We did catch up with Bill Butier and Brad Lane during the young coaches clinic on the 18th of December 2009. This was the first interview done by the editor of the GBBA website and author of the Ghana Basketball page of eurobasket.com Isaac Robert Kwapong Jnr. 

Profiles:

Name: Bill Batier

Age: 36

Nationality: USA

State: California

Basketball Experience : Player : Bishop Montgomery High School,Loyola Marymount University & 1995 Slam Dunk Champion

Coach : Boys & Girls Club , St Catherine Middle School, BMHS

Name: Brad Lane

Age: 32

Nationality: USA

State: California

Basketball Experience: Player: Bishop Montgomery High School

Coach: Holy Trinity School Los Angeles, BMHS Los Angeles

One on One with Bill & Brad:

Isaac : Why come to
Ghana? And is this your first time in Africa.

Bill & Brad: During our research on volunteer programmes online we came across the volunteer
programme been run by Real Gab experience in collaboration with the GBBA , we
also found other programmes in different Senegal and other African countries but we decided on coming to Ghana to
experience it for ourselves considering the language barrier in Senegal and the
other African countries .

Isaac: Was basketball
your main reason for coming to Ghana?

Bill & Brad: We are on holidays before and after this trip
to Ghana but everything is surrounded around us coming to Ghana to volunteer to
help develop young basketball players, we didn’t know who we were going to be
working with, we didn’t know what to
expect, whether it was going to be boring or we working with 8year olds or
18year olds but since we found out that we will be working with young coaches,
and young players from 7years all the way to 18year olds it has been the
opposite of boring and everything so far has exceeded our expectations.

Isaac: What is your
perception so far about basketball in Ghana?

Bill & Brad: Before we came we did some research online about basketball in Ghana and we
have seen limited play in Ghana but what we can tell is there is a lot of
talents in Ghana and so we believe it’s more about harnessing the talents and
the fundamentals of the players. It appears that almost all the players who may
be very talented and good even the senior players you can tell that they really
need to work on their fundamentals which direct to the coaches ability and
having them to work with the kids more on their fundamentals. A lot of the
coaches we have been working with seem to be really into basketball and are
well know ledged and skilled about the basketball techniques we have been going
through with them.

Isaac: So how would
you compare basketball in Ghana and basketball in the USA with the little you
have seen?

Bill & Brad: With the little scrimmage games we have seen, there is little defense , with
players running up and down the court with the more focus on scoring than
defense, compared to the USA where defense is more of a pride thing, not to
allowing your opponent to score on you. But then I am sure we can talk more
about it as we see more basketball in Ghana.

Isaac: How do you find your stay so far?

Bill & Brad: Awesome,
so fare it’s been a great experience just five days in Ghana and we are really
excited. The people in Ghana are so nice, we having the opportunity to be
amongst such friendly and inviting people is really good. Generally Ghana has
the friendliest people compared to the other countries we have been to.

Isaac: What do you
think about the basketball facilities you have seen in Ghana?

Bill & Brad: We
haven’t seen too many facilities but the outdoor facility we are using for the
clinics would be one of the nicer outdoor basketball courts in los angeles with
the glass backboards and break away rims, but then we have not seen many
outdoor courts in our drives around the city or school courts so we cant really
compare the facilities, but we hope to see more courts as we travel to
Takoradi, and as we visit the various basketball events during the
holidays.

Isaac: what has your
basketball journeys in the USA been like?

Bill & Brad: We both played very competitive high school basketball in los angeles, and a
little bit of college basketball. After college we have been coaching at
different levels, and helping family and friends coach their basketball teams.
Unfortunately we haven’t won any championships in our times as players.

Isaac: Has anything
surprised you so far in Ghana?

Bill & Brad: There are surprises everywhere we look, the most common surprise is that we
realized Ghanaians like to name their businesses after “Jesus” and we have been
taking a lot of pictures of the sign posts. We are Catholics and we went to
catholic schools and we love Jesus too, but “Praise God Hair Salon”, “Ask God
Cosmetics” is really funny.

Isaac: After your
four week stay in Ghana would you be looking at building a stronger
relationship with the GBBA?

Bill & Brad: Yeah absolutely, with us not having any idea what to expect in Ghana and now we
having a great time just after five days in Ghana we will definitely love to
come back ,with what we have seen so far. So we are looking forward to build
the relationship even when we are gone through the internet, with blogging, and
even coming back when we have another long break in our carriers. And also
encouraging the GBBA to maintain its momentum if its looking at building a
national programme and competing with other countries on the continent. The
GBBA should also organize more basketball clinics and camps every couple of
months so people will know that these are happening and also having them of the
highest quality which we will love to come back to support. And after talking
to the past and current GBBA presidents and their enthusiasm and how bright
they see the future of Ghana Basketball we would love to be part of it.