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Der Ex-Laker, der kürzlich seinen ehemaligen Coach Hendrik Dettmann als "Fucking Dickhead" :kotz: bezeichnete, über das Leben als Ami in Europa:
Pressure? Try being an American in Europe
By John Celestand
Nov. 15, 2005
The pressure of playing basketball overseas is similar to working in the emergency trauma room of a hospital. So if you’ve never played basketball in Europe or worked in a trauma unit, you don’t know the half of it.
Sorry, NBA veterans. While you may play in the best basketball league, loaded with the greatest talent in the world, the pressure to produce pales in comparison to an overseas job in any country in Europe.
With guaranteed contracts and multi-year deals, NBA stars and role players can sit back, shoot air balls, smoke a cigar and continue counting their money. I am not mad at them. It’s just conversation.
But while many Americans can make big-time money playing overseas basketball, you can bet you bottom dollar -- or Euro for that matter -- they will earn every bit of it.
Since basketball is routed in America, as an American player you had better produce -- or else. You had better lead your team in scoring. You had better lead your team in assists. You had best lead your team in everything, if at all possible. And, you had better win.
You better make sure your teammates are playing well, too. Because at the end of the day, if they play bad, it’s YOUR FAULT. You are not getting them the ball where they want it. If you don’t score enough, you’re not living up to your reputation as an American. Of course, if you score too much, you’re not playing European style. You're just being a selfish American. You figure it out, but it had better be fast. And, you had better win.
If you played in the NBA before coming to Europe, it’s even worse. The referees give you no calls, and you are expected to score 30 points every night -- and you had better win. But you played in the NBA. What do you expect?
Don’t even think about wearing that nice leather jacket you purchased. You think the NBA has a dress code? You had better get comfortable in that team jacket that every one else is wearing. After all, wearing your own style makes you looked down upon and makes others feel as if you are trying to separate yourself from the team.
In Europe, you are a walking billboard on and off the court. You think those ugly sponsorship patches are just on the uniforms on the court? Guess again. If you are awarded a car, as most Americans overseas are, you can be sure that every time you go anywhere, the whole city, town or village will know. Your team banner and every sponsor’s sticker will be plastered all over your car, as though you are on your way to the Indy 500.
And don’t even think about going to a restaurant after a loss. It’s disrespectful to the fans. Mr. American had better just go back to his lonely apartment, watch some C-SPAN, and figure out a way to win.
To make matters worse, in many countries you never get paid on time. One time we were playing a team in Greece and I meet the Americans on the other team out for dinner. I explained to them that I hadn’t been paid in almost a month. They laughed and explained that they hadn’t been paid in three months because their team had been losing.
“Why don’t you just leave?” I asked.
“Because we’ll never get the money,” one player responded.
“What you gonna do?" I asked.
“Try to get a win,” he replied.
Imagine wondering if you are ever going to get paid. Imagine literally playing for your money. Every missed shot is money out the window. Every turnover is another day tacked on to that late payment. It’s like Wimpy from the cartoon Popeye, who says, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”
Nor is it uncommon to come to practice and see a new American warming up on the other end. Usually, only two Americans can play on the same team in Europe. Sometimes, they’ll bring in a new guy and have no intentions on signing him. Just trying to light a fire under you or perhaps scare you into hitting some jump shots. They’ll just bring him in and watch all three of you tear each other’s heads off.
If you don’t play better, you are in trouble. If you do play better, you are in trouble. A good game only makes them think you were dogging it before. A no-win situation, right? No, you had better win.
Legend has it that former Atlanta Hawks star Dominique Wilkins once missed a game-winning shot in a championship game in Bologna, Italy -- the only city in Europe where basketball is more important than soccer. The fans were so enraged that they waited outside of his house and called for his head the next day. Dominique reportedly caught the next plane out with concerns for his safety.
I remember when I was playing in that same city on that same team in 2001. Bologna is the only city in Europe that has two teams. Of course, since I was the American I was expected to carry our team to victory. We were playing our crosstown rivals and I had a miserable time defending my man. He kept posting me up and shooting fadeaway jumpers. He kept taking these long steps when driving to the basket and I kept looking to the ref to call travel.
The coach took me out. “You can’t guard this guy?" he yelled. "You are an American, for gosh sakes!”
When I got to the bench, one of my teammates tried to console me.
