Scariolo criticizes European basketball system: 'It's a serious problem' / News - Basketnews.com

Scariolo agrees with Bartzokas that there aren't enough young local players being produced and thinks that a system where a foreigner can be treated as a local player after several seasons in the youth ranks is flawed.

Credit: Simone Lucarelli/LPS via ZUMA Press Wire - Scanpix Credit Simone Lucarelli/LPS via ZUMA Press Wire - Scanpix

The day before the EuroLeague Championship Game, Olympiacos Piraeus head coach Georgios Bartzokas highlighted a serious problem that he thinks the current European basketball has to deal with. One of his colleagues agrees with him.

3-pointers this season

37%8,8Points made:8,8Accuracy:37,4%Place in standings:13Record max:14Record min:4Most made 3FGs:Milos TeodosicTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

"There is a lack of production of new domestic players, in my opinion," Bartzokas said a week ago. Virtus Segafredo Bologna's specialist Sergio Scariolo shares a similar opinion.

According to Scariolo, top-level European teams face the big issue of having to rely on foreigners to achieve the same goals that otherwise would have been reached with locals.

"It's true, it's a fact and a serious problem. Since there's been the possibility of playing with the status of a local player despite not being born at the place or having spent the majority of their life there, players have been produced who have some presence – 2-3-4 seasons in the youth sectors – but they are not selectable," he said while talking with the local media before the Italian League (LBA) semifinal against Bertram Yachts Derthona Tortona.

"They often don't have that self-respect, that attachment to the shirt and those intangibles that are the cement of the teams," Scariolo continued. "When a team has a strong nucleus of local players, it has a sense of attachment and a willingness to make a higher effort. You can also get there in other ways but it clearly helps a lot."

Before coming to Italy, Scariolo coached in Spanish clubs for 14 years. Young players in Spain have to play 3 seasons in the country until the age of 18 to be considered locals in the Liga Endesa (ACB) regardless of their nationality.

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