Glenn
12-11-2006, 10:17 AM
http://www.hoopsworld.com/global/article_19841.shtml
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GLOBAL: Igor Kokoskov
By Nikola Olic
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Dec 10, 2006, 06:29
Igor Kokoskov worked too hard to leave the court early. The Detroit Pistons assistant coach has helped his teams prepare more than 400 times in all NBA arenas around the league. When head coach announces that warm-ups are over, Kokoskov is still standing under the basket, passing balls back to his players. Native of Belgrade, Serbia, Kokoskov is the first full-time non-American coach in the NBA, and leaving the court even a minute early would be going against what inspired him to come to the NBA in first place: professionalism.
Following World War II, then-Yugoslavia was surrounded with isolated countries much less exposed to the rest of the world than Yugoslavia itself. Afforded by a very liberal form of communism, the country had the single ingredient most important to Kokoskov's success: exchange of ideas. With it, Yugoslavia's basketball domination came as no surprise. Most of the republics that were a part of Yugoslavia became independent countries -- Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia for example -- with basketball leagues that produced great NBA talent. Serbia was the center of Yugoslavian basketball and it was from there that Igor Kokoskov launched his NBA coaching career.
"I left Belgrade to get into basketball specialization programs in United States, interested in learning about different ways of running a basketball team. I was working with our junior team and I knew I had room to improve my skills and learn new things. I could take a few months off from my team and come to the states. I first went to Connecticut, that was a great experience where I came in touch with a lot of people with which I could exchange ideas and who became interested in working with me. Next time I organized the trip on my own and had gone to Duke University where I met people that ultimately got me a job at University of Missouri."
Kokoskov's early career helps connect all these dots: Detroit's Rip Hamilton won a NCAA title with University of Connecticut in finals against Krzyzewski-lead Duke University. Kokoskov saw firsthand what it took to raise to the top of college basketball both as a team with Huskies and as a player, when Rip Hamilton won the Most Outstanding Player award through the 1999 NCAA tournament. The awards tell the story of the difference between the leagues: NBA is about being 'Most Valuable', college is about being 'Outstanding'. The difference between the NBA and other world leagues is even bigger.
"The level of professionalism in NBA is unreachable by the rest of the world, at least right now. That's why moving an NBA team to play in Europe is a far-away dream in my opinion. The reason is both financial resources and professionalism. Basketball here is a well-oiled machinery with a relatively small number of people that have set everything up properly. It has come a long way since the mid 80's."
Once you go international, it is impossible to go back. It is not a big surprise, NBA coaches have the longest season of all basketball leagues and have a schedule that does not allow for much else. International leagues on the other hand have coaches that are more exposed to basketball leagues around the world, through players that go through their squads and through organized basketball clinics. NBA has taken a clue from their FIBA counterparts in starting the Basketball Without Borders initiative, helping expose the rest of the basketball world to the NBA. Kokoskov has been a part of the Basketball Without Borders program since 2003.
"You can't avoid globalization. It is a result of having an open basketball market. The league was closed off from the rest of the world but now the walls are down and everybody is watching the NBA and adjusting their skills to better match the NBA. China has the best foreign center -- or perhaps the best center overall, some African countries have impressive players. You have to be realistic about what is going on."
FIBA, the International basketball body keeping track of basketball progress world-wide is credited with more than overseeing tournaments: they helped basketball grow in the places Kokoskov mentioned, as well as all other corners of the world. But most international players agree that NBA has both the best players in the world and the best league in the world. As Kokoskov put it, it is a well-oiled machine, fine tuned by one man.
"David Stern is excellent for the NBA. He doesn't know basketball, but he knows business and economy. Sport is business and nothing else. Entertaining people and having a social impact is important, but at the end of the day its a business. For fans, players and coaches, basketball is very important, but its again just business. It is important for international basketball to understand that sports is only business."
Through eight years that Kokoskov has been involved as a coach with USA college and professional basketball, his native basketball league has suffered. Since winning the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) has not come close to winning a medal in any world or European competitions. For a country that has the most foreign players in the NBA, that is a surprise. Perhaps the players are expecting the NBA environment in their own basketball leagues as well.
"NBA has an effect on other basketball leagues around the world. It primarily has to do with the amount of professionalism that you bring into the sport here in the NBA, that is the biggest influence. NBA has influence on global basketball in different ways. There are for example NBDL teams that are going to play in China. But its mostly how a country and its basketball league deals with its own players. Players in the NBA are very respected and their opinions mean a lot."
It is natural that NBA coaches carry the same respect. With every passing season in the NBA, Kokoskov's duties with his national team also reflected Serbia's gradual understanding of the influence NBA has on international basketball as well as Serbia's respect for what Kokoskov accomplished as an NBA coach. He was an assistant coach with their 2004 Olympic team and their 2005 European championship team, and views the head coaching position the same regardless of what league it is in: it has nothing to do with nationality and everything to do with coach's skills and GM's guts.
"It doesn't have to do with being foreign or not, it has to do with being the right person at the right time for the job. It is hard to set your goals on becoming an NBA coach. Competition is very hard, very few make it. I just want to be as good of a coach as I can and always progress. I am glad I had a chance to be a pioneer in some ways, becoming the first foreign coach in the NBA. The number of players coming from Serbia shows that coaches back there know what they are doing. But it is not just about knowing the Xs and Os, its also about people skills: working with players and with other coaches. Right now I don't see that an NBA owner will be brave enough to put a foreigner as a head coach."
In addition to being the first non-American coach in the NBA, Kokoskov was the youngest head coach in his nation's history, leading BC Beograd when he was just 24 years old. He is now one of the youngest coaches in the NBA and his resume speaks of three years with the Clippers, three years with the Pistons, and one championship ring with the latter. More are probably on their way.
