In an extensive 15-minute interview, Žalgiris Kaunas head coach Joan Plaza manages to pack in quite enough to make Greens fans highly optimistic about the future.
While not commenting on his boss, Žalgiris’ notoriously wacky owner Vladimir Romanov, the Spanish mastermind does fearlessly take on heavy questions of race and culture. Plaza is admirably learning Lithuanian and emphasizes how important it is to learn that second (or third) language to communicate with players – but finds certain attitudes toward 21st-century multiculturalism a “little shock” in his country of residence.
On the plus side, Plaza sees hope and promises that he is devoted to “working on creating a new generation of [Lithuanian] players” and that he “can’t imagine” leaving Žalgiris with his long-term plan in mind.
(Sudden thought: Might we someday see Plaza helming Team Lithuania?)
Plaza also manages to get in a plug for his novel-writing (!), with his 2009 book Les Mantes de L’Angelina
The full interview runs below.
kava su IQ_ Joan Plaza from Intelligent Media on Vimeo.
Tags: Euroleague, Euroleague 2012-13, Joan Plaza, Lithuania, LKL, Zalgiris Kaunas
Nando de Colo not impressed by the NBA.
http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/sports/nando-de-colo-l-interview-integrale-la-nba-c-est-ia213b0n920419
Is the NBA still a magical level?
You know, I’m not really impressed by it. It’s not magical, but now that I’m in it, I realize that it’s exceptional that the media is talking about it in the whole country. The littlest thing, on or off the court, immediately ends up on TV. The team does everything for you, so that you only have to worry about basketball. I’ve already said it, but it’s the first time that I go to practice without having to carry a bag or sneakers. I’m surprised each day about some of the customs.
The funny thing is how the American fans express themselves. If you do a simple no look pass, then they think it’s the assist of the century! They have a different approach to sports than we do in Europe. If your shot rolls around the rim three times before it goes in, then they claim that you have a good, soft “shooter’s touch”. In France, we would just admit that we got lucky. They do these little things in practice to try to help the players.
They’re all about the show. Every day, after the games, there are Top 5 and Top 10 play lists all over everywhere. They also do the same for all the other sports, which they also follow inside and out. What made me laugh recently during a timeout, in a game in Oklahoma, was that the fans were wearing costumes in the crowd. They don’t care about looking ridiculous, they just come to root for their team. That’s nice.