NIAGARA FALLS — As the high school basketball season is set to open on Monday, we had the pleasure to sit down with newly appointed Niagara Falls boys basketball coach Giulio Colangelo.

Colangelo talked about a number of topics including the hiring process, coach Dan Bazzani’s influence on him, this year’s team and the future of the program in this edition of Q&A;:



QUESTION: Now that you’ve had a week to digest the news, how does it feel to be the head basketball coach at Niagara Falls High School?

ANSWER: It feels good. I look forward to the challenge and the excitement that this position brings.

Q: What was your first reaction when coach Bazzani broke you the news?

A: I was excited. I was looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to getting together with the players and starting to organize practices and things like that. I was ready to start focusing on basketball as oppose to all the other stuff.

Q: Have you ever seen so much hoopla in the hiring of a high school basketball coach?

A: Locally, this position is important to the community and there is a lot of excitement and anticipation about the upcoming season, so I can see why the excitement and enthusiasm is abound.

Q: Has the “circus” surrounding this job been a problem?

A: No, you just have to focus on what’s important and that’s the players.

Q: What was the most important thing that coach Bazzani taught you either as a player (Colangelo played for Bazzani at UB) or as an assistant coach?

A: He’s taught me quite a few things actually. He’s always said to play hard and give it your best in both practice and games. He always says to stay positive. And paying attention to detail as far as running your practices and stuff like that.

Q: What kind of experience was it like last for you last year as being a first-year varsity assistant coach at NFHS?

A: It was good because I was able to work with the players every day in practice, specifically the big men — the forwards and centers because when I played those are the positions that I excelled at. From that point of view I was pleased to see the players improve as the year went on.

Q: How would you describe your coaching style or philosophy?

A: It depends on the personnel, but with the players we have coming back more importantly I think that I’d like more of an up tempo style. But you also have to make adjustments as the year goes on. If things need to change so be it. You just have to take things day by day, practice by practice and go from there.

Q: I know you said your specialty is the forwards and centers, but a lot of people are saying that that may be the weak point of the team this year. What are your feelings on that?

A: No I don’t think they are the weaker part of the team. I think at both positions (guard and forward) there is a nice balance. There will probably be three or four different players that can play there and improvement quite a bit at those positions. I’m pleased with what’s there and the potential of what can come of those big guys.

Q: You guys are back in the Niagara Frontier League this season. What are your thoughts on that?

A: I’m excited to start playing the local teams again so to start up a little bit more rivalry with local basketball. We’ll be able to play more games at local schools, so I think it’s good for the community too.

Q: So you guys don’t have any thoughts of going back to an independent schedule any time soon?

A: That’s something that’ll have to be addressed down the road and with coach Bazzani.

Q: What do you think are some of the strengths of this team?

A: Our guard play. Pretty much we have Jonny Flynn and Rahshon Tabb, who are excellent guards. They both can shoot, they can handle, so if I had to pinpoint a specific strength, it’d be our guard play.

Q: With Jonny and Rahshon back, you guys must have high expectations once again, correct?

A: I think any coach going into a season would have high expectations. You have to talk to players individually and come up with goals as a team.

Q: What would say to someone that says this is the last year for Niagara Falls to be a powerhouse in Western New York, with Jonny Flynn leaving, Paul Harris gone, Robert Garrison gone etc.?

A: There’s a lot of young talent in our school. Those players were exceptional athletes, but some of the younger players will work just as hard. Jonny started from somewhere too. He improved a lot from ninth to tenth and tenth to eleventh grade. I was an assistant when he was in ninth grade and he’s gotten so much better. As far as the younger talent, they’ll improve over time. I think there’s still more players of that caliber.

Q: What would you say to someone that says “Nate Beutel” could get 20 wins with Jonny Flynn? And what are some of the things that an average person doesn’t see that you guys have to do as coaches on a daily basis.

A: You have to have practice with attention to little details like positioning of your defenders, setting up your offenses, continuously making cuts. You have talent here yes, but you also have to have that talent work for you so you can get the most out of it. You can’t really just roll the ball out. Although they are very talented, there are the little things that separate the good teams from the very good teams. It’s all about details.

Q: Is that the kind of stuff (the little things) that you don’t really see until the state tournament against a team like Mount Vernon?

A: Yes. That’s why you have to focus on it from the start. Some teams you have more talent than. There’s a lot of fine tuning that has to be done when you get to that point.

Q: At the board meeting where you were approved as coach last week, I thought board member Mark Zito made a good point when he said there’s a good core of four young coaches (Colangelo, Mike Esposito, Sal Constantino. Carlos Bradberry) and veteran assistant coach Dan Venuto that will have the chance to work with that young talent. Do you think that’s a good mix of coaches for Niagara Falls basketball.

A: Oh, I definitely think so. We work with most of the players year round plus we all get along, so it’s a nice thing to have.

Q: Nov. 6 is Monday and it was only last week that you were named coach, so has it been a hectic schedule for you? And what kind of things have you been having to do to get prepared?

A: A little bit. Organizing everything and stuff has been busy, so a little bit, but I’m excited to get going. I’ve been trying to make sure people have their physicals, they have any forms to get in, preparing tryouts, progress reports, checking grades and things like that.

Q: You said there is a lot of young talent, so what do you think is the future of this program as an elite one in Western New York?

A: Maybe that’s a question that I could answer later in the year. That’s something to talk about down the road, because right now I’m just focusing on the next couple of weeks and getting my team organized.

Q: To have a mentor on site in coach Bazzani, is that something great for you to have?

A: Our lines of communication are always open. If I ever need anything whether it’s basketball related or not basketball related, I can just give him a call and he’ll answer any questions I might have.

Q: On a lighter note, is Stoney (volunteer assistant coach Bob Stone) coming back?

A: I haven’t thought about that. I might call him. He’s a great guy, though.

Contact Nate Beutel at 282-2311, Ext. 2262.