taylor on behalf of FIBA.Com.

FIBA: You have been very busy of late. Wesaw you in Italy at the FIBA EuroBasketWomen scouting potential opponents fornext season's Olympics in Beijing, and youalso took your team to Europe and the UnitedStates. Who impressed you at the FIBAEuroBasket and what can you tell us aboutyour team's travels?

TOM MAHER: "Our tours to Europe prior to theUSA tour were of great value to us. Perhapsthe players were a little mentally tired by thetime we got to the USA and we didn't playwith a great deal of enthusiasm. As far as theEuropean Championships were concerned, Ithought it was a year of high drama. Someteams overachieved and some teams under-achieved. Amaya Valdemoro was sensation-

months of the year and there is not enoughopportunity to promote international testgames. The EuroLeague, the WNBA, inter-national competitions and other domesticleagues are all great products that shouldcomplement one another, rather than com-pete for players and scheduling. TheWNBA season is only three months long,and international competitions fits intogaps, therefore it is the length of thedomestic European leagues that have thecapacity to change. I think the finals for theEuroLeague should be the culmination ofthe European season, domestic Europeanplay-offs go for too long."

FIBA: When did you take command of theChinese team and what changes have youbeen able to bring in that have made a posi-tive impact on the players?

TOM MAHER: "I started coaching China in 2005after the Athens Olympics. Primarily, ourcoaching staff has tried very hard to help theplayers become more pro-active and dynam-ic. Lack of these qualities really hampers ateam defensively and in winning possessionof the ball."

FIBA: Turning the clock back, you coached

al for Spain, Gunta Basko and AneteJekabsone were great for Latvia and theentire Russian team was very impressive."

FIBA: In Chieti, you offered some strong opin-ions about the length of some domesticleagues in Europe. Since many of the playersalso compete in other leagues like theWNBA during the close season in Europe,when do you think the domestic leagues inFrance and Russia, for example, should startand finish and why do you believe this wouldbe good for the game?

TOM MAHER: "Absolutely, this is one of themajor issues in women's basketball.Women's Basketball is a great product and,if the public at large have more opportunityto appreciate that, then I'm sure they will.The fact is, players are now playing 12

Australia for a long time and even grabbedthe helm of New Zealand. Going to Asia tolead China must have been quite achange. What has this experience beenlike?

TOM MAHER: "It's been a great ride for me.Beijing will be my second home Olympics,my fourth Olympic Games and my thirdOlympic team."

FIBA: I seem to remember you saying at thelast Olympics that you felt the Chinese mayhave practiced too hard and for too manyhours. Is that right and have you changedthat?

TOM MAHER: "China has a tradition, of com-mitting itself to outwork its opposition. Thisis not always the most productive method,especially in a dynamic game like basket-ball. We have tried to change the philoso-phy of training from one of high volume toone of dynamic intensity."

FIBA: What was it like coachingWashington in the WNBA? What did youlike and dislike, and did anything surpriseyou about the players, coaches or clubs?

TOM MAHER: "It was a good experiencealthough it was difficult. We had a very dif-ficult playing roster problem which need-ed a long term approach. Nevertheless Imet some good people and certainly val-ued the experience."

FIBA: Regarding China, what can you tellus about the make-up of your team? Whocan we expect to be the standout per-formers next year at the Olympics and arethere any youngsters coming through whocould make an impact?

TOM MAHER: "Our biggest problem is thehealth of our players. Although we have alot of people playing basketball, we don'thave a lot of depth of quality, therefore wecannot afford to be without any of ourmain players. Chen Nan, Miao Lije, BianLan and Song Xiao Yun are all playerscapable of impressing at the Olympics."

FIBA: And finally, the United States,Australia, Russia and Brazil have been thepowerhouses in the world game in recenttimes. Is that about to change?

Tom Maher: "Certainly the USA, Russia andAustralia are all super teams; the questionmark will be how Brazil adjusts to a num-ber of their older players retiring."