No mention of Darko?
http://www.hoopsworld.com/news/uploads/igor.gif
GLOBAL: Igor Kokoskov
By Nikola Olic
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Dec 10, 2006, 06:29
Igor Kokoskov worked too hard to leave the court early. The Detroit Pistons assistant coach has helped his teams prepare more than 400 times in all NBA arenas around the league. When head coach announces that warm-ups are over, Kokoskov is still standing under the basket, passing balls back to his players. Native of Belgrade, Serbia, Kokoskov is the first full-time non-American coach in the NBA, and leaving the court even a minute early would be going against what inspired him to come to the NBA in first place: professionalism.
Following World War II, then-Yugoslavia was surrounded with isolated countries much less exposed to the rest of the world than Yugoslavia itself. Afforded by a very liberal form of communism, the country had the single ingredient most important to Kokoskov's success: exchange of ideas. With it, Yugoslavia's basketball domination came as no surprise. Most of the republics that were a part of Yugoslavia became independent countries -- Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia for example -- with basketball leagues that produced great NBA talent. Serbia was the center of Yugoslavian basketball and it was from there that Igor Kokoskov launched his NBA coaching career.
"I left Belgrade to get into basketball specialization programs in United States, interested in learning about different ways of running a basketball team. I was working with our junior team and I knew I had room to improve my skills and learn new things. I could take a few months off from my team and come to the states. I first went to Connecticut, that was a great experience where I came in touch with a lot of people with which I could exchange ideas and who became interested in working with me. Next time I organized the trip on my own and had gone to Duke University where I met people that ultimately got me a job at University of Missouri."
Kokoskov's early career helps connect all these dots: Detroit's Rip Hamilton won a NCAA title with University of Connecticut in finals against Krzyzewski-lead Duke University. Kokoskov saw firsthand what it took to raise to the top of college basketball both as a team with Huskies and as a player, when Rip Hamilton won the Most Outstanding Player award through the 1999 NCAA tournament. The awards tell the story of the difference between the leagues: NBA is about being 'Most Valuable', college is about being 'Outstanding'. The difference between the NBA and other world leagues is even bigger.
"The level of professionalism in NBA is unreachable by the rest of the world, at least right now. That's why moving an NBA team to play in Europe is a far-away dream in my opinion. The reason is both financial resources and professionalism. Basketball here is a well-oiled machinery with a relatively small number of people that have set everything up properly. It has come a long way since the mid 80's."
Once you go international, it is impossible to go back. It is not a big surprise, NBA coaches have the longest season of all basketball leagues and have a schedule that does not allow for much else. International leagues on the other hand have coaches that are more exposed to basketball leagues around the world, through players that go through their squads and through organized basketball clinics. NBA has taken a clue from their FIBA counterparts in starting the Basketball Without Borders initiative, helping expose the rest of the basketball world to the NBA. Kokoskov has been a part of the Basketball Without Borders program since 2003.
"You can't avoid globalization. It is a result of having an open basketball market. The league was closed off from the rest of the world but now the walls are down and everybody is watching the NBA and adjusting their skills to better match the NBA. China has the best foreign center -- or perhaps the best center overall, some African countries have impressive players. You have to be realistic about what is going on."
FIBA, the International basketball body keeping track of basketball progress world-wide is credited with more than overseeing tournaments: they helped basketball grow in the places Kokoskov mentioned, as well as all other corners of the world. But most international players agree that NBA has both the best players in the world and the best league in the world. As Kokoskov put it, it is a well-oiled machine, fine tuned by one man.
"David Stern is excellent for the NBA. He doesn't know basketball, but he knows business and economy. Sport is business and nothing else. Entertaining people and having a social impact is important, but at the end of the day its a business. For fans, players and coaches, basketball is very important, but its again just business. It is important for international basketball to understand that sports is only business."
Through eight years that Kokoskov has been involved as a coach with USA college and professional basketball, his native basketball league has suffered. Since winning the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) has not come close to winning a medal in any world or European competitions. For a country that has the most foreign players in the NBA, that is a surprise. Perhaps the players are expecting the NBA environment in their own basketball leagues as well.
"NBA has an effect on other basketball leagues around the world. It primarily has to do with the amount of professionalism that you bring into the sport here in the NBA, that is the biggest influence. NBA has influence on global basketball in different ways. There are for example NBDL teams that are going to play in China. But its mostly how a country and its basketball league deals with its own players. Players in the NBA are very respected and their opinions mean a lot."
It is natural that NBA coaches carry the same respect. With every passing season in the NBA, Kokoskov's duties with his national team also reflected Serbia's gradual understanding of the influence NBA has on international basketball as well as Serbia's respect for what Kokoskov accomplished as an NBA coach. He was an assistant coach with their 2004 Olympic team and their 2005 European championship team, and views the head coaching position the same regardless of what league it is in: it has nothing to do with nationality and everything to do with coach's skills and GM's guts.
"It doesn't have to do with being foreign or not, it has to do with being the right person at the right time for the job. It is hard to set your goals on becoming an NBA coach. Competition is very hard, very few make it. I just want to be as good of a coach as I can and always progress. I am glad I had a chance to be a pioneer in some ways, becoming the first foreign coach in the NBA. The number of players coming from Serbia shows that coaches back there know what they are doing. But it is not just about knowing the Xs and Os, its also about people skills: working with players and with other coaches. Right now I don't see that an NBA owner will be brave enough to put a foreigner as a head coach."
In addition to being the first non-American coach in the NBA, Kokoskov was the youngest head coach in his nation's history, leading BC Beograd when he was just 24 years old. He is now one of the youngest coaches in the NBA and his resume speaks of three years with the Clippers, three years with the Pistons, and one championship ring with the latter. More are probably on their way.
No mention of Darko?