Angry Tanjevic calls NBA coaches “stupid”
Coach of the Turkish national men’s basketball team Bogdan Tanjevic has lashed out at his American counterparts, saying most of the NBA coaches are “stupid.”
The Montenegrin coach was quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport, where his team was to face Italy in a European Basketball Championship qualifying game yesterday.
Tanjevic returned to coaching after a one and a half year hiatus spurred when he left the post after the 2010 World Championships due to an illness. He returned to the post earlier this summer and had been assigned the task of leading Turkey to the 2013 EuroBasket.
Tanjevic is heading a younger team in the qualifiers but without the help of Utah Jazz player Enes Kanter, who chose to spend the summer preparing for the new National Basketball Association season.
“Kanter is a huge talent and we miss him a lot. He decided not to join us but honestly, he needs us more than we need him,” Tanjevic said to La Gazzetta.
Tanjevic said he was not surprised by the 20-year-old’s decision and did not want to contact the Jazz coach to ask for permission.
“I am not surprised at all that Kanter refused to join us,” Tanjevic said. “America is the right place to lose your brain. First, because of the coaches who don’t understand anything; in the NBA there are just three or four good coaches who in the last 100 years, gain billions and win trophies. The other ones are stupid, Tyrone Corbin included. I didn’t want to call him. I should have told him and that I was going to do him a favor teaching basketball to one of his guys and he would have gained money on that. But I really can’t talk to guys who don’t know what they are doing.”
Tanjevic said Kanter had lost some of his abilities while playing in the United States.
“Kanter forgot how to play basketball,” he said, adding that it was a mistake to use the player in the center position. “He is 2.10m but he is the best shooter in the Turkish team, guards included. And in the NBA he never takes a shot.”
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Gasol and Parker best players in the NBA? Man, give me a break! Which planet are you from? The only way Europeans can survive in the NBA is because we changed the rules to cover up their weaknesses (zone defense for example). Europeans can’t defend anybody one on one, nor can they score without the help of screens and set-plays. The only reason why they even play in the NBA is because the NBA wants to have a global appeal and make more money.
That coach has some balls to make a statement like that. What does he know about the NBA? How many rings does he have? Everybody in the world knows the names of the NBA players and coaches. Who has ever heard about this Turkish dude, who thinks he is all that?
Best players in NBA: Gasol, Parker, Nowitzki. Viva Europa!
Yankee go home!! Basketball in usa is only big circus. Player don’t now anything from tactics. Only dunking!
I’m tired of all these Euro stiffs who think they can play. Yeah, they are good at bashing but when push comes to shove Team USA always kicks their ass with 40 points or more. Get real!
Man, we are talking about basketball, not about track and field which americans are for surely the best.
Tanjevic is right, right and again right.
These NBA coaches are just informed fans and NEVER NEVER can coach in Europe.
Tanjevic is the first famous Basketball person who says what many Europeans have already been thinking for a long time.
He is one of the best coaches in Europe, he can say whatever he feels, and will or will not take consequences. Many people think exactly what Bosha said, I think it was not appropriate language and word selection, but again, his choice. Amusing article after many serious ones!!! Congrats to the editor!!!
Very interesting way of looking at things…
Hahaha. Love it!
He could have chosen his words a bit differently but there is some (a lot of ?) truth in what he says.
In the end its all about money. If your employer, who pays you millions, says you should stay here, you stay (though you may know the alternative is better). I someone else, who doesn’t pay you anything, says come to me you only go if the previously mentioned paying employer is a 100% ok with it.
Almost everyone would have done what Kanter did, though I am not saying i (or he himself for that matter) think its the best choice for his development as a player or for the future of his career.
Money talks..
Tanjevic just said what the whole world think but don’t say.
The whole “rest of” the world maybe..
I guarantee you there is not an American who agrees with this. Or at the very best, just a few.
he might be right for Enes not using his potential, but this wont give him the right to tell some other person stupid