BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN’S basketball national team must strive to “get better every day” and take things one possession at a time, says newly signed head coach Georgios Vovoras.
The renowned Greek tactician had taken charge of the kingdom’s senior men’s squad a little more than two weeks ago and is determined to make an immediate positive mark on his players.
Despite taking on a national team head coaching role for the first time in his career, Vovoras has vast experience at the highest levels of the game. He is now hopeful of helping elevate Bahrain’s national team to new heights and nurturing the kingdom’s top stars for a bright future. "It’s a new challenge for me,” Vovoras told the GDN in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of national team practice at the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) Arena in Umm Al Hassam.
“When I heard about the interest, I started to find information about Bahrain basketball. I talked with a lot of people around the area, and I heard very good things about the work ethic, which was very important for me.
“The ambition the federation has for the national team was for me a great challenge in one small country, but they want to be better and have an impact on the area, and I was very happy for this.
“The people from the federation come every day and watch our practice, and I see the desire to create something really good. I’m very happy about my decision.”
Vovoras stressed on the importance of building “step by step” and improving on a daily basis. "From my side, I will try to build step by step,” he explained. “First of all and most important is the mindset – the mentality that we need to be better every day on the court, every game.
“I believe we need to have small goals, and when we have one goal, we can go to the next one. This is I think the key to success – try to be better every day, every day in practice, every tournament, every game. This is my philosophy.
“I’d also like to see every possession to win. With this mentality, I think we can create something really good.”
Vovoras has a proven track record in international basketball, having coached at a number of top clubs across Europe, including in Greece, Russia, Cyprus, Hungary, and most recently Lithuania. His last head coaching position before signing with Bahrain was with Lithuanian outfit Neptunas Klaipeda.
The 48-year-old was also a member of the technical staff of teams that participated in elite tournaments such as the Euroleague and Eurocup, in addition to the NBA Summer League in the US with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017 and the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023.
“I would like to learn about Bahrain basketball; I would like to learn the culture, and learn the players,” he said. “The players are the stars, so we need to create an environment where everyone feels safe, everyone feels happy. Creating a family spirit was my priority from day one. "To go to every game and think of only one possession – doesn’t matter if it was a good possession or a bad possession – we need to go to the next possession, not overreact. If we start to think like this, it would be better every game, and every day, we will be better.”
One of the first competitions Vovoras will be on the sidelines for Bahrain is the 44th William Jones Cup, set to take place in Taiwan from July 12 to 20.
The tournament is organised by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association and it will be the national team’s second appearance in the event, following their debut over four decades ago in the 1978 edition.
Vovoras has begun training with the national team locally. They are soon scheduled to depart for an overseas training camp and then head straight to Taipei for their upcoming competition.
Vovoras is currently working with a line-up that includes the kingdom’s leading international talents such as Mustafa Hussain, Muzamil Ameer, Mohammed Ameer, Ahmed Salman, Subah Hussain, Mohammed Juma’a, Ahmed Khalifa, Ali Hussain, Abdulqader Thani, Ali Jaber, Murtadha Salman, Mohammed Ghazi, Hamad Faisal, Ali Hussain, Mahmood Abbas, and naturalised players Wayne Chism, Elijah Thomas, and Jakarr Sampson.
“What I will promise to our fans and with all the players is that every time you will come to watch our game, they will have big desire for every possession,” said Vovoras. “The fans will love the spirit of the team and enjoy every game.”
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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