By Rafal Juc
Jason Filippi, the European scout for Portland Trail Blazers, spent last days in Poland watching local talents in action. Eurohopes met him. He watched league game between WKS Slask Wroclaw and Siarka Jezioro Tarnobrzeg. It was a specially occasion to see in action top 1993 generation prospects: Przemyslaw Karnowski (Siarka) and Piotr Niedzwiedzki (WKS Slask). They faced each other that evening. Honestly both did not impresse - first of them finished game with 2 points and 4 rebounds in 21 minutes and Niedzwiedzki went for 2 points and 1 rebound in 5'. Then, Trail Blazers scout moved to Warsaw, where he watched Politechnika Warsaw - PBG Basket Poznan game, with many prospects on court: Mateusz Ponitka (’93), Michal Michalak (’93), Jakub Parzenski (’91) and Niksa Nikolic (’91). Only Ponitka showed his best. He led Politechnika to the win with 16 points and 17 rebounds (all in defense) in only 27 minutes.
The italian scout, who works for Portland since 2004, did not admit officially what was the goal of his trip. "I’m not allowed to talk about names, sorry. My boss from Portland asked me to keep it in secret", he said, but Filippi was really open and willing to talk. Let’s see what he said.
-Can you tell more about your job?
"How does my job look like? I’m focused specially on players under 22 years of age, who are still available to be selected in NBA Draft. Is the reason why last summer I was watching the U18 EC in Poland. I’m following also prospects who are playing in professional clubs all over the world. My work is based on travelling. To be honest I've been in all possible European countries as well as in South America, Africa or Japan. I can say that my job is like a dream. Travelling all over the world to watch basketball games and the best players, and getting money for that? A dream."
-What is the most important for you following prospects?
"During my job I pay attention on many aspects, but young players should be definitely talented and have enough size to play professionally. NBA is a league where only the best athletes can play, so potential players have to be strong as well as tall. It’s important to look at their behavior on court, if they are good teammates, or if they prioritize in the team game more than their individual stats. This is the reason why I always try to watch kids more than one, two or even three times. For our goals, behavior and environment are important too."
-How did you start your adventure with NBA?
"I have been working for NBA for 12 years and seven of them as a Portland Trail Blazers employee. I started as a basketball journalist, but then I created a European Scouting Service for NBA teams".
-Do you think that Poland is interesting country for scouts?
"I’m sure that more scouts will visit Poland soon to see prospects here. Many friends of mine were in Wroclaw for the U18 EC and they are planning to see in January game Politechnika - Siarka, in Warsaw. I think polish basketball level is still growing. It looks like you have more and more talented prospects, as for example 1993 generation, which went in 2010 year for second place at U17 World Championship. Poland and Czech Republic are two countries with chances to be at the top level in European basketball next years. In Poland you can find many tall players, with good body building, what is very important".
-Do you have a dream in your job?
"I dream about finding an absolutely anonymous player, who will come into big prospect".
Twitter of the author: @rafjuc
Photo: J.F.