MAHER’S ‘GREATRIDE’ IN WOMEN’SBASKETBALL


30_044-045.qxd 26-01-2008 8:42 Pagina 45

NEWS

Planetbasketball


SPAIN DRAWN WITH BRAZIL, CUBA WITH BELARUS IN OLYMPICQUALIFIERSpain are hosting the FIBA OlympicQualifying Tournament for Women thissummer in Madrid yet their passage tothe Beijing Games will be anything buteasy. That was assured on 14th January inthe Spanish capital at the draw for theevent. Five places for China will be upfor grabs. Evaristo Perez’s Spanishteam, which finished runners-up toRussia at the EuroBasket Women lastOctober in Italy, were put in Group Calong with South American giantsBrazil and Oceania representatives Fiji.The Brazilians are historically one ofthe powerhouses in the world gameand they eliminated Spain at the quar-ter-final stage of the Athens Olympics.In Group D, the EuroBasket’s bronze-medal winners Belarus will take onCuba, the side that finished second tothe United States at the FIBA AmericasChampionship, along with ChineseTaipei. The Czech Republic will bepleased with their draw after landing inGroup B with Angola and Argentina,while in Group A, Latvia will be happyas well after being paired with Senegaland Japan - teams they will be expect-ed to beat. Latvia lost in the bronzemedal game to Belarus at theEuroBasket while the Czechs finishedfifth. The reason why Spain, Brazil, Belarusand Cuba will be somewhat anxious isbecause the next stage, the quarter-finals, look extremely difficult. The for-mat of the tournament places the teamthat finishes first in Group C againstthe second-placed team in Group D inone quarter-final, with the second-placed team from Group C against theGroup D winners as another quartershowdown.If, as expected, Brazil and Spain takethe top two spots in Group C, their

the worldin brief

quarter-final opponents are likely to beBelarus or Cuba. The winners of the quarter-finals quali-fy for the Olympics. The quarter-finallosers will drop into a pool of four teamsthat will play in semi-finals and a finalfor the one remaining Olympicplace.”We have been drawn in the mostdifficult group,” said the Spanish teamcaptain Amaya Valdemoro. “While Idon’t think Fiji will pose any problemsfor us, we will face a tough test againstBrazil. But the real danger will be in thequarter-finals where we will face eitherCuba or Belarus. Cuba is a team thathas changed a lot with respect to thepast couple of years, they play a verysimilar basketball to us and should weface them, it will be a very difficultgame. But it doesn’t matter if we finishfirst or second (in Group C). Withrespect to Belarus, we faced themtwice at the EuroBasket and we beatthem twice. But they should be moreaware of us than we of them.”

FIRST FIBA ARBITRAL TRIBUNALCASE IS SETTLED The first FIBA Arbitral Tribunal (FAT) caseconcerned a dispute between theMontenegrin player Mr. Djuro Ostojic rep-resented by FIBA licensed player agentMr. Miodrag Raznatovic as Claimant, andthe Greek Basketball Club PAOK KAEThessalonica, Greece as Respondent overthe player’s salary. As the Respondentchose not to participate in the proceed-ings the FAT arbitrator had to make use ofthe default provisions in the FATArbitration rules on 16th August 2007.After the failure by the Greek Basketballclub PAOK KAE to honor the FAT Award,and after numerous reminders to honourthe FAT Award, FIBA had to entail a sanc-tion on 29th November 2007 to the PAOKKAE club in banning them of the registra-tion of new players, as provided in theFIBA Internal Regulations.After intervention and help of theHellenic Basketball Federation the casehas been settled and the ban on PAOK

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KAE club to register new players hasbeen lifted. The FIBA Arbitral Tribunal(FAT), a true court of arbitration underSwiss law, has been operational for ninemonths. It has been created by FIBA inorder to facilitate and speed up the reso-lution of disputes between clubs andplayers/agents. Proceedings before FATare swift, efficient and inexpensive.Failure to honor a FAT Award may entailsanctions by FIBA to clubs, playeragents, or players, as provided in theFIBA Internal Regulations. For furtherinformation on the FIBA Arbitral Tribunal:www.fiba.com/fat

