The German Basketball magazine 'five' has published a bigger interview with Vlade Divac. It came out this week, but took place before the draft. Anyways, I have the feeling, that there are a few important things that he said, that I haven't read about that much before.
So I decided to translate (paraphrase) some passages of the magazine, if you guys are interested.
Five: After all the chaos surrounding the front office, the last few month. Are you the man in charge for the Kings ?
Vlade: Yes.
F: How do you want to lead one of the worst franchises in recent history back to the glory it had when you played for the team ?
V: We have to improve our team. We need more talent. We have a great coach who has reached a lot in this league. We have to get him the players he needs for his philosophy.
We are more talented than the 29 wins from last year may indicate. We want to be a play off team, we do not want to be in the lottery any longer.
F: What happened last year ?
V: It was very unfair to our players. Chaos off the court, three different headcoaches.. How are you supposed to play succesfull basketball under this circumstances ?
It has calmed down now.
I am in charge of the front office (!) Karl is the coach (!) Vivek is the owner (!).
F: What is the time schedule to reach your goals ?
V: Hard to tell. I'm okay with us reaching the play-offs in 2017, as long as we take a huge step forward this season.
F: How is your relationship with George Karl ?
V: We talk every day, have the same approach when it comes to Basketball. The chemestry is great, we work together really good.
F: Is DeMarcus Cousins a player you can not trade?
V: YES. He is one of the best players in the nba, if not the best center in the league. We still believe he could be our franchise player to build around.
F: Why is his reputation in the media still that bad ? Everybody who knows him can tell, that he is a good kid.
V: It's a combination of many things. Big part of it is losing. It's hard for him to change his reputation. He is a good kid, extremely talented. He has to take the next step now and become a leader for his team.
F: Are you an analytics guy or a fan of the 'old school' approach ?
V: Analytics is overrated these days. Yes, they are important to give hints and tendencies on a few things, but are far from being the most important thing to understand Basketball.
I've grown up with this sport, I am involved for over 50 years now. I have a huge network of scouts,agents etc. In the end of the day, it is just Basketball. The only question that really matters: Can this guy play the game ?
F: Other than DeMarcus, which players do you like most in the current roster?
V: Rudy Gay and Darren Collison. Other than that, our young talents Ben McLemore (and Stauskas).
...
These were the most relevant things Vlade said. He also talked about his decision to return to Sacramento, flopping and the future of the NBA. I left this out, because I thought there is no need to discuss it here.
He also talked about plans for the draft, but we all know what happened on draft day.
For me the most important things:
- Everybody on the same page, everyone has his clear, defined role
- Cousins will not be traded
- Vlade doesn't like NBA 3.0 and analytic stuff
- mentions Darren Collison as a player he really likes. Thats a thing that surprised me after this summer.
Hope you guys enjoy.
Feel free to correct me, if I made any language mistakes.
So I decided to translate (paraphrase) some passages of the magazine, if you guys are interested.
Five: After all the chaos surrounding the front office, the last few month. Are you the man in charge for the Kings ?
Vlade: Yes.
F: How do you want to lead one of the worst franchises in recent history back to the glory it had when you played for the team ?
V: We have to improve our team. We need more talent. We have a great coach who has reached a lot in this league. We have to get him the players he needs for his philosophy.
We are more talented than the 29 wins from last year may indicate. We want to be a play off team, we do not want to be in the lottery any longer.
F: What happened last year ?
V: It was very unfair to our players. Chaos off the court, three different headcoaches.. How are you supposed to play succesfull basketball under this circumstances ?
It has calmed down now.
I am in charge of the front office (!) Karl is the coach (!) Vivek is the owner (!).
F: What is the time schedule to reach your goals ?
V: Hard to tell. I'm okay with us reaching the play-offs in 2017, as long as we take a huge step forward this season.
F: How is your relationship with George Karl ?
V: We talk every day, have the same approach when it comes to Basketball. The chemestry is great, we work together really good.
F: Is DeMarcus Cousins a player you can not trade?
V: YES. He is one of the best players in the nba, if not the best center in the league. We still believe he could be our franchise player to build around.
F: Why is his reputation in the media still that bad ? Everybody who knows him can tell, that he is a good kid.
V: It's a combination of many things. Big part of it is losing. It's hard for him to change his reputation. He is a good kid, extremely talented. He has to take the next step now and become a leader for his team.
F: Are you an analytics guy or a fan of the 'old school' approach ?
V: Analytics is overrated these days. Yes, they are important to give hints and tendencies on a few things, but are far from being the most important thing to understand Basketball.
I've grown up with this sport, I am involved for over 50 years now. I have a huge network of scouts,agents etc. In the end of the day, it is just Basketball. The only question that really matters: Can this guy play the game ?
F: Other than DeMarcus, which players do you like most in the current roster?
V: Rudy Gay and Darren Collison. Other than that, our young talents Ben McLemore (and Stauskas).
...
These were the most relevant things Vlade said. He also talked about his decision to return to Sacramento, flopping and the future of the NBA. I left this out, because I thought there is no need to discuss it here.
He also talked about plans for the draft, but we all know what happened on draft day.
For me the most important things:
- Everybody on the same page, everyone has his clear, defined role
- Cousins will not be traded
- Vlade doesn't like NBA 3.0 and analytic stuff
- mentions Darren Collison as a player he really likes. Thats a thing that surprised me after this summer.
Hope you guys enjoy.
Feel free to correct me, if I made any language mistakes.
