Ettore Messina: Lessons about the game and life
Under Gregg Popovich's wing right now, is italian basketball coach Ettore Messina.
It appears Messina's a great fit with the Spur's system as he has similar philosophies with the Spur's ideals.
Here are excerpts from Ettore Messina's interview with Above the Rim: Rules of Life
On Leadership
You cannot be a dictator because people think, and people have their own opinions, at the same time we cannot make a vote every time that we have to make a decision two seconds in the floor, so sometimes somebody has to take the decisions.
and at the same time you can have two kinds of discipline. Discipline that you force with strength and power and the discipline that people accept to put on them-self because they are responsible. Usually the great teams, are those teams where self discipline is based on a strong sense of responsibility and these teams usually win and have great success for a long time.
Sticking with the system
I think at one point you always face this famous question, [...] Are more important, the rules or the people? I do not know the perfect answer because this goes way beyond. I think nobody has the perfect answer. What i know is that the great organizations, this is proved in every level. If they have to choose between the principles and the people, They chose the principle. When you give up on the principles, sooner or later you will breakdown. That's history. History of the countries, history of the companies, history of the clubs. It's not myself who am saying this. If you just read a little bit of history, you find that this is the general rule.
On Humility and Respect
Personally, i am afraid of people who never say "i'm sorry, i made a mistake", in every kind of activity. And there are a lot of people that i knew for maybe 30 years. Though they are nice. and that i have good time with them. i dont remember them saying "i'm sorry, i made a mistake". Even with the players, sometimes, i make a mistake because i make the wrong substitution. sometimes i make a mistake because i do not prepare well one specific detail of the game. sometimes i play man and i should have played zone for maybe two minutes. and vice versa. You never have the perfect performance. Never. and sometimes you make huge mistakes. maybe you should have fouled and you don't foul and you lose the game. and vice versa. so i don't see any problem in telling the players i'm sorry, i made a mistake. and to me it's more a matter of respecting myself first, and then everybody else. it's not a false desire to be respectful of somebody else. i will have a hard time just to live with this thing inside me if i cannot take it out. it's very simple.
On Engagement and Integration
You cannot force friendship. You cannot force integration. You cannot force togetherness. You can just help. In my first year here in CSKA, i usually change who was rooming with. and by the end of the season, i let them do whatever they prefer because they had made a great effort to integrate one with the other. If the players dont make this effort, at the end, you cannot push against the wall. You can try at the beginning to help maybe an american with a russian, a Russian with a serbian.[...] but then if the players don't really want to get together there is no artificial weapon to find a solution.
On Loyalty and Consistency
You know i think that mutual trust comes from behaviors. If you have a constant behavior of loyalty or respect of the rules, people will respect you. I always say the same story that, if i am in bologna and i go always to buy my newspaper in the same place, the person knows me everyday and gives me the newspaper and if someday i forgot the money, he will give me the newspaper waiting for me to pay the following day. but if i go to a place where they do not know me and they do not know that i'm a serious person and i respect my obligation, i can ask for a free newspaper for 24 hours, they will not give me credit, they will not give me the newspaper. So i think the same thing applies in the relationship between human beings.
If i have let's say a tradition of loyal behavior probably it's easier for me to get some trust from the players. The problem is when let's say when the people take away the trust, not because of the behavior but because of the outcome of this behavior. I mean you have been loyal but because of what you did. i am suffering something that i don't want to suffer. You know, for example, You behaved well. You are a good coach. but you put me on the bench. Now, i don't trust you anymore. It's not that i don't trust you because you were disloyal. I do not trust you because you applied the rule in a way that i think is against me. To see yourself in the mirror, i think is the most difficult part of every job. It's difficult for me to watch myself in the mirror and say this is wrong and it's very difficult for a player, because a player is also younger, he thinks a lot of himself, he has a lot of self confidence. so sometimes you think of decisions that the player don't like. I completely disagree. if a player takes away the trust because he does not like your decision. and unfortunately there are a lot of people around the players that when you take his decision, even a sharp decision against the player. Go there and they tell them, coach was wrong, it should not have done that. so i always say one thing, You are a strong coach. You have your strong position as long as people behind you support you and defend you. You cannot be a good coach, if you don't have a strong organization behind you.
