Kenny Atkinson Entusiasmado Con Dirigir A La Republica Dominicana.!!!

ATLANTA (FIBA Basketball World Cup/2015 FIBA Americas Championship) – Recently-appointedDominican Republic coach Kenny Atkinson can hardly wait.

The Atlanta Hawks assistant is right now focused on the NBA playoffs but once the season is over, Atkinson plans on diving head first into Dominican Republic basketball and preparing for the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship.

He’s going to hit the ground running no matter which players are available and that includes Atlanta’s Al Horford, a superstar who will wait until the NBA campaign has concluded before deciding if he’ll suit up for his country this summer in Monterrey, Mexico (25 August-6 September).

“I can just tell you with all my heart, I’m going to give everything to this national team,” he said in an interview with La Voz del Fanatico.

Atkinson can’t wait to be a part of a national team program that has taken huge strides in recent years.

Most recently, the Dominicans made it to the Round of 16 at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Atkinson, who has served as an assistant coach on the Ukraine and Georgia national teams, watched a few of the Dominicans’ games at the World Cup on video replay before accepting the offer to coach the team.

“I was very impressed with how hard the players played,” he said.

“I was impressed with the talent.

“I was impressed with the attitude…

“There was enough to intrigue me.

I like the style of play and I thought they played together. – Atkinson

“I thought it was very interesting.”

Atkinson has already thought about how the Dominican team will play at the FIBA Americas Championship, where they will be in Group A with hosts Mexico, Panama, Brazil and Uruguay.

“I think the most important thing is to fit the style according to the type of players you have, so, that is part of the evaluation process,” he said.

“I want the system to fit the players.

“I don’t want to come in with my system and it doesn’t fit the players.”

Atkinson does say, however, he will incorporate some of what the Atlanta Hawks do into the Dominican team.

“I love the style we have in Atlanta,” he said.

“We are very fast paced. Offensively, we are extremely fast paced.

“We move the ball. We are first in the league in assists.

“So I would love to have a similar style offensively, take advantage of the speed we have with the Dominican team.

On defense, I’m going to use a lot of the principles that we have with the Hawks. – Atkinson

“I just need to confirm that as we start training camp and I get a better feel for the players.”

As always, there is a lot of talk in the Dominican Republic about the naturalized player the Dominican Republic should use.

James Feldeine would appear to have a very good chance of remaining in that role.

“I’ve watched James Feldeine play and I’m very intrigued by this player,” Atkinson said.

“I don’t like change just to change, so I need to evaluate the situation a little more.

“But I’ve heard pretty good things about Feldeine and he fits well with the team.

“But again, I’m going to evaluate that more as soon as the playoffs end and if it can make the Dominican team better [to make a change], it’s something to look at.”

Who else might be in the team?

Charlie Villanueva, the 31-year-old forward who hasn’t played for the Dominicans since the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship, has had a good year with the Dallas Mavericks.

I’m a big Charlie Villanueva fan. –Atkinson

“I’ve been in the NBA for eight, nine years and I really appreciate Charlie as a player and offensive force,” Atkinson said.

“I think this is open to discussion. I think any time you have a player that talented, and I think he’s had a good year with the Dallas Mavericks, and I respect the player a lot.

“It’s something we’re going to have to look at.”

As for Horford, one of the stars in the Hawks team that Atkinson sees each and every day, the Dominican Republic boss said: “My stance on that is the decision is 100 percent up to Al.

“That’s the only fair thing.

“My role isn’t to pressure him or convince him. He knows the situation with the national team.

“He has a lot of pride and loves playing for his country. He and his wife just had a baby, he has a contract year coming up. He needs to sit down with his family and agent and decide.

“Obviously, we’d be excited and blessed if he ended up playing.”

Atkinson, who says he’s really happy that Ron Sanchez is going to continue helping the Dominican team as one of its assistant coaches, is also going to have young coaches from the Hawks staff to help out.

He is very excited about the opportunity to coach.

“Our staff is going to give all its passion and heart really to helping the Dominican players get better on the national team. I really believe the results will follow if we give them every chance to succeed and we are passionate on a day to day basis in terms of helping them improve.

“It’s a real honor, it gets me emotional just thinking about it.

“I think the fans are going to like how we approach it.”

Go to fibaamericas.com/mex2015 for full coverage of the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship.

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