EuroBasket 2015 2nd Qualifying Round
Swiss National Team Schedule
August 10 (Fribourg, SUI – Sportif Saint Leonard)
Switzerland 79, Russia 77
August 17 (Cagliari, ITA – City Sport Hall Palarockerfeller)
Switzerland at Italy
August 20 (Khimki, RUS – Basketball Centre Moscow)
Switzerland at Russia
August 28 (Bellinzona, SUI – Palabasket)
Switzerland vs. Italy |
Angelo State head basketball coach Chris Beard and the Swiss national team opened the European Basketball Championship 2015 2nd Qualifying Round tournament with a 79-77 upset win over Russia on Sunday.
Click here for the FIBAEurope.com game report
SAN ANGELO – AngeloSports.com corresponded with Angelo State head basketball coach
Chris Beard who is in Switzerland helping to coach the Swiss National Team which is set to compete in the
European Basketball Championship 2015 2nd Qualifying Round over the next month. Beard has been overseas the past month coaching the team which competed in "friendly games" to prepare for the tournament. The Swiss opens the qualifying tournament on Sunday against Russia at the Sportif Saint Leonard in Fribourg, Switzerland.
The Swiss will also play Italy on Aug. 17 in Cagliari, Italy before a rematch against Russia on Aug. 20 in Khimki, Russia. The tournament will end for the Swiss on Aug. 28 against Italy in Bellinzona, Switzerland.
AS: What are you enjoying the most about your experience so far? Coach Beard: "This has been a great experience in many ways. I'm enjoying coaching at this level. The basketball is very good. We have talented committed pro players on our roster, including Clint Capella who is a first round draft choice of the Houston Rockets. I've learned a lot both from the players and our head coach Petar Alexis. Petar is one of the most respected coaches in Europe and was a legendary player in Serbia. I've also had the opportunity to see some of my own former players here abroad. Ermal Kuqo played for me in junior college early in my career. Probably the best player I've ever coached. I think he has NBA talent. He has played in the Euro League for almost 15 years now. I also got to see Darko Cohardovic who I recruited and coached at Texas Tech. Darko is still playing professionally as well, last season in Japan. Also, I've been able to make some great contacts for our recruiting at ASU. We expect to have talented international players on our roster every year."
AS: What has your role been as an assistant coach and what has the level of play been like? Coach Beard: "My role as an assistant coach has me involved in all areas of our team. I coach on the floor daily both in individual workouts and team practice. I'm also heavily involved in scouting. We've played 6 games so far and have 4 games left. The preparation is very similar to college basketball scouting and what we do at ASU. There is a little more emphasis on the offensive and defensive systems whereas in college we focus on personnel a lot."
AS: What are the similarities and differences you're experiencing from coaching college to the Swiss national team? Coach Beard: "Basketball is basketball and coaching is coaching, no matter what the level. There are a lot of similarities between this experience and coaching in college. You teach, coach, motivate, organize, and try to do everything possible to help your players. To me, that's coaching. It's all about the players. Obviously there are some differences as well. Pro players are pros for a reason. They are committed to being their best every day and approach the game with a business like mentality. In our next game, there will be probably 4 or 5 NBA players on the court. So the level of play and competition is different. In the end though, it's basketball. We are trying to get Greg Brunner to block out just like we need
Thomas Brandsma to do at ASU.
AS: How have the scrimmages and practices been going leading into the tournament? Coach Beard: "Our preparation period and 6 friendly games (exhibition games) have gone well. Our players have all bought in to playing as a team and I think we have improved with each practice and game. It's challenging building a team so quickly and with new guys coming in at different times. Greg (Greg Brunner - first team All-Big 10 at Iowa) and Clint (Clint Capella - Houston Rockets) were not here from day 1, they joined the team later on. So we are still developing our team chemistry. Training camp was cool. The level of basketball and competitiveness was very high. I can't wait to get back to San Angelo and get things started with our team when classes start. Training camp reminded me a lot of the first couple of weeks of practice in college basketball."