On managing fear
I have great respect and also friendship with Sasha Danilovic, which is the president of partisan, he played with me in bologna for many years. and he always told me something that i was really hit. He was always telling me, Ettore don't believe those players who tell you that they are not afraid, because everybody is afraid before going on court. sasha was one of the greatest players ever in Europe. He was telling me, I was afraid before I was going on the floor, but the big difference is between those players who manage to transform that fear into aggressiveness. And those who get killed by the fear, and they become shaky, they become tentative.
Also i know, that a little level of fear is good for the team to be ready to play the game, because when you are not afraid of your opponent, you become superficial. and there are a lot of examples where teams become superficial. not because they don't respect the other opponent. but because they just get overwhelmed by the feeling that the game will be won. That the game is not so difficult. and when you start thinking that the game is not so difficult, instinctively, you relax a little bit. and then when the other team become aggressive, you are surprised by the aggressiveness. you get hit here [in the face]. and now it's finished.
On sticking with the principles
The most common joke that we have in the coaches world, is that when we imitate a coach sitting on the bench who sees a player doing some crazy stuff, and he's saying what, what are you doing? and then the ball goes in, and says bravo, bravo great shot. This is the paradox. and i think it's not fair. It's not loyal to evaluate the decisions of a player only if the ball goes in or out. I think it's very important for everybody that we evaluate his decisions on how much he is doing that inside our system, inside our way of playing, inside of being respectful of the team mates, the game, of everything. Sometimes, he can be lucky and score, sometimes he can be unlucky and maybe the ball goes in and out, and then out. but that's not what makes the good play. the good play is because we see something which is smart and is according to our way of seeing basketball. To do this I go back to what I said before you need to have built some common way of seeing basketball. and this is the most difficult part, because sometimes, one player sees the game his way. i see the game my way. and other players sees the game in another way. and everybody can be very stubborn in his vision and just want to stick with it. and this is the worst part. If you have a lot of stubborn people that doesn't want to be flexible, it's very difficult to create a team.
Finally, on respecting the past
For me, tradition and memory mean a lot. I don't think we can have a future whatever we're doing if we do not know the past. and if we don't respect the past.
It appears Messina's a great fit with the Spur's system as he has similar philosophies with the Spur's ideals.
Here are excerpts from Ettore Messina's interview with Above the Rim: Rules of Life
On Leadership
You cannot be a dictator because people think, and people have their own opinions, at the same time we cannot make a vote every time that we have to make a decision two seconds in the floor, so sometimes somebody has to take the decisions.
and at the same time you can have two kinds of discipline. Discipline that you force with strength and power and the discipline that people accept to put on them-self because they are responsible. Usually the great teams, are those teams where self discipline is based on a strong sense of responsibility and these teams usually win and have great success for a long time.
Sticking with the system
I think at one point you always face this famous question, [...] Are more important, the rules or the people? I do not know the perfect answer because this goes way beyond. I think nobody has the perfect answer. What i know is that the great organizations, this is proved in every level. If they have to choose between the principles and the people, They chose the principle. When you give up on the principles, sooner or later you will breakdown. That's history. History of the countries, history of the companies, history of the clubs. It's not myself who am saying this. If you just read a little bit of history, you find that this is the general rule.
On Humility and Respect
Personally, i am afraid of people who never say "i'm sorry, i made a mistake", in every kind of activity. And there are a lot of people that i knew for maybe 30 years. Though they are nice. and that i have good time with them. i dont remember them saying "i'm sorry, i made a mistake". Even with the players, sometimes, i make a mistake because i make the wrong substitution. sometimes i make a mistake because i do not prepare well one specific detail of the game. sometimes i play man and i should have played zone for maybe two minutes. and vice versa. You never have the perfect performance. Never. and sometimes you make huge mistakes. maybe you should have fouled and you don't foul and you lose the game. and vice versa. so i don't see any problem in telling the players i'm sorry, i made a mistake. and to me it's more a matter of respecting myself first, and then everybody else. it's not a false desire to be respectful of somebody else. i will have a hard time just to live with this thing inside me if i cannot take it out. it's very simple.
