Torneos & Eventos de Baloncesto del Mundo Hispano • Basketball Tournaments, Events & News from the Hispanic World"What's all this fuss about leagues?"
The reason is that they are really important !
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Someone, a good guy, a real basketball guy, posed this question to me in the midst of the Intercontinental Cup, a two-day event that pitted the Euroleague champions (Olympiacos of Greece) against the champions of the FIBA Americas League (Pinheiros of Brazil), for the first time in 17 years.
And I know why he asked. He saw all the work being put into making this a world class event and wondered, like all regular and basketball 'philosophers' do, what was the purpose of it all. |
So, on this particular day, this particular philosophical query came my way - "What's all this fuss about leagues?"
I took it, thought about it and drew a blank. I had no answer for the guy other than "well, what kind of question is that? Because they are important. All this fuss about them is that they are really important."
The conversation ended there, of course, because of my vague and dry response. But there's a more articulate answer.
Now don't get me wrong. There's nothing more beautiful and exciting than a national team tournament. Watching the best players from each country defending their colors by leaving everything out on the court is a wonderful thing. It is patriotism that at its best, is basketball when you strip it down to the core where all of it is about just one thing: passion.
But, how do you get there? How do you develop players to be up at the level required by a national team tournament?
This is where the national leagues come into play.
Prior to the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship there was a lot of talk from journalists and 'experts' outside of Argentina about how the dominance from the South American and number 3 ranked country in the world would end this year. No more Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto, Carlos Delfino or Pablo Prigioni meant they would disappear off the map, and that's a more than fair opinion...if you were not paying attention to their national league.
If you were, as I was from having watched the professional teams from Argentina up close on both the South American and FIBA Americas League, then you knew they were definitely going to be in contention for one of the four spots for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup that were awarded in Caracas. They are just doing things the right way.
"Tell me what's your plan in terms of education for your children", said FIBA Americas Secretary General Alberto Garcia to a journalist in a press conference in Mexico. "Do you take them to school two months out of the year? And then 10 months of vacation? No, you do it the other way around because it works that way."
"Now, in school, do they give them tests every single day? Or do they learn, learn, learn and then go and take tests on what they were taught?" he continued. "Basketball needs to be treated the same way."
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I could not agree more. And this is the way things are done in Argentina.
Photograph: Primera HoraThey have a national league that runs from September through to May (nine months), with two games per week, leaving the rest of the days off for practice. Yes, practice.
These coaches and players, who have climbed up the different divisions of professional basketball in the country, have time to go over their fundamentals and it shows. I have seen starless Argentinean basketball teams manhandle teams from other countries with huge budgets and recognizable names on the back of their jerseys.
Why? They know how to play the game.
How did they learn to play the game? They have a more consistent workshop. They have a solid national league. A league that has not only developed today's stars, but also elite international coaches like Ruben Magnano, Sergio Hernandez and Julio Lamas, among others.
How does all of this national activity translate to international success? Well, here's where I go back to the question asked by the basketball 'philosopher'. Those players, those young players that made a splash this year in Caracas had played in the international stage before. These cats are no strangers to the bright lights.
Facundo Campazzo, Marcos Mata, Selem Safar, Nicolas Laprovittola and Adrian Boccia had all played South American and FIBA Americas Leagues. They had played against Brazilian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Uruguayan, Venezuelan and Dominican teams. They had matched up against other types of basketball styles and won (Campazzo and Mata won the 2009 FIBA Americas League, and Argentina's teams won 3 of the first 4 editions).
And their 'doing things the right way' has helped others too. The best thing about these international leagues is that their methods to success have been contagious. Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela have all followed suit.
In Mexico, the darling of this year's continental championship, the national league has been reformed. It assimilated the international calendar, while lengthening the schedule (they started in October this year) and shortening the load of games during the week.
Also, their involvement in international leagues have been key for them. Nine of the 12 players on the Caracas roster had played the FIBA Americas League before, including the MVP of the tournament, Gustavo Ayon. In fact, five players won it with Pioneros de Quintana Roo two years ago.
Brazil has been revolutionary. With a national league that is even younger (just five seasons) than the FIBA Americas league, they are an economically solid venture with huge participation from states across the board, as well as great TV exposure and fan participation. They play under international calendar, with eight-nine months of competition.
Coaching was their Achilles heel but they have begun to fix that with their great economic structure. Big names are being imported such as Sergio Hernandez from Argentina, who now coaches Brasilia. Young players will develop, that is a lock. They go to school now for the right amount of time, now under the right personnel, great and proven teachers. These year might have been disastrous for Brazil in Caracas, but it won't happen again and you can count on that.
The only exceptions are both Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. Both of them have three-month competitions, out of international calendar, with four and even five games a week.
Why are they doing so well on the international level? Can this work? Maybe. But take a look at this names:
Puerto Rico: JJ Barea (NBA), Carlos Arroyo (Europe), Ricardo Sanchez (Argentina), Daniel Santiago (Argentina), John Holland (Spain/France)
Dominican Republic: Francisco Garcia (NBA), James Feldeine (Spain), Eulis Baez (Spain), Jack Martinez (just in 2013 played in Argentina, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico).
What do they have in common? They have developed or currently make their living in leagues that do it right. Leagues that allow them to constantly work at mastering their craft.
The same with coaches. The top five coaches this year in Caracas were: Sergio Valdeolmillos (Spain), Paco Olmos (Spain), Sergio Lamas (Argentina), Orlando Antigua (NCAA) and Nestor 'Che' Garcia (Argentina).
So, what's all this fuss about leagues?
Well, when a national league is good, it develops fundamentally sound coaches and players, and when an International League is solid, it gives them a platform in which they can learn what it is to represent a country, so that when they arrive at the big stage, they are ready and prepared for their opportunity to shine.
You know, it was a vague and dry answer after all...but I stand by it.
Because they are important. All this fuss about leagues is that they are really important. William Rosario from
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