SCOUT Episode 3: Life on the Road with the Brooklyn Nets International Scouts

SCOUT Episode 3: Life on the Road with the Brooklyn Nets International Scouts

[Music] the game has become so global to find a guy in some of these places to be massive for your franchise [Music] you have to go wherever the talent is talent can come from anywhere and you always want to be at the forefront of that we have just landed in Munich and we are making the hour and a half drive over to try to prepare a little bit for the game in terms of you know who we’re going to talk to how often do you two get to do this together Actually we had the chance to spend a lot of time together on both continent well in multiple continents you would like to do it more actually like then you can’t so we always try to enjoy those couple of days talking about basketball talking about players talking about situation um coming over here it’s one thing to see the players you know in their environment but it’s another thing for us in terms of the relationship building not only for connections with the teams but also connections within our staff some money is definitely very charismatic and uh we always have you know a lot of jokes that we run between each other and and that’s what makes him unique and special he’s easy to connect with my story is kind of interesting because I’m not coming from a basketball family uh of course as a true Italian my family was coming from soccer football soccer when I was 22 I started to coach and I had my first touch with real basketball at European level after 5 years I had the chance to move to Olympia Milano which was closer to my house and where I grew up when I was coaching I was always very uh curious and focused on player development i like to focus on the players and I started to have my own database and my database kept growing growing and then I started to focus on that part and then I got lucky the general manager of the team used to be a NBA scout so introduced me into this world and slowly switch into the scouting way more than the the coaching and I had the chance to join the Brooklyn Nets tough decision back then but it was probably the best decision I made and here we are the way he sees the game the way he understands the game has been a huge part but also the relationships that he has here allows me to slide in and so his networking piece is a huge value ad for our organization the game continues to grow as more players continue to have success overseas so it’s exciting you know for us at that and and it really kind of puts the onus on us to continue to study you know how this translates are there new trends that are happening in an international game that we might be able to learn from first of all but also certain characteristic traits that are translating well or not translating well when we’re watching those guys play i think understanding the difference of the leagues is one of the most important thing because it’s like comparing uh conferences in NCAA every league has a different style spanish league is more physical play bigger german league they’re basically playing very very small french league is more athletic so every league has their own personality so I think understanding the difference between the style of play in Europe and the states and college and NBA uh is one of the hardest thing to do to uh put everything on perspective the games are different the strategy are different and the pace of play is different but there are certain things that regardless you need a player to have you know size for position the versatility the skill set the toughness the competitiveness the grit those kind of things all that kind of sets the baseline and then from there you can kind of pick out the fine details and then also how can they you know overcome the language barrier the cultural barriers and the things that they have to do when they come over to the United States And are they mentally equipped to do that We factor all those kind of things into play to to kind of level out the playing field what we think the guy can do and translate later on the American basketball recognize that there’s talent everywhere and it’s not a close market but it’s a it’s a global market we have players in every continent and that’s the hard part is putting everything in the same bucket and decide who is better comparing the different environments and situation i think that’s what makes basketball great it’s such a global sport 25% of the NBA right now is international and I expect that number to grow and the 2006 born international class is one of the best that we’ve seen in a long time and so you got to be very focused on what happened in college basketball with the American players but like you also have to have your eye on Europe all the time on Australia on South America on Asia on Africa and so it’s going to get bigger and bigger every year when you wake up and you love what you do uh you cannot complain you cannot talk too much about sacrifice i have the feeling that people don’t understand exactly what’s behind the two hours that we go to the game uh which of course the best part but there’s a life of phone calls and typing reports which is actually the the longest part of the day or trying to figure it out how to fit the schedule with your personal life your family your kids but at the same time knowing that you have to be on the road to to do the best you can uh in your job i will never say it’s a tough life but it’s a different life you can cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time so you know have another game this afternoon and you got to process all the information recognize what you see write it up it is a job that you cannot do if you don’t like to travel a little bit and meet new culture and meet new people explore enjoy knowing what’s different than your hometown that’s the best part but yeah time on the road is a lot it’s good to know each other because he knows he can count on us as a international department because we know how to get to the place uh in the best way and he’s flexible enough to help us to organize that as best as we can so knowing each other makes everything easier because we know everybody’s need and on a technical side uh spending time with him helps me understand like when he recommends a player the things that are important to him from a skill set perspective on mentality perspective so you know understanding of the kind of player that he likes and can understand and see it from their lens and maybe ask him certain questions based upon that so you got the logistical part of it and then you also have the technical part of it where you know we’re always kind of it’s like almost a dance rhythm where you kind of just know the other person what they’re going to do what they like and things like that so it makes it really easier johnson all over one and shoot and Jordy Fernandez has his first win as an NBA head coach the Brooklyn Nets win their home opener 115 102 against Milwaukee extremely excited for him and happy for him because he’s worked extremely hard to get to this point just to see the connection that he has around the world you know whenever we bring up his name over here the smiles that that people have on their faces you know the memories he’s left and what what he’s done it translates in so many different cultures in so many different ways so I’m really excited for him and it’s a great accomplishment for him first of all but uh in a greater sense for our organization i think what he’s implementing and putting in place is going to really translate well for our success in the future [Music] i don’t have like a playing background or a professional coaching background or anything it’s really an unusual path that brought me here when the analytics movement started in the early 2000s that part of the game didn’t exist in Europe back then and what I did was just really bringing the stuff that they were creating and applying it to European basketball so analytic was for me a way to get a foot in the door and connect to coaches and professional people in basketball the way he sees the game the way he breaks down the game he always brings a unique stat most of us have never thought about we call him the professor because he uh has a way of of educating all of us in terms of different ways to go about it it’s a very diverse landscape of basketball that factors into our evaluation and also analytically there are attempts made to account for the different level of basketball and to adjust the numbers accordingly so it’s a huge part it’s been really helpful insightful chance to get to know him as a person but also he’s made us all better as scouts as well last day of the trip so it’s a time where you start thinking about family more and thinking about getting back home and you know thinking about the things that uh you kind of miss you know after spending a week you know so far away from home but it’s been an amazing trip for me to be able to connect in person with our international team it’s been huge i’ve had some great takeaways from them that I’ll be able to implement during the college season and then all the international players that we’ve seen you know having a reference point to be able to compare the college players that we’ll see in the next few weeks against them would be an amazing opportunity to and you know we’re off to a great start and we have a good foundation to build off of and to debate and kind of really start our process [Music] there’s no time to waste you got to hit the live games early meet people early get intel early and that sets the foundation for the rest of the year it’s not a year like any other i mean we have a huge opportunity and I think that is clear to all of us [Music]

In Episode 3 of SCOUT, follow the Nets’ international scouting team as they travel across Europe evaluating talent, break down its different leagues and playing styles, and offer a firsthand look at life on the road.

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