BasketBall Connect

I’m really excited to watch the Olympic basketball games in a few weeks. After watching the US Mens Basketball Team play against Team Canada, I could see that they are strong. However, I’m doubting their inside play against the more bigger international teams like, Argentina, Spain, China and Germany. There is no question the guards are ready and the hot shooters. I recommend everyone tuning in and watching the Olympics basketball on television just to get an idea of the international game and players. The rules are different in a way and a lot of calls like “traveling” violations and carrying the ball. The FIBA rules and officiating take close measures and in the USA we can get away with a quick first step, especially in fast breaks.

On another note, I’ve noticed some former NBA players are now considering more the option to play basketball overseas because of the difference in salaries, especially in regard to the Dollar (USD)  being much weaker than the Euro. In the next couple of months, I’m sure you notice and read about it. I mean low end NBA players, not the stars!

Anyway, I encourage you to watch the Olympics basketball tournament starting August 9th! Here is the Olympic mens basketball schedule and womens olympic basketball schedule.

Next Q & A for basketball players!

I have no college playing experience but am a good player. Are there any avenues i can take to get a tryout. Even at the lowest levels?

Everything is possible, but contacting a good basketball agent would be your best bet to market your skills and getting a video of you playing in some type of good competition and organized ball.

How long does it usually take for a coach or agent to get back with you as a client, or player.

Well normally if a coach or agent is interested they would contact you back pretty fast. In most cases, coaches and teams get requests from many players daily. So, I can imagine they would look up your name online to see if you’ve played in college and find stats to see if you’re worth contacting. It is a business and its easier to market players who have experience and proof of game.

I am a player looking for where to start playing my pro career anywhere arounnd the world and i have a vidoe incase you a interested in it my question is how should i start playing pro basketball below is my video for you.

To answer your question, from your video and information that I see, you’re doing exactly right. You are exposing yourself online with video and stats from your career. Now like most players unless they sign multiple year contracts, is wait for an opportunity to arise and decide upon it.

Were do you find agents best? Do you go online or is there like offices were u can go like travel agents?

If you know of a player who plays overseas and they have an agent, you should ask them. Perhaps their agent can work with you. Mostly, word of mouth and experience from other players is a great way to find a good agent. Also, top websites such as Basketball Connect and Basketball Agencies Directory is a source where you can find agencies as well. Once you find an agency you like, try asking for a players information to find out more about the agency.

How can i start my process into going overseas to play basketball when i come out of high school?

I can say its relatively hard because you only have references of playing against youger and smaller players. Unlike as a professional who have most likely played in college and play up against top players who have the same skills. I recommend finding an agency who has experience with marketing high school players.

Well thats it for the first round of Basketball Overseas Q & A for players. Please post questions or comments for the next round at:

Basketball Overseas Questions

I’ve been getting several good emails questioning basketball overseas. So that everyone benefits I’ll be answering all questions unless they don’t overlap. Here is Round 1 of Basketball Overseas Q & A for AGENTS.

How does the player represenative gets his money? Is there ever an instance when agents do not get paid!

In all cases in the FIBA rules regarding player, team and agent, the Agency gets paid by the team/club directly. Never does the player pay you nor should you request money from the player.

I am a new agent and find myself dealing with a lot of players wanting to go overseas, I don’t really know what are good teams and how to get my guys exposure? Do i send tapes and when I look up teams on the internet they are all in other languges? Please help me out with this….

As an agent one of the first and most important things you must do is make good contacts. Contacting and partnering with other agents in other countries who know the system, know the teams and the language. Once you find a reliable partner you will send him/her your top players and they will find teams after which you both split the commission from the player’s contract.

As I said above it is better to have a contact in Turkey so if a problem arises you’ll understand the system and law if need be. Jurisdiction in other countries are different and if you’re not a citizen you’re not able to fight any battle without a proper contact.

If you saw the 2008 NBA Championship you know what I’m talking about! , from the Celtics: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen all sacrificed their top individual status in chance for a NBA Ring! This trend is not new in sports and in the NBA, I begin to notice when Karl Malone opted for a lower contract in hopes to get a ring with the L.A. Lakers back years ago. Many players are now seeing the value in the overall goal as opposed to just money. Of course, in the NBA things are different as they can pretty much afford to take a pay cut and never notice.

But in real life, in most professional sports it is becoming a trend and positive. In team sports, individuals who win awards are given credit but at times, they don’t produce enough to get the team to the top.

My advice, if you’re at the end of your career and you’ve garnered everything but a nice championship, think about your next move and possibly take a pay cut to get more attention and satisfaction in the end!

