Somebody call Los Bomberos

Welcome to The VolleyBrains Weekly.  --- the Basketball Weekly - don't run away just yet.

Here's what we've got this week

Not planning to do this often, BUT we're doing a deep dive on one of the most successful international basketball coaches around. 

This email is about a coach who never stops developing himself, creates tight-knit teams, and is a true tactical genius.

Enjoy!

Who? The GOAT (Wiki it up)

The 'GOAT in coaching national teams', that looks very, very promising.🐐

Let's continue...

The track record 🚀

Scariolo's track record is phenomenal...

• Every 4 years European national teams battle for the EuroBasket crown. Scariolo won 4 of those with 'his' Spanish national team. (having 4 of these is pretty nuts)

• Won the 2019 World Cup with Spain

• He's the 2019 NBA Champion with the Toronto Raptors (as an assistant coach)

• Took home an Olympic Silver medal with Spain at the 2012 London Olympics

And we didn't even mention all of the Spanish, Italian and Russian championships and cups he won...Scariolo is the real deal.

Why go to the NBA?

Why would an insanely successful European coach feel the need to coach in the NBA?

Scariolo: "The reason why I moved there is that I wanted to get rid of agents, media, managers, fans, and pressure in general," "I just wanted to commit myself to the game."

"I just wanted to say, 'Listen, I'm tired of this, I just want to dive into the game for the full 100% without any complications, no extra stuff. Just pure basketball. Go to practices, study, and analyze the game. Without having to commit any extra time to anything which is not specific to basketball itself. That was the main reason.

"I learned a lot!"

Source

Scariolo doesn't celebrate early 😇

Spain entered last September's European Championships with their least-talented team...in years.

But one element was left unchanged...Sergio Scariolo. The 61-year-old coach was the real MVP of this team. 

Confusing any offense with multiple defensive systems during each game. (check the clip in the next paragraph). And pulling the best out of every player he has...11 of his players averaged 13 minutes or more playtime during the tournament, that just NEVER happens.

Spain won against Germany in the semi-final, this was coach Scariolo's reaction seconds after winning that highly emotional match.

The job wasn't done.

The real MVP? 

"Scariolo constructed a group that was playing to it's strengths. And everybody was happy to be a star in their own role. Pour in some genius game planning and scouting from the staff and you get the best team in Europe, right now!"

A coach in any sport will enjoy the moving and switching, and the 'being 3 steps ahead in every single play' shown in the next video.

Take the time to watch it in its entirety.

Cover your ears now. 😂

Next up is Scariolo's 'ballsy' dressing room talk minutes before heading into the previously mentioned semi-final game against Germany.

"If we stay with them and get to the last 5 minutes, who has more balls will win. And when it comes down to being ballsy, I wouldn’t trade this team for any other."

This just in...

Sportsnet.ca reported last Friday the 12th of May, that the Toronto Raptors are talking to Scariolo to take on their head coaching position.

Should he be hired, Scariolo would become one of the only two European head coaches in NBA history.

Locker room speech 2.0

And lastly we have coach Scariolo's locker room speech minutes before entering the venue to battle for the World Cup title in 2019.

A game that Spain won against Argentina with 95-75, crowning themselves as the 2019 World Cup winner.

"We have one of those matches, that everyone wants to play, ahead of us. My confidence doesn't come from our energy and our intensity, the other team will show that also. We know we have a strong opponent.

What I do believe, and what gives me confidence is that we can be a better-competing team than they are.

Competing better doesn't mean "being able to fly" when things go well. But it means being able to react when things don't go well.

We can make mistakes, but while making them we won't lose our confidence, or more importantly, we won't become frustrated as a result of our own or a teammate's mistake.

It will be a tough game with many mistakes, but all that matters is getting into that "zone" where we know that we can compete better than anyone else. That zone where we have our mind in check."

Next week...back to volleyball. 😊

...I promise.

P.S.: Special thanks to the polyglot beast that is Alessandro Lodi

Want to dive deeper? 

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Thanks for your support.

Have a great week!

Matias