By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
He is the first non-American citizen who took the role of vice president and assistant general manager in an NBA team. His experience in Europe and the excellent knowledge of international market brought him in Toronto Raptors, where he has a very influential position. Maurizio Gherardini followed closely the Euroleague’s final four in Istanbul and the NIJT tournament, in which recorded much information about the players who will follow in the future.
The Euroleague’s final, however, was decided by a player who he picked in 2007 draft for the Raptors – after a trade with the Spurs– and was for several years under close supervision. Giorgos Printezis scored the buzzer beater for Olympiacos in the final against CSKA and Gherardini spoke to Eurohoops.net for him explaining that never is too late for the NBA.
“Printezis is in top European level”
“I have watched him in a lot of games this year. He is more mature and in almost every game Olympiacos can contribute in high level. I think he is more relaxed with his role and you can tell that body language speaks a lot. He’s happy and he likes this kind of leadership role he has. He is one important piece of Olympiacos’ picture. I’ve seen Olympiacos games few times during the season and every time Printezis did something good. I’m not surprised that he is doing his best season in his career” was the first comment of Italian manager for Olympiacos’ forward adding about his excellent development during this season: “When a player is developing you can never know how long it will take, sometimes it takes years, sometimes six months and sometimes it never happen. Giorgos has done a very good career and I think he has to be happy with what he has done. There is no doubt that he is in top European level”.
The Raptors acquired Printezis’ rights in the NBA draft pick in 2007, but last December gave them to New York Knicks. Is there, however, a future for the Greek forward in the NBA, since he is already 27 years old? The man who believed Printezis in the beginning of his career doesn’t close the door for him and believes that “in NBA you can never know when an opportunity will come. Basically, it’s matter of luck and time. Sometimes the opportunity never comes and sometimes is already there. But I think Printezis is still young and you can’t predict what’s going to happen”.
“We are waiting Valanciunas”
Toronto Raptors, however, wait eagerly for the arrival of another European, Jonas Valanciunas. The 20 year old Lithuanian center was selected at No. 5 last year’s draft pick and… is already on the way to Toronto.
Gherardini says: “We are already very excited with him because he will be an important part of us. He is a good player, he has talent, he has motive and we are waiting for him. He had a very long season. His team, Lietuvos Rytas was one of the few teams in Europe that played in four different competitions and reached at the end in almost every one. Now he will go to his national team because it’s so important for Lithuania to reach Olympics. On the other hand I must refer that I’m very excited about his arrival to Toronto because we already have a good group of young talented players and we want to add also him”.
“Passport doesn’t matter”
Raptors are the team with most Europeans than any other NBA team (Kleiza, Calderon, Barniani). So maybe can this factor help a lot Valanciunas? “The adjustment always needs time. Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes shorter. I think he has to be positive to learn so to adopt quicker. Every player has to learn, no matter how good player is”.
The vice president and assistant general manager of Raptors emphasizes however, that the quantity of players from Europe hasn’t specific target: “I think it’s not that the team is made on purpose with international players or American players. The decisions are made so to collect to best possible pieces to our team. The players that come from any country of the world adopt easier if they find other international players. But we don’t care about the nationality but the quality of the player. We want to be successful. NBA business and generally sports have this target. When you make the decision for the players you don’t look at the passport. But I think Toronto is an excited city and a very good environment for the international players to adopt”.