Coach Walter Carvalho, whose basketball e-books in English are being distributed on the CompuSports Media Exchange, sat down recently for an E-Interview with CompuSports Network editorial staff writer Jim Reese. Coach Carvalho’s ideas on the game are both informative and enlightening.

Jim Reese: Coach, you’ve had a long career as a successful basketball coach at all levels: teaching youngsters, coaching at a large American university, assisting the Brazilian team as it moved towards qualifying for the 1992 Olympics, and in your role as coach of the Bahrain national team. Has there been a common thread you’ve noticed and practiced at all those stops?

Walter Carvalho: You are only going to be as good as you can be if you pay the price and sacrifice. One must work very hard and have a goal set for oneself and one’s team. A team with good chemistry is one whose players will fight together toward the same goal.

JR: In your book, Basketball-Offense Development , you stress continuous player movement. What advice would you give to high school coaches having difficulty getting players to understand the benefit of setting screens to effect better shooting percentages?

WC: I still have problems at the professional level teaching players to be patient enough to set and use screens. It all comes back to a team approach to the game. Better shooting percentages will come from everyone understanding their role in the team concept of shot selection. Continuous player movement and the understanding of shot selection will improve shooting percentages per possession.

JR: How did you begin to write books on basketball and what has been their acceptance in different sections of the world?

WC: I began to write basketball books with the intent of passing on to novice coaches what I have learned during my coaching career. I hope my books will be of some value to all coaches who read them and acceptance so far has been very good in the United States and Brazil. We are now beginning to promote them all around the world.

JR: Although you are originally from Brazil, you attended college in the United States, graduating from the State University of New York at Brockport in 1981 and you coached at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. How do you feel the college game has changed over the past twenty years?

WC: I believe that the college game in the United States has become a professional sport. Marketing and recruiting are variables that control who comes into your program or not. You may have an excellent coach in your program but if he does not fill the arena seats at home every game, he will be looking for a new coaching position soon. Basketball is not an academic experience anymore. Sports at NCAA Div. I is not a part of the academic program anymore. Today the school academic program is a part of the sports program.

JR: In another of your books, Conditioning For Basketball, you talk to the need for weight training. As it has in coaching football, do you see this trend also in basketball?

WC: I believe that you can only play basketball at the top level if you are an outstanding athlete. Every year, conditioning is becoming a more important aspect of the game. Due to NCAA regulations, teams now spend more time conditioning than in actual on the floor play or in improving their skills.

JR: Can you name some of the coaches whose teachings over the years have been influential in your own career?

WC: There have been so many. At UAB, there were Gene and Murry Bartow. Others along the way were Marcelo Cocada, Raimundo Azevedo, Ari Vidal, Andy Young, Pat Stewart, and John Newman. Tom Quinn, Mike Frink, Paulo Murilo, and Carlos Barone also come to mind. We in the coaching profession are fortunate in that there are so many good coaches around today.

JR: Coach, you presently are the head coach of the Muharraq Sports Club in Bahrain, an independent state in the Gulf Region. What have you found to be the major differences in coaching at an American university and your present work in Bahrain?

WC: Coaching in the US is more like a full time job. You are involved with academics, recruiting, looking for sponsors, attending luncheons, organizing travel, etc. In the US, coaching is 80% administrative and 20% coaching. Overseas, it is the opposite. You coach much more.

JR: Given that you have more time to coach then, what are your practice sessions like?

WC: My practice sessions are intense. We practice both in the morning and evenings. I don’t like long practice sessions but I do like to simulate game conditions and make my drills very competitive at all times. My practices are short, averaging about an hour and a half of fast and intense activity. My drills are usually no longer than ten minutes. I very carefully plan all my practice sessions and make adjustments, as I deem necessary. I go into great detail in my books on my practice sessions because I think you will play as you practice.

JR: Are there any motivational tools you have found useful coaching in the US that don’t apply in Bahrain, or vice-versa?

WC: I believe that the American concept of a team tradition of just “making the playoffs” doesn’t apply to International Basketball. Players and teams here only understand winning the championship. There is no other motivational tool other than winning in overseas basketball.

JR: Have you ever had to discipline a player who didn’t buy into your “team” concept?

WC: It is very difficult to discipline. You hope that you can sell to all the importance of teamwork and togetherness as important tools for a winning chemistry. If this combination does not exist, you are bound to have a losing season and discipline problems will follow as a result of losing.

JR: What was your impression of the Olympic experience in 1992 as an assistant coach of the Brazilian team?

WC: I believe that any time you help to represent your country in official competition such as the Olympics is an unforgettable time. I had the opportunity to be on the same floor with Larry Bird, John Stockton, and Magic Johnson. It was my privilege to help the Brazilian team prepare for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona by being part of the coaching staff at the Tournament of the Americas in Portland earlier that year when they took a Bronze Medal and qualified. It was one of the highlights of my career. I learned so much about the coaching philosophies of so many great coaches from all over the world. It is a moment one takes to his grave.