On Engagement and Integration
You cannot force friendship. You cannot force integration. You cannot force togetherness. You can just help. In my first year here in CSKA, i usually change who was rooming with. and by the end of the season, i let them do whatever they prefer because they had made a great effort to integrate one with the other. If the players dont make this effort, at the end, you cannot push against the wall. You can try at the beginning to help maybe an american with a russian, a Russian with a serbian.[...] but then if the players don't really want to get together there is no artificial weapon to find a solution.
On Loyalty and Consistency
You know i think that mutual trust comes from behaviors. If you have a constant behavior of loyalty or respect of the rules, people will respect you. I always say the same story that, if i am in bologna and i go always to buy my newspaper in the same place, the person knows me everyday and gives me the newspaper and if someday i forgot the money, he will give me the newspaper waiting for me to pay the following day. but if i go to a place where they do not know me and they do not know that i'm a serious person and i respect my obligation, i can ask for a free newspaper for 24 hours, they will not give me credit, they will not give me the newspaper. So i think the same thing applies in the relationship between human beings.
If i have let's say a tradition of loyal behavior probably it's easier for me to get some trust from the players. The problem is when let's say when the people take away the trust, not because of the behavior but because of the outcome of this behavior. I mean you have been loyal but because of what you did. i am suffering something that i don't want to suffer. You know, for example, You behaved well. You are a good coach. but you put me on the bench. Now, i don't trust you anymore. It's not that i don't trust you because you were disloyal. I do not trust you because you applied the rule in a way that i think is against me. To see yourself in the mirror, i think is the most difficult part of every job. It's difficult for me to watch myself in the mirror and say this is wrong and it's very difficult for a player, because a player is also younger, he thinks a lot of himself, he has a lot of self confidence. so sometimes you think of decisions that the player don't like. I completely disagree. if a player takes away the trust because he does not like your decision. and unfortunately there are a lot of people around the players that when you take his decision, even a sharp decision against the player. Go there and they tell them, coach was wrong, it should not have done that. so i always say one thing, You are a strong coach. You have your strong position as long as people behind you support you and defend you. You cannot be a good coach, if you don't have a strong organization behind you.
On managing fear
I have great respect and also friendship with Sasha Danilovic, which is the president of partisan, he played with me in bologna for many years. and he always told me something that i was really hit. He was always telling me, Ettore don't believe those players who tell you that they are not afraid, because everybody is afraid before going on court. sasha was one of the greatest players ever in Europe. He was telling me, I was afraid before I was going on the floor, but the big difference is between those players who manage to transform that fear into aggressiveness. And those who get killed by the fear, and they become shaky, they become tentative.
Also i know, that a little level of fear is good for the team to be ready to play the game, because when you are not afraid of your opponent, you become superficial. and there are a lot of examples where teams become superficial. not because they don't respect the other opponent. but because they just get overwhelmed by the feeling that the game will be won. That the game is not so difficult. and when you start thinking that the game is not so difficult, instinctively, you relax a little bit. and then when the other team become aggressive, you are surprised by the aggressiveness. you get hit here [in the face]. and now it's finished.
On sticking with the principles
The most common joke that we have in the coaches world, is that when we imitate a coach sitting on the bench who sees a player doing some crazy stuff, and he's saying what, what are you doing? and then the ball goes in, and says bravo, bravo great shot. This is the paradox. and i think it's not fair. It's not loyal to evaluate the decisions of a player only if the ball goes in or out. I think it's very important for everybody that we evaluate his decisions on how much he is doing that inside our system, inside our way of playing, inside of being respectful of the team mates, the game, of everything. Sometimes, he can be lucky and score, sometimes he can be unlucky and maybe the ball goes in and out, and then out. but that's not what makes the good play. the good play is because we see something which is smart and is according to our way of seeing basketball. To do this I go back to what I said before you need to have built some common way of seeing basketball. and this is the most difficult part, because sometimes, one player sees the game his way. i see the game my way. and other players sees the game in another way. and everybody can be very stubborn in his vision and just want to stick with it. and this is the worst part. If you have a lot of stubborn people that doesn't want to be flexible, it's very difficult to create a team.
Finally, on respecting the past
For me, tradition and memory mean a lot. I don't think we can have a future whatever we're doing if we do not know the past. and if we don't respect the past.
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