“Don’t worry, John," he said. "That guy Ginobili is tough.”
http://www.probasketballnews.com/celestand_1115.html
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Schönes Ende
. Der Rest klingt allerdings doch arg frustriert. Das die Amis alles machen sollen gilt nur für Clubs wie Braunschweig, die am Ende der jeweiligen Tabelle rumkrebsen. Allerdings sind diese Amis ja meist ehemalige College Stars, die viel Geld bekommen und Spitzenverdiener des Klubs sind, da kann man schon ordentliche Leistungen erwarten. Und auch weil sie bei diesen kleineren Vereinen die Stars sein dürfen gehen sie doch oft überhaupt erst dahin. Sich dann gerade darüber zu beschweren ist schon etwas komisch...
Bei den größeren Klubs, und das mag ein Grund sein warum Celestand nicht lange in Bologna oder bei Alba bleiben durfte, sollen sie eben nicht alles machen, sondern sollen ihre jeweilig Rolle im Teamgefüge ausführen. Wahrscheinlich würde er aufgrund des dann gesteigerten Ruhmes am liebsten Topscorer, Rebounder und Assistgeber sein.
Itrgendwie denke ich Celestand kann froh sein, dass er nie auf dem Balkan gespielt hat. Der ehemalige Bonner Coach Danijel Jusup, Kroate, hat den Ex- NCAA Topscorer Jason Conley erstmal einige Spiele lang bei jedem Fehler vom Feld geholt und ihn zusammengeschissen. Laut eigener Aussage wollte er ihm beibringen, dass er jetzt kein NCAA- Kinderbasketball mehr als Hobby spielt, sondern dass es jetzt sein Job ist und esn genauso Arbeit ist wie für den Arbeiter auf dem Bau.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hier sein Brief an die Braunschweiger Fans und Zeitung, laut Braunschweiger Management ist der Brief echt, sie haben mit ihm telefoniert und nachgefragt:
Betreff letter for the newpaper in Braunschweig
He how are you I have sent you a letter that I want you to give to the Zeitung. Let me know if you can do this. Here it is below.
What a bunch of idiots all of you guys are in management. I just don't understand how you can have a bunch of guys who don't know anything about basketball run the whole organization. I feel sorry for all the good people of Braunschweig because they don't deserve this crap. You guys have messed up everything that was ever good there. When I came to Braunschweig many years ago, althought the team was in trouble the management wanted to win and tried their best. You guys are the dumbest group I have ever seen.
You bring in Dettman "the dick head" who knows nothing about how to coach basketball. He knows nothing about how to mangage people. He takes no responsibility for anything that goes wrong. He is nothing near a leader. To say that he was once the coach of your national team is a national disgrace.
I have retired from basketball, not because I can't play anymore but because I would kill myself if I ever ran into another coach like Henrik "the dick head" Dettman.
What kind of roster do you guys want to assemble? Every year you bring in new Americans and you keep the same European guys. Every year its the same shit, terrible basketball. Maybe its not the Americans? Maybe it is the core group of guys that you have had there for the past 4 years. What are you guys thinking?
How could you embarass the city like this? You have a great arena and a horse shit team to show for it. You had Demond Mallet and you ran him out of the team. You listened to jealous players that had no talent, tell you you didn't need him. Where are those players now? Can they help you now? No. They made you deal him away and now Mallet has won a German Championship and is playing in the Euroleague. What in the hell where you guys thinking? You let old washed up players tell you what to do. You have got to be kidding me. Now you are in danger of dropping out of the league, because you listened to old ass Gordon Firic who told you he did not want to play with Mallet. Now what? Any person with any basketball knowledge knows that you need people who know about a business and how to run a business.
Leave me out of the equation, how could you lose Adam Hall? How could you not use Prosper Karangawa effectively? Look at your roster now. Who do you have. You have a bunch of guys who have never played anywhere. No experience, no nothing. Maybe Woolridge can help you guys, but its too late. You have fucked up everything and you will probably drop to the second division.
As management and the city of Braunschweig you have to decide if you want to take basketball seriously or it is just a hobby. I know one thing: In 2001 we made Braunschweig a magical place. When I came back in for 2004/2005 the people were still the same. The city was as beautiful as ever. The basketball was so different. There was no more magic. What are you going to do? The people deserve better. They don't deserve bull shit management, or a bull shit coach, and bull shit effort. If you don't care, then let somebody else do the damn job!
Love John Celestand
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Irgendwie glaube ich, dass die ehemaligen Kollegen nicht gerade gut auf ihn zu sprechen sein werden *g*, vorallem bei Celestands schwachen Vorstellungen in der letzten Saison.
