Mike Taylor: Lights and shadows of Polish basket (MW Podcast #49)

Some people need to be more authoritarian, some people need to be more dictator-like in the way they lead, but I'm a guy that builds those connections well, communicates well and people know. I felt like Adam had lost trust in what we were trying to do in terms of the team and the situation and there was no one, not one person on that staff or on that team that was doing anything against him. Ale miał ten problem z zaufaniem, że są ludzie, wiesz, teorię konspiracji, pracują nad nim tutaj, pracują nad nim tam, ten z tym, ten z tym. Nie. Mateusz Winiarczyk, Mateusz Winiarczyk

Yeah, the CEBL, the Canadian Elite Basketball League, which this is my fourth summer in it. It's a summer league, a summer professional league. It's a unique timeframe and it's held at this time because of the weather in Canada and the fact that basketball does not want to go kind of head to head with ice hockey. It's a really great league. It's into its seventh year now. I think there's 30 plus players who have NBA connection, like either played in the CBL, gone to the NBA. So it's rising, it's developing. I love it. It's a lot of fun. You know, it's similar to the Canadian Football League, where you have five teams in the East and five teams in the West and it's all over Canada.

So it's a similar league like, let's say, the NBA or G League. It's more similar to the G League with the talent level. But the organizations are first class. Our organization here in Winnipeg, the owner, David Asper, is a first class guy. Runs the organization in a great way. I have tremendous support, great coaching staff. The facilities are fantastic. We play in the Canada Life Centre, which is the home for the Winnipeg Jets and the NHL. Great practice facility at Sport for Life here in Winnipeg. For me, it's kind of like my NBA. As a general manager and head coach, I'm able to put together a roster. I'm able to organize a lot of the systems and tactics.

Zastanawiałem się, czy widzicie rozwój kanadyjskiego basketu. Nie tylko na poziomie seniora, ale również na poziomie juniora. Yeah, and I think that, you know, our league has a lot to do with that, but traditionally to play ice hockey, it's an expensive sport. You know, you have to pay for a lot of equipment, there's paying for rink time, and I think that over the years... Young kids have said, oh, I'd like to play hockey, but maybe I don't have enough money. Basketball in comparison is much less expensive. It's easier access. And I think that as we've seen in the major city areas, the Toronto, Hamilton, that whole area in southern Ontario, the western area of Vancouver, I think basketball has really taken off and we see some great players coming out of these areas.

So I think it's a matter of finance, but I also think that it's the culture now, like basketball is something important in the country. Mimo to, że to jest wciąż świetny kraj piłki, kraj piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka z piłki z jazdy, piłka Basketball in general has a lot more participation and a lot more popularity than we've seen in the past here in Canada. When I was preparing for this interview, I look at your career, the fact, okay, you are American, you grew up in America, you took first steps as a coach, assistant coach in America, but a lot of your coaching career has been made in Europe.

So I was wondering if you had to describe your coaching style, yourself as a coach, how European you are. Michał Winiarczyk, Mike Taylor, Poland, Koszuchowski Basketball Team Koszuchowski Basketball Team Names mentioned in Polish Basketball.

I to było takie, że chcę tam być na jeden rok, ale jednym z głównych punktów jest to, żeby tam iść i zdobyć doświadczenie jako przewodniczący. No dobrze, poszedłem do III Dywizji Niemczech, Chemnitz, na najniższym poziomie, ale mam szansę być przewodniczącym przewodniczącym. Wiesz, na tych najniższych poziomach musisz robić dużo, więc miałem doświadczenie, robiąc różne rzeczy, których może na wyższym poziomie trenerzy nie będą robili. So we ended up winning our league that year, won the championship and always trying to find new opportunities. I went back to the USA and was an assistant for the Dodge City Legend for Cliff Levingston, the former Chicago Bulls player, and had a really good experience in the old United States Basketball League. It was like the CBL Summer League.

And from that time, you know, it was like, OK, what's next? I had the opportunity to go to London and coach the Leopards. Mieliśmy bardzo dobre doświadczenie tam. Nie byliśmy zbyt dobrymi. Zabierali nas za późno. Byliśmy gotowi do wygrania. Ale właściciel mówił, że daje nam jeszcze raz. Mój przyjaciel pomógł mi wytrzymać pracę. Kościłem w ligie w tym samym czasie z Chrisem Finchem, który teraz oczywiście robi świetne rzeczy w Minnesota Timberwolves. Nick Nurse, oczywiście z Raptorami, a teraz Sixers. Byli świetni trenerzy w ligie. Wiecie, w zasadzie wielu ludzi mówi, że musisz wygrać najpierw, żeby nauczyć się jak naprawdę wygrać. Myślę, że jest dużo do mówienia na ten temat. Wygraliśmy z play-offów na ostatni dzień regularnego sezonu, a potem kilka dni później drużyna zniszczyła się finansowo.

Wtedy byłem zaskoczony. Co muszę zrobić? Pojechałem do Olmy, w Niemczech. I tak jak mówisz, tam, gdzie zrobiłem markę, pomagając zbudowaniu organizacji Ratiopharm Ulm. Przechodziliśmy od II Ligi do I Ligi. Michał Winiarczyk, Mike Taylor, Poland, Koszuchowski Basketball Team I was just trying to put together the best, most efficient, most fun style of basketball possible.