IVKOVIC TAKES REINS OF SERBIA Serbian coaching great Dusan Ivkovic hasreturned to his homeland to guide thenational team once again. Ivkovic, who ledYugoslavia to the gold medal at the 1990FIBA World Championship and toEuropean titles in 1989, ‘91 and ‘95, will tryto revive a national team that has beenstruggling. Yugoslavia captured the goldat the 2002 FIBA World Championship aswell under Svetislav Pesic, but have wonno medals since. At the 2007 FIBA EuropeChampionship under Zoran Slavnic,Serbia crashed out of the competition atthe group stage, which meant they failedto even reach the FIBA Olympic Qualifying

Tournament. At his unveiling in Belgrade,Ivkovic spoke of his sadness that thenational side will not be at the BeijingGames.“This is an “Olympic year” a bit sad for us,known across the world as ‘basketball land’,since we won’t have basketball team inBeijing,” Ivkovic said. “But, this is the rightmoment for a new start. We have new coach,that’s me, but we don’t have a national teamat all. Our main goal is to form the team thatwill represent us at 2012 Olympic games inLondon. It will be a difficult task, but I believewe have the qualities to qualify for next FIBAEurope championship in Poland, and then togo to both the 2010 FIBA WorldChampionship in Turkey, and FIBAEuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania, where weshould get a ticket for London Olympics.”Ivkovic’s outstanding coaching careerstarted at Partizan Belgrade (1978-1980),and he then left the country to work atGreek side Aris (1980-1982). He returnedto join Yugoslav teams Sibenka (1982-1987) and Vojvodina (1987-1990) beforegoing abroad again. Ivkovic, who nowserves as the President of the WorldAssociation of Basketball Coaches, ledfour more Greek clubs, including PAOK(1991-1994), Panionios (1994-1996),Olympiacos (1996-1999) and AEK (1999-2001) and then went to Russia where heguided city rivals, CSKA Moscow (2002-2005) and Dynamo Moscow (2005-2007).

During that period he won six nationaltitles, with Partizan, PAOK, Olympiacosand three with CSKA, also got trophies ofthe Radivoje Korac Cup (1979), EuroLeague(1997), Saporta Cup (2000) and ULEB Cup(2006), and achieved silver medals withYugoslavia at the Olympics in 1988 and1996.Ivkovic knows that internationally, thegame has taken giant strides and the levelof competition is much more intense nowthan it was when he led the side twodecades ago. Also, the breakup ofYugoslavia saw the formation of newnational sides. Instead of drawing on theleading players from the formerYugoslavian Republics of Slovenia,Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovinaand Montenegro and Serbia, Ivkovic willnow lead Serbia. “Just don’t tell me I’m thecoach without a defeat at big internationalcompetitions,” he said. “Those were dif-ferent times. We were in a different coun-try. Everything was different, includingbasketball.” Ivkovic will miss the Olympics,but he says that “…there’s no time for sad-ness and sorrow.”And he says relations between players andthe federation can’t be strained as has beenthe case for some in recent years, which ledto some choosing not to take part in nation-al team competitions. “I was in New Yorkas a member of FIBA commission wherewe talked with the representatives of the


NEWS

NBA and NCAA about new rules,”Ivkovic said. “I used my trip to the USAto visit our NBA players, also. As wewant to re-build our basketball authori-ty, as well as players’ belief in thenational team, I want to start thatprocess immediately. We won’t face“thanks, but no thanks” situations (bysome of the players) anymore, as I’ll bein contact with them on a daily basis. Ibelieve in our players, and will believein them. That’s very important for a goodstart.”