Pressure? Try being an American in Europe
By John Celestand
Nov. 15, 2005
The pressure of playing basketball overseas is similar to working in the emergency trauma room of a hospital. So if you’ve never played basketball in Europe or worked in a trauma unit, you don’t know the half of it.
Sorry, NBA veterans. While you may play in the best basketball league, loaded with the greatest talent in the world, the pressure to produce pales in comparison to an overseas job in any country in Europe.
With guaranteed contracts and multi-year deals, NBA stars and role players can sit back, shoot air balls, smoke a cigar and continue counting their money. I am not mad at them. It’s just conversation.
But while many Americans can make big-time money playing overseas basketball, you can bet you bottom dollar -- or Euro for that matter -- they will earn every bit of it.
Since basketball is routed in America, as an American player you had better produce -- or else. You had better lead your team in scoring. You had better lead your team in assists. You had best lead your team in everything, if at all possible. And, you had better win.
You better make sure your teammates are playing well, too. Because at the end of the day, if they play bad, it’s YOUR FAULT. You are not getting them the ball where they want it. If you don’t score enough, you’re not living up to your reputation as an American. Of course, if you score too much, you’re not playing European style. You're just being a selfish American. You figure it out, but it had better be fast. And, you had better win.
If you played in the NBA before coming to Europe, it’s even worse. The referees give you no calls, and you are expected to score 30 points every night -- and you had better win. But you played in the NBA. What do you expect?
Don’t even think about wearing that nice leather jacket you purchased. You think the NBA has a dress code? You had better get comfortable in that team jacket that every one else is wearing. After all, wearing your own style makes you looked down upon and makes others feel as if you are trying to separate yourself from the team.
In Europe, you are a walking billboard on and off the court. You think those ugly sponsorship patches are just on the uniforms on the court? Guess again. If you are awarded a car, as most Americans overseas are, you can be sure that every time you go anywhere, the whole city, town or village will know. Your team banner and every sponsor’s sticker will be plastered all over your car, as though you are on your way to the Indy 500.
And don’t even think about going to a restaurant after a loss. It’s disrespectful to the fans. Mr. American had better just go back to his lonely apartment, watch some C-SPAN, and figure out a way to win.
To make matters worse, in many countries you never get paid on time. One time we were playing a team in Greece and I meet the Americans on the other team out for dinner. I explained to them that I hadn’t been paid in almost a month. They laughed and explained that they hadn’t been paid in three months because their team had been losing.
“Why don’t you just leave?” I asked.
“Because we’ll never get the money,” one player responded.
“What you gonna do?" I asked.
“Try to get a win,” he replied.
Imagine wondering if you are ever going to get paid. Imagine literally playing for your money. Every missed shot is money out the window. Every turnover is another day tacked on to that late payment. It’s like Wimpy from the cartoon Popeye, who says, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”
Nor is it uncommon to come to practice and see a new American warming up on the other end. Usually, only two Americans can play on the same team in Europe. Sometimes, they’ll bring in a new guy and have no intentions on signing him. Just trying to light a fire under you or perhaps scare you into hitting some jump shots. They’ll just bring him in and watch all three of you tear each other’s heads off.
If you don’t play better, you are in trouble. If you do play better, you are in trouble. A good game only makes them think you were dogging it before. A no-win situation, right? No, you had better win.
Legend has it that former Atlanta Hawks star Dominique Wilkins once missed a game-winning shot in a championship game in Bologna, Italy -- the only city in Europe where basketball is more important than soccer. The fans were so enraged that they waited outside of his house and called for his head the next day. Dominique reportedly caught the next plane out with concerns for his safety.
I remember when I was playing in that same city on that same team in 2001. Bologna is the only city in Europe that has two teams. Of course, since I was the American I was expected to carry our team to victory. We were playing our crosstown rivals and I had a miserable time defending my man. He kept posting me up and shooting fadeaway jumpers. He kept taking these long steps when driving to the basket and I kept looking to the ref to call travel.
The coach took me out. “You can’t guard this guy?" he yelled. "You are an American, for gosh sakes!”
When I got to the bench, one of my teammates tried to console me.
