MISSIONS

“Basketball is becoming increasingly popular around the world. It is a mass sport—that is, a global sport—and to be among the winners, meaning among the medalists, you need avant-garde systems of work. In short, you need to stay ahead of your time and continuously create new value! I was very fortunate to bring a sixth sense from chess into basketball, while also being ambitious; throughout my coaching career, I studied the basketball reality of yesterday and followed that of today. Just as I do today, I always thought about what kind of basketball would be played tomorrow, and I therefore tried to predict future trends—evolution!” Halilović said at the beginning of his interview with Basketball.hr, adding:

“By copying today’s current systems, as most coaches do, one can be average at best and find oneself in medal contention only by chance! Therefore, the avant-garde is the only solution for fulfilling high-level senior club and national-team ambitions—logical, isn’t it, except for philosophers? Here are several excellent sources that reflect the current state and that no one should overlook:

Assoc. Prof. Tomislav Rupčić, PhD, Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology in Zagreb: ‘We are all collectively responsible for the state of Croatian basketball’!

Full Professor Nenad Trunić, PhD, Dean of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Management at Singidunum University in Belgrade. An international authority and FIBA instructor: ‘Today, much more training is done as a team and with considerably more tactics’!

Andrej Tesla, Master of Kinesiology in Coaching, founder of the Mrav Basketball Academy, external associate of the Basketball Education Center, and group leader. An international authority and European Junior Club Champion with KK Zagreb: ‘In life, I have always been followed by the more difficult path, and much less by luck.’”

His work, which he demonstrated to us in his Zagreb office, called “Roomsmir,” has been divided by the experienced Halilović into the following sections:

FUTURISTIC MISSIONS OF MENTAL BASKETBALL, created after ten years of work at the ROOMSMIR research center, based on 18 scientific disciplines and a wealth of global wisdom, have brought new visions to the global world that prevent “black holes”:

4+R WORKSHOPS (07–10)

For those entering the world of basketball for the first time, groups of four players of the same age from the same neighborhood are formed, together with one parent who “supports” them. Together, they learn an avant-garde, innovative alphabet and the fundamentals. The mission also offers children competitions in the knowledge they have acquired and in 1×1, 2×2, and 3×3 games; trips and opportunities to learn about the traditions and cultures of other communities, where they make new friends; Internet EDU games covering etiquette, ecology, first aid, and more; participation in community work activities; and enjoyment in FLOWER ECO-OASES with self-sustaining green energy, built at outdoor basketball courts—hopefully in their own neighborhood. Enroll in the MB workshops and enjoy new experiences and activities.

Goal: “To introduce those who choose basketball as their sport through the right door by preventing side effects in a timely manner, and to give the most active participants the opportunity to build, in their own neighborhood, a FLOWER ECO-OASIS on an outdoor concrete or asphalt basketball court.”

ASSESSMENT OF BASKETBALL PLAYERS’ GENETIC POTENTIALS (13–18):

To determine whether they have the talent for elite professional basketball or for recreation. Croatian basketball has many extraordinary talents; they simply need to be identified in time, educated futuristically, directed toward the right senior position, and promoted on the international stage! In my opinion, the greatest talent is Marko Marić, a young man who is 213 cm tall and only 18 years old. In my view, he is no less talented than Žarko Paspalj and Toni Kukoč were in their day. Marić is currently receiving exceptional, positive treatment from coach Andrej Tesla and has considerable freedom in his play.

Goal: “To align abilities with realistic ambitions, rather than deceive oneself with fame and wealth and irrationally waste one’s only youth. If you have recreational potential, acquire some new, useful education in life for a better tomorrow.”

IN–IN SCHOLARSHIP ACADEMY (19–22):

An extraordinary and accelerated development system for clubs with high international ambitions: a one-year roster made up of players from around the world who have not been recognized by the market but possess above-average DNA46.

Goal: “To help clubs align their international ambitions with their budgetary capabilities, so that they do not end every subsequent season on the begging street.”

SUPPLEMENTARY INSTRUCTIONAL INDIVIDUAL TRAINING:

A) Direct communication system
B) Online system
C) Hybrid option

Goal: “To help ambitious individuals acquire a higher level of individual basketball education.”

