Interviews

COPPA Santino

Priolo historical coach

18 Dec 2009

What Santino thinks about Women's Basketball

We took advantage of Santino Coppa's great experience and knowledge to talk with him about the evolution of Women’s basketball.

Could you compare the difference of the Italian Women’s Basketball in the 90’s and now in terms of professionalism?
The difference is not so much in terms of professionalism as before Women’s Basketball was professional as well. The difference is that now, there are not a lot of coaches who teach the fundamentals of Basketball. But the players were professionals and still are professionals.

In your opinion, why the coaches don’t teach any more?
I don’t know... You know I’m from the “old school” and in the “old school” the fundamentals are very important. You can’t understand the game and give the right answer in the right situation if you don’t have good fundamentals, the basics of Basketball.

Do you think the players had better knowledge of basketball than now?
I think so. Now it’s much more athletic but before the players were smarter on the court. I don’t think that any player in Italy has better fundamentals than, for example, Susana Bonfiglio. Now players are really strong and play tough defence and I have to say that I don’t think it’s good for the show. I prefer more technical Basketball, when a player is very technical and can do many things on the court, it’s a great show to see. Of course, a player who has this combination of technical skills and athletics is perfect.

Do you think that the creation of the WNBA changed the way to play Basketball in Europe?
I don’t really like WNBA in terms of Basketball. The WNBA is a circus. Of course, I’m exaggerating but in the USA they prefer the show and they don’t really pay attention to the fundamentals. I can’t say that it’s not basketball, I just prefer the European Basketball which is more technical, more organized...

When you have a new player, do you try to teach her the fundamentals and make her be more technical or you try to adapt to what she’s doing and take her like this. In fact, is it possible to teach and be competitive in the same time?
No, I definitely teach them. I try to make every player be technically better. For example, this year it is Sena Pavetic who is a young player, she’s only 23 years old. She has great potential with a very good size and all the characteristics to be a good inside player. But for me right now her fundamentals are so-so and we’re going to work on that.

So, how do you work with young players in the Club of Priolo, do you have time to teach them these fundamentals?
Yes,my son, Salvo, works a lot with the young teams…

Your son had a good teacher!
Yes, but you know he has been eating Basketball since he was born and he’s very motivated and wants to learn. Last summer he went to attend Etore Messina’s – who is my friend – practices and he learnt a lot.

So, let’s talk about Priolo…
(Breaking off the question…) Ah, in Priolo we never know what kind of season we’re going to make. Whether we won or we didn’t, we never had a strong team with an amazing roster. I take the players, try to make them improve, I work a lot with them, and sometimes we quickly have results, sometimes I need more time. The situation is economic, Priolo never had a big budget, even when we won the Championship. It depends on the group of the players and we never have any objectives. If, for example, the group that I have now remains for many seasons, we may have a chance to make a good result with them.