“Don’t worry, John," he said. "That guy Ginobili is tough.”
http://www.probasketballnews.com/celestand_1115.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Schönes Ende
. Der Rest klingt allerdings doch arg frustriert. Das die Amis alles machen sollen gilt nur für Clubs wie Braunschweig, die am Ende der jeweiligen Tabelle rumkrebsen. Allerdings sind diese Amis ja meist ehemalige College Stars, die viel Geld bekommen und Spitzenverdiener des Klubs sind, da kann man schon ordentliche Leistungen erwarten. Und auch weil sie bei diesen kleineren Vereinen die Stars sein dürfen gehen sie doch oft überhaupt erst dahin. Sich dann gerade darüber zu beschweren ist schon etwas komisch...Bei den größeren Klubs, und das mag ein Grund sein warum Celestand nicht lange in Bologna oder bei Alba bleiben durfte, sollen sie eben nicht alles machen, sondern sollen ihre jeweilig Rolle im Teamgefüge ausführen. Wahrscheinlich würde er aufgrund des dann gesteigerten Ruhmes am liebsten Topscorer, Rebounder und Assistgeber sein.
Itrgendwie denke ich Celestand kann froh sein, dass er nie auf dem Balkan gespielt hat. Der ehemalige Bonner Coach Danijel Jusup, Kroate, hat den Ex- NCAA Topscorer Jason Conley erstmal einige Spiele lang bei jedem Fehler vom Feld geholt und ihn zusammengeschissen. Laut eigener Aussage wollte er ihm beibringen, dass er jetzt kein NCAA- Kinderbasketball mehr als Hobby spielt, sondern dass es jetzt sein Job ist und esn genauso Arbeit ist wie für den Arbeiter auf dem Bau.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hier sein Brief an die Braunschweiger Fans und Zeitung, laut Braunschweiger Management ist der Brief echt, sie haben mit ihm telefoniert und nachgefragt:
Betreff letter for the newpaper in Braunschweig
He how are you I have sent you a letter that I want you to give to the Zeitung. Let me know if you can do this. Here it is below.
What a bunch of idiots all of you guys are in management. I just don't understand how you can have a bunch of guys who don't know anything about basketball run the whole organization. I feel sorry for all the good people of Braunschweig because they don't deserve this crap. You guys have messed up everything that was ever good there. When I came to Braunschweig many years ago, althought the team was in trouble the management wanted to win and tried their best. You guys are the dumbest group I have ever seen.
You bring in Dettman "the dick head" who knows nothing about how to coach basketball. He knows nothing about how to mangage people. He takes no responsibility for anything that goes wrong. He is nothing near a leader. To say that he was once the coach of your national team is a national disgrace.
I have retired from basketball, not because I can't play anymore but because I would kill myself if I ever ran into another coach like Henrik "the dick head" Dettman.
What kind of roster do you guys want to assemble? Every year you bring in new Americans and you keep the same European guys. Every year its the same shit, terrible basketball. Maybe its not the Americans? Maybe it is the core group of guys that you have had there for the past 4 years. What are you guys thinking?
How could you embarass the city like this? You have a great arena and a horse shit team to show for it. You had Demond Mallet and you ran him out of the team. You listened to jealous players that had no talent, tell you you didn't need him. Where are those players now? Can they help you now? No. They made you deal him away and now Mallet has won a German Championship and is playing in the Euroleague. What in the hell where you guys thinking? You let old washed up players tell you what to do. You have got to be kidding me. Now you are in danger of dropping out of the league, because you listened to old ass Gordon Firic who told you he did not want to play with Mallet. Now what? Any person with any basketball knowledge knows that you need people who know about a business and how to run a business.
Leave me out of the equation, how could you lose Adam Hall? How could you not use Prosper Karangawa effectively? Look at your roster now. Who do you have. You have a bunch of guys who have never played anywhere. No experience, no nothing. Maybe Woolridge can help you guys, but its too late. You have fucked up everything and you will probably drop to the second division.
As management and the city of Braunschweig you have to decide if you want to take basketball seriously or it is just a hobby. I know one thing: In 2001 we made Braunschweig a magical place. When I came back in for 2004/2005 the people were still the same. The city was as beautiful as ever. The basketball was so different. There was no more magic. What are you going to do? The people deserve better. They don't deserve bull shit management, or a bull shit coach, and bull shit effort. If you don't care, then let somebody else do the damn job!
Love John Celestand
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Irgendwie glaube ich, dass die ehemaligen Kollegen nicht gerade gut auf ihn zu sprechen sein werden *g*, vorallem bei Celestands schwachen Vorstellungen in der letzten Saison.
Zuletzt bearbeitet:
