Condolences to the loved ones of Rob Meurs today, who died after a road accident near Trier on Sunday night after attending the Albert Schweitzer youth tournament in Mannheim this weekend.
A Hollander, Meurs was an NBA scout for 20 years with the Golden State Warriors and most recently the New Jersey Nets, but it was with the San Antonio Spurs that he was really able to leave his scouting imprint: In 1999, he endorsed Manu Ginobili at no. 57 overall in the NBA draft and Tony Parker at no. 28 in 2001.
Meurs was also founder and long-time president of the basketball scouting agency Court Vision.
Meurs had been employed with BC Oostende, with whom he’d been for seven years; the scout was credited with bringing players such as Mirza Teletovic, Damjan Rudez, Ivan Paunic and Brent Wright to the club. The official website stated that “We will remember Rob as an animated man with a huge basketball heart.”
News website NieuwsBlad.be divulged some of Meurs’ more abstract secrets of scouting, including “The physical appearance and mentality are the most important things” and “If you want to understand a player, you need to understand how to watch a player … Does he fit into the atmosphere, the environment and the team concept?”
And here’s one that should definitely not be left to the mindless ravages of time: “You feel how someone [is] with a handshake: Do I get a bunch of fingers or a firm hand?”
An “in memoriam” Facebook page for Meurs is also up.