Summer is right around the corner and if you’re playing in any type of organized basketball team this summer, I’m pretty sure you have to raise money for traveling and lodging I suppose? Its been a long time since I’ve had to do any fundraising, but I sure did love doing it. I believe that I wrote an article previously of how I got started when playing AAU basketball but I won’t bore you again. Right now I’m going to explain more in detail a website which offers unique fundraising ideas and products for anything your group needs. If you’re starting sports fundraisers for basketball or any type, you should have a budget and an idea of what type of people you would like to target.

Of course, if you’re trying to target youth or kids, the easiest is candy. For elderly, it would be smarter popcorn, nuts or fruit baskets. At EZFUND, which has been around since 1996 helping with all types of fundraisers has many products and ideas to get you started. For funding sports here is list of products that they offer:

• Sports Pops Lollipops - shape of sport balls (basketball, football, soccer ball etc)
• Gourmet Snacks - trail mix, nuts, caramel corn etc
• Popcorn - comes in theme bags
• Chocolate bars - this is more common for any type of fundraising

I like this website because it offers a wide variety of fundraising products and ideas all at one. Its not limited to only sports, but if your group such as a church fundraising or school fundraisers, you’re able to use this company. When you head over to the site, each product has in red the amount of profit that you are expected to earn. So get your budget together and think of ways to promote your fundraisers. If you’re not in a group, you can still benefit for any occasion, especially to help with kids or someone ailing with medical bills!

Good luck!

If you’re a regular reader, maybe you notice a little change Yes, I ‘ve done a little Spring cleaning and designing! Its a relatively big change in color and design but is been over more than a year since the last redesign. I had some trouble with some plugins and scripts (techie talk) but overall it was a painless changeover. Quick change list

• Comments are enabled with Gravatar Icons, you can sign up at the website for an account.
• Subscribe to comments as always
• RSS Email by Feedburner & Aweber
• Other goodies in the background
• Audio & Video Podcasting coming
• Flickr Overseas Photos coming

Here are photos of the changes if you are a new visitor:

Before:

After:

There are some new changes in the Basketball Overseas Newsletter. I will be sending every Tuesday, post from this blog to your newsletter subscription email address. I’ll see how that goes, if it doesn’t annoy to many people I’ll keep it up. I don’t want to lose any of my loyal subscribers by bombarding with emails.

Anyway.. What do you think of the new look?

I received a good question from a current NCAA basktball player this week:

“I’m still playing college basketball and i wanted to knew if it’s aginst ncaa rules to go to a an overseas basketball clinic”

I honestly don’t think it is against the rules but I would highly go against it. Depending on what type of basketball clinic it is aimed to serve. Most international basketball clinics are for players looking to play in international teams the following year. Therefore, you will be questioned by many teams and agents which is: AGAINST THE NCAA Rules. If the clinic is for furthering the development of skills and playing against other players for improvement without contact of agents or professional basketball teams it is fine. But I would go against going if the goal is to play professional basketball while having the status of a collegiate athlete as defined in the rules below.

II. AGENTS.

A. General Rule. An individual shall be ineligible for participation in an intercollegiate sport if he or she ever has agreed (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent for the purpose of marketing his or her athletics ability or reputation in that sport. Further, an agency contract not specifically limited in writing to a sport or particular sports shall be deemed applicable to all sports, and the individual shall be ineligible to participate in any sport. [12.3.1]

E. Tryout After Enrollment. A student-athlete shall not try out with a professional athletics team in a sport or permit a professional athletics team to conduct medical examinations during any part of the academic year (i.e., from the beginning of the fall term through completion of the spring term, including any intervening vacation period) while enrolled in a collegiate institution as a regular student in at least a minimum full-time academic load, unless the student-athlete has exhausted eligibility in that sport. The student-athlete may try out with a professional organization in a sport during the summer or during the academic year while not a full-time student, provided the student-athlete does not receive any form of expenses or other compensation from the professional organization. [12.2.1.2]

1. Medical-Examination Exception. A professional league’s scouting bureau is permitted to conduct one medical examination per student-athlete during the academic year without jeopardizing the student-athlete’s eligibility in that sport, provided the examination does not occur off campus. [12.2.1.2.1]
2. Outside Competition/Professional Tryout: A Division I student-athlete with remaining eligibility may compete on an outside team or tryout with a professional team at his or her own expense at the conclusion of the student-athlete’s academic year (i.e., the student-athlete’s last examination of the spring term, as opposed to the institution’s last examination day). [05/29/96 Staff, Item a]

F. Outside Competition Prohibited. During a tryout, an individual may not take part in any outside competition (games or scrimmages) as a representative of a professional team. [12.2.1.3]

Read all of the rules regarding basketball players and professional tryouts.