BIDDING PROCESS FOR THE 2014FIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPOPENED FIBA has opened the bidding processfor the 2014 FIBA World Championshipfor Men on 10th January 2008. A con-siderable number of affiliated NationalFederations from all five Zones havealready expressed their initial interestin bidding for the organization of FIBA’spremier championship in 2014. AllNational Federations interested inhosting the FIBA 2014 WorldChampionship are required to complywith the following schedule:Letters of Interest must reach FIBA by30th April 2008. All National Federations having cor-rectly submitted their Letter of Interestwill be invited to participate in a two-day Workshop, to be held on 26th and

speculation that Trovoada was quittingCape Verde to coach in Angola, but hetold FIBA.com: “No, I haven’t quit ashead coach of Cape Verde. There isinterest from both parties, Cape Verdeand myself, to extend my contract afterthe FIBA Africa Championship in 2009 inNigeria. But there are still a few detailsto sort out.” Trovoada and Cape Verdehad an amazing 2007, and the fact thathe is returning to the country of his birthmakes for an even more intriguing story,especially when considering the bas-ketball giants Primeiro de Agosto areinvolved.The center of basketball in Angola isLuanda, while Huila is a smaller city faraway from the capital city. Luanda-based De Agosto team, which won theFIBA Africa Club Championship beforeChristmas, have terrific young playersas well, but because they have such astar-laden team, those youngsterswould play little, if at all with De Agosto.The club, sensing an opportunity, whenDesportivo da Huila won promotion tothe Angolan League, expressed aninterest in investing in Huila by havingtheir youngsters play for the newcom-ers. “It’s a very interesting project ofPrimeiro de Agosto,” Trovoada said.“This team will be based on young play-ers, who couldn’t get a place with thePrimeiro de Agosto main team. I camehere to Huila to help promote basketballin the country. We will be focused onworking with the young players. I wouldnever reject this opportunity of develop-ing the game in the interior of Angola.”Trovoada has a lot on his mind, fromtaking on a new challenge in Angola,while also keeping the momentum goingwith Cape Verde. The country will dis-cover on 31st January at the draw inAthens, which teams they will playwhen the FIBA Olympic QualifyingTournament is staged. With only threeplaces up for grabs and an incrediblytalented field that also includesCameroon, Greece, Germany, Slovenia,Croatia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, NewZealand, Canada, Korea and Lebanon, itwould seem to be a mission impossiblefor Cape Verde. “I’m looking forward tothe draw in Athens,” Trovoada said.“Anything can happen with all of thoseteams involved.”

PRIMEIRO DE AGOSTO WIN FIBAAFRICA CHAMPIONS CUPThe FIBA Africa Champions Cup forMen title will remain in Angola for atleast another year, after Primeiro deAgosto triumphed against Petro Atletico

27th June 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland.At the Workshop, the NationalFederations will be guided through allthe steps of the bidding process andthrough all details necessary to guaran-tee a successful organization of the FIBA2014 World Championship. After having carefully studied the ‘FIBAWorld Championship for Men 2014 Bidand Event Manual’ and after havingparticipated in the Workshop, thoseNational Federations having decided tocontinue with their respective biddingprocesses will be invited to hand overtheir candidature files in person, inGeneva, on 5th December 2008 (date tobe confirmed), during an official presen-tation ceremony in presence of the FIBACentral Board. Between December 2008 and March2009 the FIBA Evaluation Commissionshall examine all presented and dulyconfirmed bids and shall present acomplete report, after conducting visitsto all bidding National Federations, tothe FIBA Central Board. The complete bidding process will endin April 2009, when the FIBA CentralBoard decides the host of the 2014World Championship for Men.

TROVOADA RETURNS TO ANGOLA TO COACH, RETAINS CAPE VERDEREINS

Cape Verde coach Emmanuel Trovoadahas taken the helm of Angola’s top-flight newcomers Desportivo de Huila.Trovoada, who was born in Angola, butmoved to Portugal at a young age, andspent most of his life there before thenrelocating to Cape Verde, caused ahuge stir in international basketball lastyear, when he guided the tiny Africancountry to the bronze medal at the FIBAAfrica Championship.That secured a place in the FIBAOlympic Qualifying Tournament for thetiny African country. There had been