AS: What do you think the keys are to Swiss success against Italy and Russia over the next month? Coach Beard: "We are in the toughest group in the qualifications tournament. Italy and Russia are two of the top national teams in the world. Both have legendary winning traditions and Major talent on their teams with NBA and Euro League players. Russia is bigger than any basketball team I've ever seen and Italy has skilled players in every position. This will be extremely challenging for our team. It's similar to a small college team trying to best a Duke or Texas. But that's what makes basketball a great game, because anything can happen on any given day. Our guys will compete. It will take an almost perfect game to win."
AS: What are you looking forward to upon returning to Angelo State and leading the new group of players for the 2014-15 season? Coach Beard: "I can't wait to get back to Texas and ASU. I'm looking forward to seeing my daughters. I'm also craving some Texas BBQ, San Angelo Mexican food, and some country music. And I'm ready and excited to see our players and begin what we hope will be a great 2014-15 season, the next step as we build the program. We like our team. Cinco and Max and the rest of the staff have done another solid job in recruiting."
Posted on July 15, 2014SAN ANGELO – Angelo State head basketball coach
Chris Beard will help lead the Swiss National Basketball Team as an assistant coach during the
European Basketball Championship 2015 2nd Qualifying Round throughout the next two months. Switzerland is in Group G with Italy and Russia and the winner of the group will automatically qualify for the FIBA EuroBasket 2015 which will be hosted in Ukraine next September.
Beard, who is entering his second season at ASU and led the Rams to a 19-9 record during the 2013-14 campaign, joins the coaching staff of Petar Aleksic who is the national trainer (head coach) of Swiss Basketball. During the qualifying tournament, the Swiss will play two games against Russia and two games against Italy. The Swiss team will conduct practices and play six scrimmages before the qualifying tournament starts on Aug. 10 against Russia in a game being played at
Sportif Saint-Leonard in Switzerland's capital city of Fribourg. Switzerland will then travel to play Italy on Aug. 17 at City Sport Hall in Cagliari before playing Russia on Aug. 20 at
Basketball Centre Moscow in Khimki. The team will host Italy on Aug. 28 in their final game of the qualifying round at Palabasket in Bellinzona (SUI).
"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to coach professional basketball this summer in Europe," Beard said. "This experience will benefit our program at ASU greatly in several different ways, including recruiting international players and making contacts and a network to help our players play professionally after graduation."
The Italians enter the 2nd Qualifying Round as the top seed. Games will be played in Switzerland, Italy and Russia with home-and-away series between each country. The three-team group is a part of the 2nd Qualifying Round with teams looking to join Ukraine, Spain, Estonia, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Lithuania, Serbia, Finland, Greece and Turkey which have already secured their spots in the EuroBasket 2015 field.
The 26 teams in the 2nd Qualifying Round were drawn into seven round-robin groups - five groups of four teams and two groups of three teams. The seven group winners, plus the six best second-placed teams, a total of 13 teams, will qualify to the Final Round in Ukraine. The EuroBasket 2015 tournament will be played in September 2015.
This is Beard's first international coaching experience and his second time coaching professional players. He previously coached the South Carolina Warriors in the American Basketball Association. The Warriors went 31-2, won their division and advanced to the 2012 ABA Finals.
The Swiss National Team will travel to Belgrade, Romania, and Montenegro for scrimmages to prepare of the qualifying tournament. Those games are against Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Romania, Hungary, Montenegro and Holland.
Beard said he's looking forward to coaching the Swiss team and using the experience to help develop coaching strategies, networking and building connections which could help current and future Rams land professional contracts overseas. After last season, ASU seniors
Kenny Williams and
Bryan Hammond signed professional contracts and Beard said the opportunity to coach the Swiss team has the potential to help more players achieve their dream of playing professionally.
"We talk often to our recruits and current players about the goal and dream of playing professional basketball after ASU," Beard said. "I have been fortunate in my career to coach pro ball myself (2011-12) and make many relationships with people in professional basketball, both in the states and abroad. This experience with the Swiss National Team this summer will open up more doors for us to be able to help our players to continue to play after graduation."
Pre-Tournament Scrimmages(Belgrade) July 18 against Belarus
(Romania) July 25 against Bosnia & Herzegovina
(Romania) July 26 against Romania
(Romania) July 27 against Holland
(Montenegro) August 1 against Hungary
(Montenegro) August 2 against Montenegro
