Conversation with Chris Wallace

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

The Jewish Ledger
Conversation withChris Wallace
By Ricky Greenfield
	
Basketball has global appeal, says Celtics' GM

March 26, 2004 - One of the foremost evaluators of basketball talent, Chris Wallace is entering his seventh season as General Manager of the Boston Celtics.

Wallace was in Miami before coming to Boston and was a scout looking for talent both domestically and internationally before being promoted to the position of director of player personnel. Prior to joining the Heat, Wallace was also was involved with Portland, Denver, the LA Clippers, and the New York Knicks. He also worked as a draft consultant for the United States Basketball League. Sports Illustrated named Wallace as one of the most influential members of the college basketball media in 1991. He has also served as an expert witness in basketball-related litigation. A native of Buckhannon, West Virginia, Chris and his wife, Debby, have a son, Truman.

Wallace still travels extensively around the world in search of basketball talent and goes to Israel regularly. We recently caught up with him during one of his many trips.

Q: Chris, you've been an observer of the international basketball scene for a number of years now. How would you describe its development and what's been happening there recently?

A: Basketball is now a truly global game. That the NBA now has over 60 foreign-born players coming from over 25 different countries says much about where the pro game is going and what's happening to basketball overseas. 
	
	
Q: How do you explain all of this talent suddenly coming into the league from outside of the United States?

A: Basketball is being played by more and more people around the world and the huge numbers being added to the talent pool is bound to increase the amount of talent that comes out of it. More kids are playing the game in more and more places so that the NBA now has players from places like South America and China as well as Europe. China for example has immense numbers playing the game and over time the demographic weight of those numbers will produce more players. Yao Ming is only a start of what we'll see from there.

Q: What's the major difference between the American game and the European one?

A: The games are coming closer together, but there's a big difference in the way players develop in both places. In the U.S., players come out of a school-based system while in Europe, kids come to the sport through a club system. Clubs aren't tied to academic institutions and are dedicated to the sport they were put together for. That means that European kids aren't constrained in their development in some ways U.S. kids are. For example, American kids in an NCAA program can be in the gym to practice or play games only so many hours per week. Rules determine what they can and can't do with their school based team in the off season, before the season starts and after it's over. A club system doesn't. That allows a club youngster to train all year round and be supervised by the same coach during that time. Fundamentals and skills become much more important when they are a constant focus. American kids focus most of their attention on games, and Europeans stress skills and development. The European youngster gets to shoot the ball thousands of more times than an American does in any given year.

Q: You make a number of trips to Europe and Israel regularly. Tell us about the European League and Israeli basketball.

A: Every European country has its own set of teams and leagues, but only a few teams play in the top league, which is now the European League. There are 24 teams from various countries and Maccabbi Tel Aviv is Israel's one team in the League. In 2001 Maccabbi won the European championships in Paris and it has been competitive every year for quite some time. Championship contenders are determined by a point system and not a "one and done" system like the NCAA we're watching today. This builds up to the exciting European championships. Maccabbi Tel Aviv is hosting this year's European championship in Israel at the end of April.

Q: How seriously does Israel follow this team?

A: Fan support for Maccabbi Tel Aviv is tremendous. I don't think I've ever seen anything as intense as when Israel won the championship in Paris a few years ago. European basketball fans are very passionate and Israeli fans are no exception. Blue and white flags are all over the stadium whenever they play. Your readers, I'm sure, will remember Nadav Henefeld and Doron Sheffer who played for Coach Calhoun at UConn several years ago. They both ended up playing for Maccabbi Tel Aviv and were fan favorites.

Q: What can we expect to see Maccabbi Tel Aviv do this year?

A: While just about anything can happen in the playoffs, Maccabbi is considered one of the top teams in contention. A number of observers feel that they could win the title this year. But again, that's not a certainty, but at the very least they should be one of the top teams in the finals.

Q: Why is Maccabbi so competitive?

A Basketball has become one big melting pot of nationalities and Maccabbi Tel Aviv finds itself right on top of the talent pool. It looks for players wherever it can find them. Tal Brody, is the legendary head of Maccabbi Tel Aviv and has been a guiding force for Israeli basketball. He's as astute a basketball man as there is and the program's success reflects that. This year the team's being coached by Pini Gershon, but long time coach David Blatt who played ball at Princeton as an undergrad and is from Framingham, Mass, is still involved with the program.

Q: What does the NBA think about the rapid international development of this sport?

A: The NBA is the engine that is drawing the rest of the world to this game. David Stern has been as aggressive a visionary as any professional sports commissioner has ever been and is responsible for knocking down all the barriers to basketball so that it flows into just about every corner of the world. While the U.S. is enthralled by March Madness and the college game this time of year, the NBA is always the focus for the international fan. They know the players, the teams and the game. Whether its Spain, Turkey, Israel or Italy, fans in those countries know the NBA cold. Much of the credit for that belongs to David Stern.