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de Luanda at Pavilhao da CidadelaDesportiva in the Angolan capital,Luanda.On 22nd December playmaker MiguelLutonda poured in 13 points to leadPrimeiro de Agosto to a 61-53 againstdefending-champions Petro Atletico deLuanda.Primeiro de Agosto led 33-25 at half-time and they maintained their eight-point advantage to the end. PetroAtletico’s American playmaker ShannonCrooks top scored with 18 points, butthe Angolan champions were unable todefend their African title. DespiteLutonda’s outstanding performance,Primeiro de Agosto boss Jaime Covilhainsisted it was a team victory. He toldFIBA: “I agree that he had good game,but I prefer not to single out anyone inparticular. I reckon this was a team win.We played very well offensively anddefensively. “Covilha, who was MarioPalma’s assistant coach when Primeirode Agosto claimed the competition titlein Cairo in 2004, added: “We started thegame with a tremendous determinationto win. We assumed always the leadingposition. I acknowledge that Petrowanted to win this game, but we want-ed it much more. Our team was verywell prepared to win this game. It wasnot an easy win, though.” Primeiro deAgosto’s board invested heavily afterlosing both the African and Angolantitles to rivals Petro Atletico last year.Portugal international Francisco Jordaosigned from Petro, while Cape Verde inter-nationals Marques Houtman and RodrigoMascarenhas, who made an impact in therecent AfroBasket 2007, signed fromPortugal outfit FC Porto.Covilha said: “Yes, we have new goodplayers with great quality. What we needwas to create conditions for them to makewinning even easier. They are still adapt-ing, which is understandable.” This is thethird African title for Primeiro de Agostoafter consecutive victories in 2002 and2004, before the event became annual.In the bronze-medal game, AbidjanBasketball Club (ABC) beat Angolanoutfit InterClube de Luanda 60-53. TheIvory Coast team, who beat theAngolans in the final of the competitiontwo years ago, were behind 26-24 at thebreak. InterClube coach Manuel deSousa “Necas” admitted mistakes hadbeen costly, but congratulated theAbidjan side. “We didn’t remain calmand stumbled towards the end of thegame”, he said. “They took advantage ofour lack of composure at an importantmoment of the game. If there were a

1st. Primeiro de Agosto2nd. Petro Atletico de Luanda3rd. Abidjan Basketball Club (ABC)4th. InterClube de Luanda5th. Niger Potters6th. APR7th. BC Onatra8th. ASB Kauka9th. MBC10th. Aspac11th. Stade Malien12th. Ferroviario da Beira

draw in basketball, I think that it wouldhave been the fair result. “They werenot superior to us, but I have to con-gratulate them for the victory.”

AIDIN BAHRAMI DIES IN A CAR CRASH Aidin Nik-Khah Bahrami, one of the mostprominent players of Iranian nationalbasketball team, died in a car accident inChalous, north of Iran.Saba Battery’s player, 26, he played his lastgame with the team against Pardis, a fewhours before he said goodbye to his team-mates and drove away to the north.Both Aidin and his brother Samad weremembers of Iranian national team for a longtime, and played crucial role in Iran’s quali-fication for the 2008 Olympic Games, adream which came true after half a centuryand Iran took the championship in thewhole big continent of Asia. The incident isa big loss for the whole Iranian basketballcommunity and a big tragedy for his family,specially for the nice father, who wasalways among the fans in stadium, whenev-er any of his two sons had a game.

THE FINAL RANKING OF THE 22NDFIBA AFRICA CHAMPIONS CUPFOR MEN WERE:


NEWS

MONTECCHIA HOOKED ON FISHING Most point guards would rather have agood hook shot than a good fishing hook,but Argentina’s Alejandro Montecchia isdifferent. The 2004 Olympic gold medalistis consumed by a new sporting passion. "I

prefer to fishthan play bas-ketball," he toldOlé, theA r g e n t i n i a npublication. Forthe better partof the last threeyears, he hasnot had achoice. Injuries

ruined his spells with Valencia and thenMilan, and finally, having returned toArgentina to play for Regatas Corrientes,his Achilles tendon snapped. Now, as a35-year-old with time running out to findfitness, his anxiety is kept in check. "Mycareer allowed to me to fish in beautifulplaces, near Reggio Calabria andValencia. "A few minutes from CorrientesCity you can find a beautiful place calledPaso de la Patria. It's spectacular. I don'tlike boats. I prefer spinning.”

