Most people can only dream about participating in the Olympics. Gregory Echenique is hoping to turn that dream into reality. Creighton’s junior post player is back in his native Venezuela, practicing with the national team in hopes of reaching the 2012 London Olympics. The first step is winning the qualifier in Mar del Plata, Argentina in early September.
Eric Musselman is Echenique’s coach. Aside from previous national team stints with the Dominican Republic and coaching the U.S. and China in separate Adidas Global Experience tournaments, Musselman is a one-time runner-up for the NBA Coach of the Year Award. We’ve enjoyed reading Echenique’s blog about his time with the Venezuela National Team. But for a different perspective, WBR will be keeping up with Echenique’s team through Musselman and assistant coach Brad Greenberg.
This week, Musselman talks about the first few days of practice:
White & Blue Review: What have been the biggest challenges for you since arriving in Venezuela?
Eric Musselman: For me personally it has been the challenge of coaching with a torn Achilles tendon and being on crutches. It is hard to demonstrate the techniques on both offense and defense. Our assistant coach Brad Greenberg has been doing a great job of teaching our philosophy. Also, the language barrier with some players who do not speak English can make practice slow down at times.
WBR: In these first weeks of practice, what types of things are you and your staff focusing on with the team?
EM: Because we play Japan twice at the end of the month we must put in enough on both sides of the ball to play games. Also, we only have 7 weeks together with a young team that has not played much together before.
WBR: How is coaching a national team different from a college or NBA team?
EM: College teams have a lot of practice time, and in both the NBA and college your team will show improvement over the course of a 6- to 9-month season. With national teams, you are together for 1 to 2 months and only play a small number of games. With national teams, wins and losses are magnified.
WBR: It appears Echenique has played a special role on the team so far. What has your team done to overcome any language barriers?
EM: Gregory has been great. He has been a direct link to the coaching staff, as he has been interpreting for us. He has also been the coaching staff’s translator from English to Spanish. He has shown great maturity in handling that responsibility.
WBR: How has Echenique looked in practice so far? What does he bring to this team that sticks out amongst the others?
EM: Gregory has been practicing very well, has been very focused, and is a willing learner. He gives us size, has the ability to run for a big man, he can rebound the ball well, and has very good hands.
WBR: How will your team use the upcoming games against Japan to prepare for the tournaments in August and for the Olympic qualifier?
EM: We need to use the Japan games to find out where we are as a team, and how players will perform in game situations. We need the pressure of a clock and crowd. We will also try to win every time there’s a scoreboard.