Greener Pastures
Tagged in: Coaching, Kiwis Abroad
Coaching rebel Jeff Green will add to his colourful career when he takes up the reins of Icelandic second division club Hottur next month.
Fresh from his third consecutive Conference Basketball League title with the Waikato Titans, Green will take fringe internationals Ben Hill and Everard Bartlett with him as he tries to raise his new outfit back into the Iceland Express League.
Hottur dropped to the D1 competition last season and languished near the foot of the table with a 2-12 record.
ìIím really excited,î he says. ìItís something new and different to do Ö another challenge.
ìObviously, the team is not in a great situation, but thatís what itís all about. Youíll never get the opportunity with a team that has won it all Ö the only reason people want a new coach is if they are in trouble.
ìWe only have to win three games and Iím already a hero.î
The 10-team league starts on October 13 and Greenís team faces a newcomer in their season opener.
Iceland has been a stop for several players who have also passed through the New Zealand NBL. Greenís chance was offered to him by an agent acting for former protÈgÈ Clifton Bush, who played there several seasons ago.
Americans Kevin Smith (Waikato Pistons) and Kareem Johnson (Bay Hawks) performed there last year, while Manawatu Jet centre George Byrd is also headed there this season.
ìThey seemed to think the Express league was about the middle of our national league, while the second division was more like the bottom of our league,î says Green, who has won four NBL titles and was inaugural coach of the NZ Breakers in the Australian league.
ìItís not great, but it is a start in Europe.î
The contract also represents a chance for Hill, who holds a British passport, and Bartlett, who will fill an import spot on the roster, to push for professional and international advancement.
This will be Hillís first excursion overseas and after debuting for the Tall Blacks in 2007, he was probably the last player cut from Nenad Vucinicís squad this year. At 28, he could still have a role to play as they attempt to qualify for the Beijing Olympics and this stint should assist his off-season conditioning.
Bartlett made his name as a development player with the Breakers, winning the Aussie NBL slam dunk title two years ago. He also won the scoring title at this yearís World University Games, averaging 24 points a game and accumulating 50 in the Emerging NZ Tall Blacksí final outing against China.
ìWe play all the division one teams in the league cup, and if Ben and Everard do well, they could get picked up next year.î
