Comments on: NBA star: Because of American coaches, Chris Wilcox “can barely dribble or shoot after all these years”

By: Bill K

Bill K — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:48:42 +0000

Maybe just maybe will be interesting to follow Lakers assistant coach-advisor Ettore Messina as well as Pep Claros who will coach Halifax rainmen in Canada new pro-league to check their results

By: TDP

TDP — Wed, 25 May 2011 02:33:00 +0000

Another reason to hate Gary Williams…

By: detroitpcb

detroitpcb — Tue, 24 May 2011 22:40:47 +0000

because of the way the game is played in Europe, few European players had low post, back to the basket skills – but almost all of them could face up and shoot. Dribbling was not a strong point for a lot of the European big men either and, at least when i was playing over there, not many teams ran that much either. They played excellent half court though, and all of the bigs could shoot.

Wilcox should have got himself a shooting coach and spent and entire off season or two working on his shot. Catch and shoot. One dribble and shoot (to either side) and two dribbles and shoot to his strong side. If he had done that, and learned basic footwork on defense, he could have been a real serious player. But he has the worst fundementals i have ever seen and it is hard to blame that on his college coach if it was Gary Williams at Maryland. No clue who his high school coach was but a lot of high school coaches lack the ability to teach big men.

By: Kim Jong Skillz

Kim Jong Skillz — Tue, 24 May 2011 22:38:52 +0000

on the flip side of the coin, why is that euro big men cant play back to the basket basketball? why are they usually soft? why are big men running to the 3 point line to stretch the floor & learning fadeaways midway to the 3 point line?
regardless if you “think” the euro system is better or worse, the euro game is NOT the best style of basketball internationally. ya euros might all be able to shoot and handle the ball but who can drive & take the rock to the hole? the nba is THE best basketball league in the world, period. no ifs ands or buts. and if you want to play in the nba & succeed you most likely will need an “old school hard nosed” big man.
big men who are POST players DOMINATE the nba game. the only big man in the last decade that i can even think of that dominates not from the post would be rasheed wallace (if he decided he was the best player on the court).

By: Murph

Murph — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:08:14 +0000

I have no idea what European coaches make, but I doubt it’s as much as $3.4 million a year, which is what InsideHoops estimates is the average NBA coaching salary.

Anyway, here’s a list of the top 25 paid coaches in the world from 2009, and wouldn’t you know it, not one of them is a European basketball coach. There are a lot of NBA coaches on the list, however.

(Man…it looks like the real money is in coaching soccer. The top three highest paid coaches in the world are soccer coaches.)

http://www.businesspundit.com/the-25-highest-paid-sports-coaches-in-the-world/

By: Murph

Murph — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:53:43 +0000

The headline was: “NBA Star: Because of American coashes Chris Wilcox “can barely dribble or shoot after all these years”

Then Feldman went on to write: “I agree with the anonymous player. If Wilcox had more refined skills to go with his athleticism, we wouldn’t be talking about a role player. We’d be talking about an All-Star.”

Whatever. Anyway, I’m glad you’re backpeddling on Feldman’s behalf, because to think Wilcox wasn’t an All Star because of bad American coaching is ridiculous.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:46:48 +0000

Hello? He’s talking about U.S. coaches in youth basketball, not in the NBA..

By: sop

sop — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:17:41 +0000

Isn’t it kind of funny though that the two top rated Euro Draft prospects can’t shoot? Vesely and Valanciunas are drawing huge praise for their tough “American” style of play.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Tue, 24 May 2011 18:51:45 +0000

There are only 30 NBA teams. Do you not think that people earn very good livings in pro ball overseas? It’s not NBA level pay, but the top players and coaches in Europe make a signficant amount of money.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Tue, 24 May 2011 18:50:23 +0000

Dan didn't say Wilcox would be an All-Star if not for poor coaching. He said, "If Wilcox had more refined skills to go with his athleticism, we wouldn’t be talking about a role player. We’d be talking about an All-Star."

Wilcox didn't develop a skillset for many reasons I'm sure, chief among them he probably just didn't put in the individual time necessary to work on those things, as other commenters have pointed out. But no one wrote that coaching prevented him from being an All-Star.