by Flavio Vanetti
The Lombard team has a new US coach, a confirmed game philosophy and two executives arriving from the NBA. President Bulgheroni: «Varese will become one of the most advanced realities in following US basketball patterns»
“Let’s do it” the American way. That is: a new coach made in the USA, a confirmed game philosophy – based on so-called analytics (advanced statistics that photograph the performance of the players) as well as on the great pace -, two executives arriving from the world of the NBA. Putting a stone on the adventurous epilogue of a great season – the team conquered the playoffs on the field, in a side of enthusiasm marked by ten consecutive sold outs of the sports hall, but the penalty for an administrative irregularity removed it from the championship challenges – Varese of basketball is ready to restart to continue a project only interrupted and certainly not burned by the heavy penalty.
It does so by continuing on a pro-American line which at this point it is right to define as “extended”, but which starts from betting again on an American coach: from Matt Brase, who has chosen not to stay (moreover leaving the contract well after the agreed term: there will be no actions against him, but he didn’t make a good impression), to Tom Bialaszewski, originally from Buffalo (New York state), from 2019 to 2022 assistant to Ettore Messina in Milan and now in his first experience as head coach. He will have Marco Legovich at his side, last year at the helm of Trieste and now called to reproduce the role of co-coach (or first deputy) inherited from Paolo Galbiati: 41 years old Bialaszewski, 31 Legovich; they are probably the youngest pair of technicians in Serie A.
The presentation of the new «conductors» was an important day for Varese. A little later came the news of Leonardo Okeke’s two-year loan from EA7 Milano, a 20-year-old talent that Openjobmetis will take care of getting back on track after a serious injury suffered in the spring while playing in Spain for Badalona. But curiosity came first and was linked to the reflections of coach B. (surname almost impossible to write). Will we still see a «run and gun» Varese, devoted to speed, to taking quick shots, to setting up the idea of a winning basketball because you score more than you suffer? The answer is an outright yes: «There are clear indications from the company in this sense (editor’s note: first of all, let’s assume, they come from Luis Scola, the major shareholder), but this is also my attitude and my experience», he explains the new coach, who in five years at the Los Angeles Lakers (the late Kobe Bryant was still there and that’s where he met Ettore Messina, added to Mike Brown’s staff in 2012) came to be in charge of game planning. Legovich, who will first of all deal with the team’s defensive dimension, adds his own consideration: «There isn’t just one way to play, Varese is experimenting with a new basketball culture and that’s why the challenge is even more Pretty”.
The team – which at the end of September will try to qualify for the Fiba Champions League, having the possibility of continuing in the Europa Cup in the event of rejection – has changed a lot: only Woldetensae, Librizzi and Virginio are left of the OJM 2022-23. On the other hand, Davide Moretti arrived – whom Bialaszewski had in Milan – the former first choice Cauley-Stein (one of the hits on the basketball market), the Canadian Olivier Hanlan (dangerous sniper) and undiscovered talents such as Gabe Brown, Sean McDermott and Vinnie Shahid. «We set ourselves only one simple goal: to grow day after day» says coach B. explaining his method for creating empathy in the group: «You don’t have to worry so much about coaching the players, as about making them feel part of a partnership».
But the acceleration on the American path by the company (which will soon also start collaboration with the Pelligra group, the Australians who are relaunching Catania football) is also based, as mentioned, on the strengthening of the front office. Maksim Horowitz, director of basketball strategies for the Atlanta Hawks since 2018, and Zach Sogolow, who after a long experience in the central offices of the NBA worked for the Philadelphia 76ers, will start operating in a few days. The ambition is clear, as explained by the president of Pallacanestro Varese (as well as former owner of the club), Antonio Bulgheroni: «The projects are not only of a technical nature, linked to the development of a certain model of play and the improvement of the players, but they also concern the growth of our corporate organization. We like to think that Varese will become, outside the United States and in a relatively short time, one of the most advanced realities in following schemes that now only belong to the NBA. Being organized in a certain way also gives an advantage on the market front: we can already look for players by evaluating a base of 5,000 profiles and not 50, choosing the best based on the quality/price ratio».
The American twist finally serves to cement the image. After the painful mess of the last few months, Varese hasn’t sunk (and it was possible that it would have), but it is restarting with even greater energy. Bulgheroni, in recalling that that error «was only of an administrative order and not a sporting fraud», concludes by quoting Nelson Mandela: «The South African president used to say: “I win and I hardly ever lose. But when I lose, I learn.” A phrase to keep in mind.”
August 18, 2023 (change August 18, 2023 | 19:01)
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2023-08-18 17:08:43
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