CONTRACTUAL SCHOLARSHIP EDUCATION FOR SPECIALIST PROFESSIONALS IN:

A) Individual development and maintenance of acquired abilities on the DNA46 platform
B) Teamwork—implementation of certified acquired abilities on the platform

Goal: “To train a new, higher level of specialist professionals to work with above-average DNA46.”

TREATMENT OF OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE SIDE EFFECTS:

Goal: “To develop basketball skills to the maximum limit of the player’s DNA46 potential.”

ACTION SUMMER FOR PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYERS:

Many professional basketball players, after achieving professional status, use the break between two competitive seasons to enjoy what they have earned, take unnecessarily long breaks, completely relax, and enter the next season unprepared— weaker than they were the previous season. Unfortunately, reality does not prove me wrong! In response to the open question of what he aims to achieve with this project, into which he has invested years and years of research, Halilović says:

“The goal is to be better at the beginning of the new competitive season than at the end of the previous one—but with a guarantee. You may be wondering how. I will tell you openly: I am particularly interested in Dario Šarić and Roko Prkačin, because I believe they are playing in the wrong positions.

“I am also publicly making an offer to the exceptionally tall Antonio Vranković and Lovro Buljević. I believe that just one summer in the MB system would give them a great deal, and I guarantee new value—they will never again be merely support workers whose job is to set screens.

“If money is the issue, I will work for free all summer, up to the promised newly created value before the new season! With the professional attitude of my participants and, of course, their ambition, I guarantee success!” says the self-confident Halilović.

However, he is also aware that the road to success is difficult and is not the same for every athlete. He therefore cites a famous example from around the world:

“In my opinion, a positive example is certainly Luka Modrić, a world football legend. It is well known that at Real Madrid, where he played for many years, every player has a personal coach to work with them after team training. The club does not tolerate mediocrity and therefore immediately looks for a replacement, unlike today’s basketball reality, where generalist coaches secretly punish those who seek additional instruction, while asking mayors to reward them with public money for finishing 12th in a competition for youth categories.”

Regarding Halilović’s project, he also identified the following key points from his many years of research:

IDENTIFICATION AND EDUCATION OF YOUNG BASKETBALL PLAYERS:

For national-team selections organized by age-group rosters.

Goal: “Preparing players for the senior national team.”

BLACK HOLES OF CROATIAN BASKETBALL:

“Major issues in Croatian—or, more precisely, CRO—sport can be resolved only by the prime minister, Mr. Andrej Plenković,” says HOO President Mr. Zlatko Mateša. Since, according to the words of KIF Dean Mr. Tomislav Rupčić, everyone is responsible for the current state, it is evidently not easy to prevent it. The solution can also be advanced by the long-standing creators of Croatian basketball and influential figures: Mr. Tvrtko Puljić in public opinion, Mr. Josip Vranković in national-team selections, and Mr. Tomislav Zebić as the most powerful figure in Croatian club basketball—above all.

“I hereby invite anyone who can stand in the same sentence with them to come forward and help improve the status and quality of coaches, because they are the most endangered! Mayors should also be integrated into these structures so that they can change their long-standing habits, as my longtime teacher, the unfortunately deceased Mr. Mirko Novosel, used to say: “BASKETBALL IS NOT TRADE; IT IS PRODUCTION!”

“A comprehensive, impartial analysis of all current basketball stakeholders would establish what, who, and why is causing problems! Time will tell! What is the goal of all this? In short, the elimination of bad practice.”

Regarding the theme ARGUMENTS OF MENTAL BASKETBALL: A SHIFT TOWARD COMMON SENSE, Halilović explains at length:

“Every day, in every respect, the MB system is progressing more and more. My most recent meditation during a period of relaxation produced unprecedented results in new, innovative plans and work programs: timelines and systems for developing certain mental abilities of the brain, as well as avant-garde solutions for maintaining acquired skills and precision!

“When we add the innovations previously recorded according to priority factors X, Y, and Z, the result is an impressive value in the new missions being offered to the basketball world—bringing additional value and awaiting partners, promoters, investors, and collaborators for exploitation. Ideas are paid for, aren’t they? More innovations mean more dollars; that is how it should be!

“One hundred and one global innovations—can you imagine how much that is worth? The motto of Mental Basketball, “mind to mind” (MB), is: Train—remember; play—think; develop the ability to adapt and choose the best solution in the situation that arises at that moment!

