COURT-SIDE INTERVIEW: Ferried Naciri

What influenced you to become a professional coach?

I started coaching when I was 17 and got injured as a player. Just to
stay around the game. I liked it so much and felt like I was really
making the kids better. The feeling of improving players as
individuals and creating a certain chemistry between a bunch of
individuals gave me the most satisfaction and made me feel like I
wanted to do this as long as I can for a living.

How does language play a role in communicating with your players and
coaching staff?

In our club, the coaching staff and management all speak the same
language so that doesn’t create any problems. But we had players that
speak Dutch, French, English, Serbian,.. so in that case, we use
English as our basic language within the team. We had occasions where
situations or conversations aren’t clear because of the language
barrier, where the players might need each other to help out but
mostly it doesn’t cause too many problems.

What is your coaching philosophy/style on offense and defense?

Offensively I want my team to play downhill. That means we want to
sprint the floor every single time, make or miss,  (as if the court
would be downhill) and look for easy opportunities, After that we look
to move the ball and players and look for any high % opportunities
because of defensive mistakes. We never want to just dribble to a
spot and setup because it gives our opponent to set up as well. At the
end of the shot clock we want to have a very aggressive attacking
mentality because of the fact that the last couple of seconds,
defenses tend to be less focussed. We don’t want to settle for low %
options.
Just as we want constant pressure on the defense when we are in
offense, in defense we want to put constant pressure on the offense.
After every make or miss, we want to win the transition battle and slow
down outlet passes. We want the offense to dribble as much as possible
and then look for trapping options from behind or run&jump options
from the front, creating chaos, turnovers, and deflections. I emphasize
to limit high % options (paint options or unguarded options) and
winning the rebounding battle. This is crucial to play our game in
offense, which is to play downhill. This is only possible when we
control the defensive boards.

What do you think the most important qualities in your players are?

The most important qualities or the ones you can control: The
intensity and energy you bring on the floor every single time. A next
play mentality which means that you are busy with what is about to
happen and not with what just happened. A good focus on details is very
important, knowing that details will make the difference in any
competitive situation. Besides that, I like to be around positive, unselfish people. So I want
my players to be positive and unselfish.

When you search for talent what resources do you rely on?

I mostly rely on the players that I see through contact with agents.
Also, games and stats that I see during the season from other leagues
and competitions.

How do you prefer to be contacted when looking for players to fill up
your roster?

The easiest way is by é-mail. WhatsApp, Skype or LinkdIn are also
tools I use to talk to players/agents

Do you prefer new players to have previous professional experience?

It’s always easier to have players with experience in your team
because then you know they’ve been through the process overseas and
that there aren’t too many integrating surprises you will face. On the
other hand, I also like players that aren’t schooled too much in the
European game because they have a certain pureness that might give you
something different. Different forces other teams to adjust.

How much preparation do you make before each game?

We scout an individual player, see what their strengths and weaknesses are
and make a video on it. Same for the tactics the other teams use. It’s
the biggest workload of the week. Normally, during the season, you’ve
established how you’re going to play. So your focus shifts to
reinforcing your own habits and a lot of adjustments and reads you
want to use that specific week in function of how your opponent will
probably guard you + on the things you want to force the opponent in
offensively. All within your own style of play obviously.

If there’s any position you would want your player to have an advantage
at, what is it?

I would like my players to be long and athletic & have a good shooting touch. That’s a great base to start working with.

When do you feel players learn the most, in practice or in games
(explain)?

Difficult question.. I think that you have a lot of opportunities to
stop play and teach whenever you want during practice. So I think they
learn to understand situations better in practice. During the game’s
they have to rely more on each other, which teaches them to solve
problems more by themselves.

What is your formula to helping players become better?

I feel like players get better by making them feel that it’s okay to
make mistakes, as long as they do everything at a high intensity and
with conviction. Then it’s my job to tell and teach them how to do
these things better next time. The moment players start thinking and
hesitating too much, their efficiency goes down. Obviously, the players
must learn from their mistakes and be busy with what they need to work
on.

What is the most difficult position to fill?

That depends. I think every spot is kind of difficult because you
have so many players that are being offered to you and you want to
look for a specific profile, and then the best guy within that profile
that is within your price range.

Would you agree that guards on most ball clubs tend to come from local
talent and if so why?

In my experience here in the first division in Belgium, that’s not really
the case. Most guards are American because of the physicality and skill
level they bring. If you look at backup guards, it happens more and
more that they are youth products from the club. I think it’s a sense
of pride that you developed a player from a young age into a
professional D1 player that gives the club a lot of reason to sign
them to their roster. It’s a great motivation for the other youth
players in the area. But it’s not just guards, can be all positions.