[sport24.gr] Greek trainer spends time with the Rockets

A Greek Trainer from Greek club Marousi spend a couple of weeks with the Rockets and Billy and gives a lot of info about dally rockets schedule JVG etc.
Enjoy.....



What the man from Larissa saw.

In the space of two weeks Andreas Gatzoulis saw everything in Houston. He saw Vasilis Spanoulis be "twice as quick". He saw Jeff Van Gundy "arrive at the basketball court at 5am". Americans that kept "asking me constantly about the way we work in Europe". As for his instinct? "Vasily is a big kid and can make his own decisions. My instincts tell me that he will stay in the NBA" the Marousi trainer said to SPORT 24.

Just so there is no misunderstandings. These are the instincts of an inexperienced trainer who because of his relationship of his "neighbour" (they are born in Larisa) happens to know all the parameters of the situation. Its not Spanoulis opinion or an opinion that he is trying to press onto Spanoulis due to their friendship. It is just his instinct. "It's very logical to be asking me about Vasilis. He is a big kid he has matured, and he will judge where the best place for his future and his career is" Gkatzoulis humbly said to us who was impressed from the things he saw in America as a guest of Vasili's and the Rockets.

Firstly we asked about the match fitness that the national guard is in. And even though we expected to hear negative or lukewarm comments due to the small amount of playing time with the Rockets, the Larisean trainer was enthusiastic. "I saw him and I didn't believe it. He is twice as quick as the last time I saw him. He has become better than last summer and most importantly he has he has managed to work on his personal game something he couldn't do in previous years due to a heavy work load." Gatzoulis told as and explained that "he is better at every aspect and you will noticed when the national team plays. he shooting is more effective, his muscle strength, everything, is twice as good."

The Marousi trainer was impressed by other thing as well. "mainly form the organisation the Americans have, who leave nothing to chance and I really mean this. I will give you an example. I watched the first two play-off games vs Utah. In the end of the second match the chief doctor of the Rockets handed out a card to players. I didn't know what they were but later I found out that players put on it any discomfort they might have felt. You will never see this in a European where you would get a "we 'll do it tomorrow response.
In America tomorrow means today and those players who had felt something in the game had check ups the following morning" Gatzoulis said who will never forget the rehabilitation methods used the NBA clubs. "They respect the athletes and don't treat them like animals" Gatzoulis said with and strict tone in his voice.

Americans still cant get over their loss to Greece in Japan. "You cant imagine who persistent they were to find out how European clubs function" the Larisean trainer explained. "You know what happens? There are a lot of European players entering the NBA. Their national team failures come one after the other so its only logical for them to try and find a cause. Also they have turned scouting into a science to find European players that can play in the NBA. The electronic scouting system of the Rockets is the most expensive in the world. You want to know how much it costs? It's worth 150000 dollars!"

Even though there is concern is the US after the continuing stuffups at WC and the Olympic Games however the standard of the 20th Final Four didn't impress them (Americans). "The speed of the games in Athens was half of the speed of play-off games" the Rockets personnel discussed amongst themselves who watched the semi-final and final on NBA TV along with the two Greeks(Spanoulis & Gatzoulis) who got the chance to meet for a few days.

"What impressed them the most was they way most players tried to trick the referees with their hands, since basketball must be based on the feet. And the refs that stopped the game so each side can shoot 40 free throws, while in the NBA the game is stopped every 3 plays." Gatzoulis said of the
Americans impressions, and who definitely didn't expect to hear form Rockets personnel that Jeff Van Gundy used to arrive at the court in the middle of the night.

"Van Gundy goes to the court at 5am, his assistants at 6, and training starts daily at 11. The players finish off and leave but the coaches stay until 4-5 in the afternoon. We are talking about incredible amount of work for hours!" the Larisaen -who is a know workaholic- said with admiration. He will never forget the stressful site of Jeff Van Gundy who would pace the court barefoot, bouncing a tennis ball to relieve his nervousness. With so much stress how could the Rockets not have a first round exit?


http://sport24.gr/html/ent/528/ent.177528.asp

 

Please guys don't turn this into a big play Billy debate. I just thought there was some interesting inside info on the Rockets and the way NBA people view European basketball, that's why I posted it.

 

Thats the whole article translated there. He says he was very impressed, which goes without saying that he prob will try to apply a thing or two back in Marousi.

 

The article says 150000. Don't know if they made a mistake but in Europe most scouting is done by people so spending 150 gs on some system is impressive.