EVERYONE LIKES BIG DABA IN CHINA Mongolia-born center Mengke Bateer isone of the most popular players in Chinaand for good reason. Fans love him

because hedominates onthe court, whilet e a m m a t e sadore himbecause he's agreat friend, asupreme tacti-cian and even,according to

one, a "spiritual leader". Xinjiang starBateer once played for Beijing, where heteamed up with Jiao Jian, and the two weregood friends. But, Jiao fondly remembers,Daba (Bateer's nickname) used to feed him Find more stories on www.fiba.com

THE ODD - THE FUNNY - THE UNUSUALOff-the-court


a tasty meal every now and again. "WhenDaba was in Beijing, I often went to hisplace to enjoy some food.”, Jiao says incomments reported on sina.com., "His wifeis a very good cook, and every time I wasthere, I was privileged to eat the food. I loveMongolian boiled lamb, eaten by hand. Thatwas fabulous! Every time, I ate a lot." Allgood things come to an end, though, whichhappened when Bateer left for Xinjiang.Jiao longs for the old days. "Now Daba andhis family have moved to Xinjiang and it'svery difficult for me to eat Mongolian boiledlamb," Jiao says. "I can understand thatDaba decided to move from Beijing toXinjiang. We are not young anymore, andhe has a large family to be taking care of.He has to consider the income. It's obviousif someone pays more that he would come."Chen Lei was also a teammate of Bateer'sat Beijing and he treasured his experiencewith the big fella. "People may think Daba isvery rigid," Chen says, "but he's a veryapproachable guy. "I joined the team in 1999and at that time I was a "Green Bird"(Chinese for novice). I was young with zeroexperience, and all I did during training wasconcentrate on defending and poundingthe boards. "But even when we made mis-takes, Daba never complained about usyoung players. He just told us that there isnothing to be afraid of, just do it." WasBateer the type of player to take out hisanger in the changing room after a defeat?No, according to Chen. "Daba was our spir-itual and tactical leader," he says. "I remem-ber one time, we lost to Jiangsu in an awaygame. "After the game, Daba said to us thatit doesn't matter, it's only a gameand thatwe will win back at home. These wordsimpressed me. In 2002, we were fightingAoshen in the Guangan stadium. "We wereso eager to win because after the game,Daba was going to America (for the NBA). Ican't remember the result. After the game,Xia Song and an American coach put aDenver Nuggets' jersey on Daba. It wasvery touching. We were all very sad towatch such a nice brother leaving."

K'S TEACHING FINDS HOME ON SOCCER FIELD Jay Heaps, former Team USA and Dukecoach Mike Krzyzewski's player, is no longerplaying basketball, but he played the final forthe Major League Soccer between his ownNew England Revolution and the HoustonDynamo, which won the 2007 title. The 31-

y e a r - o l dd e f e n d e rhelped his teamto reach fourMLS finals in sixseasons. Heapsoriginally wentto Duke to playsoccer, but

made it on the basketball team as a walk-on,before earning a scholarship. Used mainly asa reserve, what he learned from Coach K hasstuck with him. He told FIBA: "I wasn't playingas much, but I was able to observe, to watchCoach K and see how he approached the sit-uation, how the guys really came together. Itwas a great experience for me to be on thoseteams and to transfer that to soccer. "It's a lit-tle bit as a different sport, but all the emotionsare there, the intensity is there, so it's an easytransition. In any sport, great coaching tran-scends. You need to have the right personali-ty and the right mental make-up which CoachK has. It's a good comparison between thetwo and for me personally I've been lucky tolearn a lot from Coach K and (Revolutioncoach) Steve Nicol. Heaps remains in touchwill all his teammates from that time - playerslike Shane Battier and Elton Brand, who arenow in the NBA - and he also goes back toDuke each year, playing in pickup games andhanging out with the current players. "I goback and get to go behind the scenes andwatch Coach K in person, to get an under-standing of his take on the season," Heapssaid. "What's amazing is how he approacheseach team. Each season is different and he'shad great success, because he reinventshimself every year.

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ZONE OFFENSE: FUNDAMENTALS AND OPTIONS

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