In the past weeks I have shared with you some interesting topics I would have stumbled across whilst doing my customary surfing routine on the web along the week. Today is no exception as I opted to adapt and quote some interesting points which are uploaded in the www.sportingo.com website.
In her book, “Five qualities good leaders express”, author Lisa Dewey states…”a leader is someone who helps others do and become more than they ever thought possible. Leadership is about unlocking potential, whether individual potential or that of a group, company, or organisation. It is not about telling people what to do, but inspiring them to see what they are capable of, then helping them get there.”
Last month, in the European Basketball Championships, Russia emerged as the new European number 1 (the first time since 1993) after beating (many say surprisingly) hosts and top favourites (apart from current World Champions) Spain, 60-59 with a basket two seconds from time, in the final played in Madrid.
Many attributed Russia’s success to their American-Israeli coach David Blatt as he was regarded as having worked wonders to take a team with limited potential to final glory in these championships. As a result, the above quote could be an excellent description for Blatt’s leadership style culminating in the gold medal last month.
Some call Blatt ‘The Chemist’ because of his ability to create great team chemistry. Some call him ‘The Magician’ because of his success in winning this dream championship. However, it has nothing to do with magic. It is the outcome of making the right decisions.
Prior to the European Championships, many thought that Blatt had a normal team with also some has-beens or dubious hopefuls. Yet, Blatt continued working in peace and built a team not only around his star Andrei Kirilenko but with important responsibilities to all the team members.
After this success, many are regarding Blatt as one of the next additions into the NBA in future and now his name is becoming common in the very top of the world coaching hierarchy.
In wordpress.com one finds one great philosophical quote by Blatt, “I got at Princeton an experience and ideas on a very deep level. They brought me to the understanding that being a basketball coach is more than teaching X’s and O’s. I’m convinced that you have to also be a sociologist; you have to be a criminologist sometimes; you have to be a psychologist; you have to be an anthropologist, because you’ve got to understand where people and you certainly have to be an ideologist at times. You have to have all these elements in order to understand all these different cultures you’re dealing with”
As is also written in hoopscaoch.com, one meets a lot of coaches (over the years) who seem to think they know everything there is to know about their sport. They come off as ‘know-it-all’ guys who walk around like they are the supreme authority on the sport. A great coach is always looking to learn and to share information with other coaches in an open-minded way. Same goes for the athletes. An athlete who looks to improve on their particular craft is always finding ways to improve. Broaden your horizons, listen and learn.
Some of you may have thought of how could an American-Israeli coach end up coaching Russia?
Blatt was born and raised in the USA and got his education at Princeton University, where he also played college basketball between 1977 and 1981. He participated in the Maccabiah Games as part of the USA national team that won a gold medal in 1981.
After competing in the Maccabiah Games, Blatt decided to abandon his American career and began to play basketball in Israel.
Thus, in the early 80's he moved to Israel where he found his new home, built a family with four children and lived until 2004.
After retiring from basketball he became assistant manager and then head caoch for Hapoel Galil Elyon, coaching them from 1993/94 season. He won the title “Coach of the Year” in 1996 and in 1997 he continued coaching at Hapoel Galil Elyon whilst also becoming assistant coach of the Israeli National Team.
For the 1999/2000 season, he moved to Maccabi Tel Aviv and once again served as assistant manager to Pini Gershon. In the years between 2000-2004 he continued as assistant coach under Pini Gershon and actively recruited foreign players such as Anthony Parker (in 2000) to the team. During those 4 years, Maccabi won 1 Euroleague title, reached the Euroleague Final Four (2001/2002 season), and reached the final stage of the Adriatic League.
Blatt was still working as assistant coach of the Israeli National team in 2002 when he won the title of “Coach of the Year” for the second time, the year he was appointed head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Then, after winning the Euroleague with Maccabi Tel Aviv as an assistant coach, he took on a big challenge in 2004, namely to build the new team formed practically from almost scratch at Dynamo St Petersburg.
He eventually led Dynamo to an amazing season in the FIBA EuroCup as the team did not drop a single game during the entire season and easily won a historical cup whilst Blatt was Coach of the Year in Russia.
After the romance with Dynamo he joined Italian power house Benetton Treviso. There he won in a span of two seasons every possible domestic title including the Italian cup, the Italian super-cup and also the Italian championship. At the same time, Blatt was appointed head coach of the Russian national team.
As from this month, Blatt is now coaching Turkish side Efes Pilsen.
Faith also has a share in this story as three years ago Blatt was presented as the head coach of the Israeli national team, and was supposed to be the main mentor to lead Israel in the EuroBasket 2007.
However, according to the law in Israel, in order to coach the national team in any sport, one must have a coaching certificate, something which Blatt did not have.
Several attempts to solve the absurd situation failed, and a furious Blatt decided to resign before holding even one practice session for the Israeli national team.
His next stop was then Russia, and on his way to the finals he ironically beat Israel by 34 points.