My name is Benas and I'm passionate about traveling, sports and coffee. In this podcast I will aim to combine all three of them by 'zooming' around the world and talking to sports professionals and coffee savants around the world while having nuanced conversations about different topics within their profession. If you're interested in hearing the stories and lifestyles of high achievers, the biggest lessons throughout their life, their mindsets within their respective sports then please subscribe to this podcast, buckle up, get your cup of coffee and 'come fly with me'. Thank you :)
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Igor Kokoškov’s remarkable coaching journey began in Serbia before taking him to the NCAA and then the NBA, where he spent more than two decades as an assistant, won an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons and became the first European-born head coach in league history. He later brought his expertise back to the EuroLeague, while his greatest FIBA achievement came in 2017, when he guided Slovenia to an unbeaten EuroBasket title.
In this episode, Igor shares how meeting Quin Snyder at Duke helped shape his path, the mentors who influenced him during his Serbian basketball beginnings, and how he learned to build trust with NBA players as a foreign assistant coach. We also explore managing energy throughout a long season, the evolution of in-game play-calling, and his role as Head of Player Development with Project B—along with leadership, communication, adaptability and many more lessons from his extraordinary career.
Topics: 00:00 Intro
00:35 Quin Snyder impact
6:00 Beginning of coaching
10:20 Mentorship & Methodology
18:45 Serbian Basketball Culture
23:00 Foreign Coach in the NBA
30:45 Decision-making process
35:00 Connection with players
40:20 Locker-room impact
44:30 Energy Management & Information diet
57:45 ProBallers.com
1:06:25 Eurobasket 2015 & Playcalls
1:17:00 Offensive Systems & Winning
1:23:10 Project B
1:25:34 ATOs
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Valdas Dambrauskas – vienas ryškiausių Lietuvos futbolo trenerių, savo kelią pradėjęs Anglijoje ir vėliau dirbęs Lietuvoje, Latvijoje, Kroatijoje, Bulgarijoje, Graikijoje, Kipre bei Vengrijoje. Su skirtingais klubais jis iškovojo ne vieną nacionalinį titulą, o šiuo metu vadovauja Azerbaidžano klubui „Sabah“, kuris rungtyniauja UEFA Čempionų lygoje. Jo karjera – tai išskirtinė istorija apie atkaklumą, nuolatinį mokymąsi ir drąsą siekti aukščiausių tikslų.
Šiame ypatingame „The Benas Podcast“ epizode kalbėjomės apie sunkią Valdo pradžią Anglijoje ir pirmąsias patirtis „Brentford“ klubo sistemoje. Aptarėme jo asmeninį požiūrį į tobulėjimą, mąstyseną ir tai, kodėl treneriui pirmiausia svarbu atrasti save kaip žmogų – tik tada gali suprasti, kokiu treneriu nori būti. Taip pat kalbėjome apie kompetencijos lanką, laikotarpį, kai Valdas labiausiai pasitikėjo savimi kaip treneriu, bei viso pokalbio metu lyginome futbolą ir krepšinį, jų kultūrą ir subtilybes. Valdas pasidalijo ir daugybe kitų įžvalgų bei istorijų iš skirtingų savo karjeros stotelių.
Temos :00:00 Intro
EP#94 | Giuseppe "Peppe" Poeta: Coaching with tolerance and authenticity
Giuseppe “Peppe” Poeta is a former Italian national-team point guard who played for clubs including Virtus Bologna, Baskonia, Trento, Torino and Cremona. After retiring in 2022, he became an assistant coach at Olimpia Milano, then led Brescia to the 2025 Italian League Finals before returning to Milan. Since November 2025, Poeta has served as Olimpia Milano’s head coach, succeeding Ettore Messina. Today, "Peppe" reflected on his playing career and how those experiences shaped his approach to coaching. We discussed practice habits, leadership, handling difficult losses and the lessons he has learned throughout his coaching journey. He also shared how he manages his staff and whether his identity has evolved since transitioning from player to coach. and much more!
Topics: 00:00 Intro
00:30 Summer talk
03:10 Positive aura
05:14 Reflecting on his path
07:50 Mentoring young players
11:10 Negativity vs Positivity
EP#93 | Nicolej Krickau (Füchse Berlin): Coaching & Scouting Team Handball vs Basketball
Nicolej Krickau is a Danish handball coach whose playing career ended early due to injury, leading him into coaching at a young age. He rose to prominence with GOG, where he developed several world-class players and led the club to back-to-back Danish championships in 2022 and 2023. Known for his modern, player-centered approach, Krickau later won the EHF European League with SG Flensburg-Handewitt in 2024 and is now the head coach of Füchse Berlin. He is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and respected young coaches in European handball.
Today, Nico and me talked about how he started to coach, what the similarities between basketball and handball really are, how he developed and currently coaches the best player in the world, Mathias Gidsel and many more topics that should interest you if you're a sports fan!