There were three overtimes and the difference in those games were five points. And that was the difference of us moving up or not. So the first year was a really fun season. We had a team that played up-tempo basketball. Guys had, we had a short bench, but guys really got along. We had great team chemistry. And I loved the old Sports Centrum Kuburg. It was the old school Bundesliga. You know, it was like, it was nothing like the Ratiopharm Arena. Ale była świetna kultura basketu w mieście. Ludzie uwielbiali go. Kolejna drużyna była w Bundesliga, więc była tradycja. I w tym roku zaczęliśmy świetnie, ale przeszliśmy. W następnym roku mieliśmy świetne oczekiwania i wyłożyliśmy drużynę. Czuliłem, że mamy świetny rozszerz, ale chemia nie była ta sama.

Zostaliśmy na drodze do Nuremberga w zeszłym sezonie. I dając Nurembergowi kredyt, oni nas wygrali w tym roku. Mieliśmy naprawdę dobrych zawodników. Juliusz Jenkins był świetnym zawodnikiem. So the first season we were 26 and 4. That year we were 24 and 6. We also had a great season, but it wasn't good enough because we didn't move up. We didn't win the league. So the next year was kind of an interesting summer. We signed Jeff Gibbs, who was playing at Ehingen the year before. His wife, April, had gone to school with a girl that I knew from IUP and she was like, hey, get in touch with Jeff. So we talked with Jeff and we brought him in. Jeff was a six foot two power forward who dominated the glass.

He was like a mini Charles Barkley. Wielka długość w rękach. Był bardzo fizyczny, był starym futbolistą. Podpisał chłopaków i jego atletyczność była czymś wyjątkowym. Miał tylko nackę do reboundu. Mieliśmy też Jonathan Levy, który był świetnym piłkarzem. Mieliśmy kilka innych głównych niemieckich graczy do tego drużyny. We finished the season 29 and 1. We dominated the second league. You know, great memories with that team, so much fun with those guys. And at the time, you know, we kept that core together. And I'm really proud of that transition going from the second league to the first league. You know, the first year with that same team, with one or two key additions, a blank order and a five, you know, we finished 16 and 18, the next year we finished 16 and 18, and finally that core, the third year in the Bundesliga.

Names mentioned in Polish Basketball Team Koszuchowski Basketball Team At that point, you know, we had brought in Drew Joyce, you know, of LeBron James. He played also in Poland later. Yes. So Drew was a great, he was our floor general. We had Romeo Travis as well. You know, Jeff Gibbs was a key for us. Sean Finn at the center. You know, it was a really fun team to be a part of and fun team to work with. Michał Winiarczyk, Mike Taylor, Poland, Koszuchowski Basketball Team Koszuchowski Basketball Team Koszuchowski Basketball Team

The way the organization is developed and built the reputation is one of the top developmental places. It's like a destination for young players in Europe. It's really a credit to those guys and it's really a fantastic thing. I remember those foundation years well. A lot of great memories, a lot of great friends for life. Wszystkie prawa zastrzeżone. Wszystkie prawa zastrzeżone. Wszystkie prawa zastrzeżone. Wszystkie prawa zastrzeżone. Michał Winiarczyk, MW Podcast 49.

Miałeś okazję pracować z Shevin Mark, Marcin Brooks. Myślę, że był tam ktoś z doświadczenia w NBA, Chris Wright, który też grał w Gojalec. Jak się pamiętasz tego czasu? Co nauczyłeś? Michał Winiarczyk, Mike Taylor, Poland, Koszuchowski Basketball Team Koszuchowski Basketball Team My friend Will Voigt with the Bakersfield Jam. My friend Jay Laranega, who was with the Erie Bayhawks.

He was helping me with the Canton Charge. Nick Nurse had left the Iowa Energy for the RGB Vipers, but Nick, I knew him from, let's say, the British Basketball League time, when he coached Brighton Bears and I was the London Leopards coach. Nick was really, really helpful to me. He got me involved as a finalist for the Iowa Energy job and he held the assistant spot at RGV for me. Said, hey, go for all these head jobs. If you don't get it, come coach here. And Will Voigt was the same way. He's like, hey, if everything doesn't work out, come to Bakersfield. So I had some really good friends who were helping me at the time. I ended up in RGV as an assistant for Nick Nurse and I learned so much that year.

So during the Celtics time with Doc and his staff, I spent a lot of time asking questions, Mike Longobardi, veteran coaches who had run the defenses. And those coaches really helped me so much. And they put together, they helped me put together You know the concepts that would become our Polish national team defense and you know over the next several years a lot of the things that we did you know were born from those conversations. But Doc was so supportive of me, very good to me. Just to be around guys like Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo. When Rondo was coming back from his knee injury, I ran the practice and he was first class. We had our team go down because the Celtics were on the road.

