Raftopoulos careful in crafting out his squad

Coach of the Surrey Heat, Creon Raftopoulos, has had a very deliberate offseason so far.

Knowing he is unable to compete with the finances available at other clubs, Coach Raftopoulos has had to be particular about the players he watches as he attempts to recreate last season’s surprise fourth place- finish.

UKAmericanSportsFans.com recently exchanged emails with the third-year head coach to talk rosters, pressure and the Orlando Summer League.

How has the offseason been since we last spoke? What have you been up to?

“The offseason had been pretty quiet until my trip to Orlando for a mixture of AAU basketball and scouting pro-ams.

“I bring some of England’s talented players on a team called ‘Hoop-Dreams’ to play in Americas biggest recruiting event for college coaches and this is our fifth year doing it. Between the games I get to watch some pro-am basketball which has some NBA players in it (Austin Rivers and Courtney Lee to name two) but mainly guys fresh out of college looking for that break into the pro leagues.”

Last time we spoke, you were very interested in re-signing Samuel Cricelli, Julius Joseph and Albert Margai. Where are talks at at the moment?

“I have reached out to all three players but the final verdict will lay with what budget the club can afford to pay out on players. They all had good seasons and as you can imagine, have other BBL clubs interested in them, which makes it harder to reach a deal.

“Basketball players like everyone else have mortgages and bills to pay and the older the player gets, the more money he needs to provide for his family and lifestyle. So all I’ll do is put an offer on the table give them deadlines to accept and see what happens.”

Looking around the league, are you surprised by how few signings have been announced so far?

“I’m not surprised at all. It’s tough out there for all owners and teams to find new sponsors and investors, so coaches don’t have strong bargaining strength against other leagues. We have to be patient and hope the right player comes along with a good attitude to play hard for the offer on the table. If you think about it, if player A wants £3k and you offer £1.5k is he really going to be happy knowing he has no choice to play for half of what he feels his worth ?”

Over the next couple of weeks you’re in Orlando, Summer League is going on there – do you think you’ll swing by and take a look?

“I’ve been to a couple runs and seen some good players. The players with European experience you can see are better than the graduating college guy but their asking prices are way too high for BBL.”

Have you invited anyone specifically to your Orlando work outs?

“Have a private workout set out to watch an agent who has a number of players as clients but no specific names to look out for.”

Finally, how much pressure do you feel is on you after last season’s successes?

“It’s in my head what pressure and expectation comes along with the good season we had last year. I’m not sure how many players I will afford to re-sign from last season’s team, so until I have filled my roster it’s a journey into the unknown. I do know that all my teams will play hard and play to win every game we have next season. Our fans deserves nothing less.”