Tags: ncaa, agent, regulations

Are you wondering how to find a good agent that fits your professional basketball goals? Well honestly before you can know you have to research and ask around from players who currently is under contract with a particular agent or ask specific questions to find it if he/she is worth signing with.

For men and women, the topic of basketball representation is a little bit different. The market for men basketball players and women is a noticeably large and far gap. There are hundreds of men basketball agencies in the world and as a male you would have a lot of work finding one agent that suit your particular need. On the contrary, female basketball agents are far and few to come by, but many exist. Mostly, networking throughout different countries and with the help of some men basketball agents, the list can grow.

But how do you decide which agency is best for you? First, I recommend yourself writing a list of your basketball goals. They can be short term or long term for your professional career, but you MUST write them down. Second, honestly determine your game and decide who you game mostly can be compared to or even better. This will help you find an agency that will most likely willing to work with you.

Note: Contacting any agency without an adequate profile and stats to back up your game, you are limiting your choices.

Once you find a list of good basketball agents, create a letter which can be duplicated asking several questions to the agent which can help you decide on what you’re looking for. If you already have basketball agents knocking on your door this list is recommended for you as well.

Basketball Agent Questions List

What to ask a basketball agent?

What is the length of your contract between player and agent?
Normally it can renew yearly or open contract

What is the percentage that you receive as an agent?
Standard in Europe for men and women 10% of contract paid by the team not the PLAYER

Do you require fees?
No real agency will require you pay for anything.

How many players do you currently represent?
If the agency has many players, you could see a significant difference of communication and attention. Top players are usually given more attention

• How often do you visit or contact?
• Are you available at all hours and at my disposal when needed?
• May I view a sample contract between team and player?
• Do you provide assistance in marketing and sponsorships?
• Am I allowed to work outside my current contract?

This is a quick list of questions that you could ask an agent. Any legit agency interested in you should answer.

Tags: basketball, agent

During the summer there are many basketball camps and the latest exposure camp that I wrote about in Italy will be probably be the furthest after the annual Slammers Basketball Camp in Germany. Getting overseas for these camps aren’t difficult because the transport system is so much easier these days. I recommend getting cheap airline tickets by searching one recommended low fare company around. Depending on your location you might have several layovers just for that cheaper flight. Also, if you’re in a big metropolitan area such as New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago or Boston it might be a little bit easier and cheaper overall.

But instead of second guessing you should visit LowFares.com for some of the cheapest airline tickets available. Why is it so cheap? Well when you visit the website you’ll see a list of companies to your right side and after you choose your destination and departure site you are given options from those company. You can choose a maximum of 3 online companies and compare the pricing for each. This is a BIG time saver. Today I was actually looking for international flights and luckily I use Firefox tabs but it still gets unorganized. However, using Lowfares you’re able to find the cheapest option without toggling windows and view it very clear. Any restrictions that may apply you should check with that particular company.

Remember to have the following:

• Passport and 1 copy
• Flight ticket
• Correct baggage allowance
• Frequent Flyer Card

The 4th Annual Italian Basketball Exposure Camp is back again!

ITALIAN BASKET CAMP 08
Location: “San Benedetto del Tronto” ITALY
Dates: 16-22 june 2008
www.italianbasketcamp.it

This summer the  ITALIAN BASKET CAMP 08 will be in a located on the beach!! It will be a wonderful time to play and expose your self but also to have and see a nice place!
The Italian basket exposure camp hostel is around 50 meters from the gym and around 200 to the beach!!

Last summer the camp was a great success. This upcoming June there will  be more opportunities for players to get exposure with the coaching clinic (where coaches will attend). Also, there will be 3 on 3 for youth teams close to the gym (so clubs can come and bring players to the 3vs 3 and then stop lookin players at our camp)
Like last year we have a 3 point and slam dunk contest where prizes is money. All players will get a chance to buy camp dvds or extra jeresys or shorts. And like last year, the players are given two different opportunities to participate or full camp June 16-22 or only the Italian Basketball Tournament June 16-22.
But it is strongly suggest to participate to the full camp where you have more chances to know coaches, managers etc, and see if you can work with the camp organization in placing you in europe.

The closest airports are :

• Pescara
• Ancona
• Roma

Getting there is very easy by taking a train or bus to the location. Players will stay in an hostel. Food is not included. Organization has no liabilty about injuries.

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