Rondo needed to test his knee out and I showed him the practice plan like, hey, what do you want to do? So he pointed out five or six things he wanted to do, took a couple of drills off. I wydarzyło się, że to był świetny trening dla niego, został oczywisty na grę i wrócił. Ale co ludzie nie zauważyli, Rondo zapłacił na naszą całą drużynę, żeby iść na jedną z najlepszych sklepów w Bostonie. Potem otrzymaliśmy niektóre plany na mecz Celtics w tej nocy. Dla zawodników, którzy byli w grze, w D-League, w G-League, It was a really, really great look from Rondo. It was really cool. I became a big fan that night and it was really great.

You've seen the best in the game work and I think you kind of get an idea like alright this is the level, this is the standard and I'm going to be the best version of myself, I'm going to coach to my strengths, but I know what the best looks like and that kind of gives you a little confidence and belief and I think it helps give you direction. Ale to też był czas, kiedy Polska mnie zgłosiła. Byłem w drugim sezonie. Moja pierwsza rocznica była w D-League All-Star Game. Przeglądaliśmy do Red Claws, do play-offs, po pierwszym razem w historii drużyny. Więc ukończyliśmy wiele rzeczy. I jak powiedziałeś... Sheldon Mack, pomogliśmy mu przyjechać do ligi. DeJuan Somers, pomogliśmy mu przyjechać do NBA. Chris Wright, pomogliśmy mu przyjechać do NBA.

It's difficult because it's maybe not what they're used to. For me, I'm big on relationships and building relationships with the people I'm involved in. Współpracujący z trenerem, stafem, trenerami i zawodnikami. Współpracujący z trenerem, stafem, trenerami i zawodnikami. Współpracujący z trenerem, stafem, trenerami i zawodnikami. I think I'm a very good communicator. I think I communicate really well with people and these are the things that I think are character traits or have been strengths of mine at every stop. And, you know, some people need to be more authoritarian, some people need to be more dictator-like in the way they lead.

But I think that, you know, the way I like to build a team, you need to have post up guys, guys that can create advantages in the post. You need to have guards who can play pick and roll and preferably someone along with your point guard. Size for position is critical. I think size and length is really important in basketball. But I think you can't get too caught up in playing faster than your team is capable. And I think that's a mistake a lot of people here in North America make. They see the NBA teams like the Indiana Pacers right now playing tremendously fast, but they have players that can play that way, players that are built to play that way. So it's not good offense if I come up to court and get a shot up with three seconds and there's no offensive rebound.

If I shoot a contested three just to play at pace, that doesn't make sense, right? You've got to... You've got to still have the shot quality. You still have to have the type of offensive possession you're looking for. So I think that as a coach, you try to build your roster according to the strengths of your team. Find those winning players. That's what's going to put the team over the top. But I still think there needs to be some definition between positions, especially at the one, the five and the four. So these are the things that we try to do. I also try to work in different lineups. You know, I'm a lineup guy. I like to have a lineup from your roster that can match up big and a lineup that can match up small. So these are some of the things that, you know, you think about as you're building a team and the players you're trying to sign.

So how you see yourself in today basketball when like you said it's all about almost all about pace all about three pointers we see how the warriors change like the basketball not only in NBA but globally in entire world and you know I have so many friends that said Oh, I wish like we have like old school basketball again, like, you know, all pistons from 2000s and stuff like that. But we see like how many three pointers everybody should include that. Coaches now wanted, looking for centers that can shoot free. And do you like how this, how basketball was evolving?

The low man's pulled in. I'm going to make the diagonal skip pass, right? Oh, they got two on the ball. I'm going to move it with an advanced pass. I'm not going to hold on to it and try to score for me. Więc, dla mnie to jest ten punkt, że nowa piłka w NBA to wszystko dotyczy czasu i przestrzeni, dotyczy 3-punktowej strzelki, prawda? Nie ma post-tuczy. Dlaczego NBA nie uważa, że post-tuczy to jest wyższa porcja piłki? Bo zmieniali reguły w średnich 2000-tych, które sprawiły, że to było trudniejsze do sprzedaży postów, które sprawiły, że to było trudniejsze do uzyskania wyższego porcja piłki. FIBA jest inny. FIBA to inny styl. Wszystkie te rzeczy, musisz zrozumieć, gdzie trenujesz się i co próbujesz osiągnąć. Po prostu powiem, i to jest to, co dzieje się w USA teraz, na najniższych poziomach.

You know, I think we beat Luxemburg or we beat these guys. Then we lost the game in Austria at the buzzer. And that was a little disappointing for us because we felt like, hey, we need to take care of these guys. And then that put a lot of pressure on the return game in Bonn, Germany. And that was one of my favorite games because of the way the team responded. We made a couple of defensive game plan adjustments. We wanted a hard show, some pick and rolls with Adam Rysaniuk. Ale chłopaki jak Mateusz Panika, Adam Wiczynski, Skiba, wiesz, wszyscy ci chłopaki robili tak wiele kluczowych grań. Aaron Sell, robili tak wiele wielkich grań dla naszej drużyny. Szemek, Zamoyski, wszyscy ci chłopaki wstąpili, wygraliśmy ogromny win, a potem wróciliśmy, zajmowaliśmy się biznesem przeciwko...