“Good business is the creation of new value, while bad business is merely trade. The pointless consumption of time and money is outright fraud!? The world loves winners and innovators, not “jobholders” who live aboard the ship called “don’t rock the boat”! Partners, get in touch!” concludes Halilović, who is willing to present his project to anyone interested.

But along with the clear message he describes figuratively, as also shown in the accompanying graph, he says:

“To work well with young people today, you must know what kind of team basketball will be played tomorrow. Yesterday (“B–”), today (“B”), and tomorrow (“B+”) are the time distances through which basketball has always passed and will continue to pass, similar to the development of fruit—apple > pear > orange—which have their own periods, ripening times, and flavors.

“Mathematicians say that different fruits cannot be added together, and I would add that neither can three different eras of basketball.”

New eras always bring more powerful values, proportional to futuristic vision. Whoever possesses interoception—a sixth sense, the chess-like philosophy of anticipating several moves ahead—will live on healthier branches and produce more and better fruit at the global level.

During ten years of research into futuristic basketball and the question “what lies beyond the hill,” I envisioned 101 innovations of global value that do not exist in today’s basketball; identified the DNA46 potentials of basketball players; developed a new alphabet and fundamentals of offense and defense; created effective offensive 1×1 moves with three options; invented units of measurement called “the moment of truth”; prevented black holes; brought new laws, recipes, formulas, and pieces of advice worth their weight in gold to basketball; built two special basketball courts in Zagreb and Žuljana; and planned many missions on the “Basketballplus Project” platform!

Different eras use different letters and alphabets, more effective fundamentals are learned, opponents’ abilities are read differently, and everything is carried out using more productive technologies! I have no problem with that, but I do have a problem with protecting the results of ten years of research from misuse and finding a partner for their business exploitation!”

When speaking about his project, Halilović places particular emphasis on the foundations or fundamentals of basketball.

“To enjoy the beauty of basketball, regardless of one’s ultimate level of achievement within the MB system, one must first learn the MB alphabet—how to write letters, words, and then sentences. After that, one must learn innovative, unpredictable MB creations, followed by reading opponents’ reactions and selecting the best winning solution in the current offensive or defensive situation, and so on, all the way to the professional market—provided, of course, that the player possesses extraordinary DNA46.

“The extent to which this is ahead of its time can be sensed in two educational system schedules of MB practice on basketball courts: focus, prevention, innovation, stress testing, routinization, pulsation, and theories in the Roomsmir office; video analyses for improving efficiency; and the Multy Vision concept for accelerating development toward perfection—the defined limit—when they are handled by a specialist in individual development and a specialist in team development on a platform of certified abilities, enabling a more efficient flow of the ball and players through spaces of 28 and 8 meters and within 24 seconds,” says Halilović, adding:

“Productive high technology for opening ‘files’ in the brain, which are formed more quickly when the completed action is closer to the center. The predetermined time to perfection is controlled using MB units of measurement, corrected and accelerated with new details, and adjusted by changing the methodology.

‘Repetition is the mother of learning,’ but what kind, when, and why—that is the point. It is also important to consider how many educators are filling a basketball player’s brain at the same time, which can logically be seen in the graph! Filling the epicenter will be far more successful, and the results incomparably better and faster, when it is done by one MB specialist rather than several coaches, because that is when chaos arises!”

He sent everyone a clear message, emphasizing basketball players who do not believe in themselves, while also pointing out that coaches play an important role. He is convinced that this is one of the key factors on the road to success:

“The misconception—or rather, the old saying—‘fear has big eyes’ has an extremely negative foundation! A frightened basketball player loses everything: character, body motor skills, ball handling, shooting and passing accuracy, and mental functions such as memory, thinking, the ability to adapt, and the ability to make choices.

“And the people responsible for all this are ‘abusive’ coaches and ‘alpha’ parents. There are countless examples from practice involving young players, and often seniors as well, who stopped responding to their coaches because of the coaches’ aggressive behavior! The record of coaching changes this season makes everything clear, doesn’t it?

“‘Abusive’ coaches simply find new victims, while ‘alpha’ parents—those who are intelligent are pursued by their conscience and spend their entire lives running from themselves; the others, once reality catches up with them, spend their entire lives looking for excuses and claiming that someone else is responsible for their actions and decisions.

“All in all, the players suffer, just as they do under generalist coaches who do not know the difference between individual and team training. Because they are continually in a conflict of interest and act abusively, they set the player’s two eyes—their mind—against each other, as well as their own,” says Halilović.