Topics: 00:00 Intro
1:20 Cultural Communication
7:50 Coaching beginnings
13:00 Openness and authenticity
18:30 Handball culture
EP#92 | Tautvydas Sabonis: Inside a Rookie Head Coach's Mind
Tuti grew up playing basketball in a basketball family and eventually transitioned to coaching. He accepted an assistant coach position within the Zalgiris junior program before eventually transitioning to the pro team and working under four different Head Coaches, most notably Andrea Trinchieri his last season. This season (25/26) Tuti took his first head coaching job with the London Lions and won 4 trophies his first year!
Today, we talked about his early season challenges as a first time Head Coach and how to recover from heartbreaking losses and steering his team towards new heights to win trophy after trophy his first year. Tuti also shared his experience of being an Assistant coach, what leadership and culture mean to him, preparation, how he balanced his long-distance family-life and much more!
Dražen Orešković’s coaching career has mostly been built as a high-level assistant coach in Croatian and European basketball, with a focus on player development, tactics, and national-team work rather than long-term head-coaching roles. He moved through youth and assistant positions before establishing himself in top-level professional basketball. He has worked as an Assistant Coach at the National Team level with Bosnia as well as Croatia. Also worked in the Euroleague with Khimki basketball and is currently a youth level coach in Aleppo, Syria. He also trained Jusuf Nurkic individually during his time in Portland and shared his experience in the NBA.
Dražen has a rich coaching experience spanning across different cultures and continents and today we talked about all things coaching abroad. From being an assistant coach on the national team level during all competitions as well as his current experience in Syria and how he goes about adapting to a completely new cultures abroad. We also talked about living in the US, him training Jusuf and the Croatian basketball culture change within the team.
Topics:00:00 Intro
EP#90 | Darius Songaila (LT): NBA etapas, pamokos iš Gregg Popovich & nauji vyr. trenerio iššūkiai
Darius Songaila – vienas ryškiausių savo kartos Lietuvos krepšininkų, daugiau nei dešimtmetį rungtyniavęs NBA ir Europos krepšinio elite. Su Lietuvos rinktine jis iškovojo 2003 metų Europos čempionato auksą bei Sidnėjaus olimpinių žaidynių bronzos medalį.
Baigęs žaidėjo karjerą Songaila pradėjo trenerio kelią kaip asistento vaidmenyje – Žalgiris Kaunas štabe talkino Šarūnas Jasikevičius, o vėliau San Antonio Spurs organizacijoje dirbo šalia Gregg Popovich. 2025 metų vasarą jis treniravo Lietuvos U20 rinktinę, o šį sezoną tapo BC Šiauliai vyr. treneriu.
Šiame epizode su Darius Songaila kalbėjome apie jo kelią nuo NBA žaidėjo iki trenerio darbo aukščiausiame lygyje. Aptarėme NBA naujoko realybę ir linksmas užduotis rūbinėje, darbą trenerių štabe bei patirtį San Antonio Spurs organizacijoje šalia Gregg Popovich.
Taip pat kalbėjome apie svarbiausias pamokas iš NBA, trenerio filosofiją, pirmuosius žingsnius vyr. trenerio rolėje bei darbą su BC Šiauliai komanda. Ir, žinoma, dar daugiau istorijų iš ilgametės karjeros krepšinyje.
EP#89 | Luka Bassin - Doncic Effect, Slovenia Basketball & Player Development
Luka Bassin is a Slovenian basketball coach, player-development specialist, and scout known in regional European basketball circles. He has coached at youth and senior club levels, including currently as an Assistant coach of KK Ilirija in Ljubljana. He is especially recognized for player development—particularly with young prospects and big men—as well as scouting and tactical basketball education. Overall, he is respected in Slovenia for helping develop talent and contributing to the game behind the scenes.
Today, we talked about the Slovenian basketball system and how it all comes together, the involvement of the Slovenian federation by hiring coaches like him to work with some clubs and try to explain how the Slovenian basketball has evolved over the years. We also covered the player development part as well as the current NIL/NCAA dynamic with investing in players.
Topics: 00:00 Intro
2:50 Luka's beginnings
8:10 Where does the player development start?
15:35 How much training is too much?
19:15 Best pathway to develop for young guys
EP#88 | Vlado Micov: From Player to Galatasaray Sports Director
Vlado Micov is a former Euroleague player and current Sports Director for Galatasaray basketball. He has played in several high level clubs around Europe, most notably CSKA, Armani Milano as well as Galatasaray where he currently works as the Sports Director for the FIBA Champions League club.
Vlado and me talked mostly about his time as a player and what he experienced with the different coaches around Europe, his mindset around coaching and what he expected as a player vs what he expects as a front office member. We also touched on topics such as his dog hotel back in Belgrade and other personal matters.
A very insightful episode from the perspective of a former player.
Topics: 00:00 Intro
2:00 First challenges on the job
10:10 Handling emotions player vs front office
14:10 Expectation for the job 18:30 Learning from different coaches 25:10 Expectation from the staff 30:00 Best scouting report 36:30 Observing practices
39:50 Relationship with players42:10 Relationship with fans and club45:20 Vision for the team48:50 Communication with agent52:00 Break between playing and working55:30 No laptop and dogs57:40 ATOs
Rajko has Serbian roots but is born and raised in Vienna, Austria and is not your typical basketball guest. He's a speech-pathologist and works independently to help young people as well as actors and other professionals and leaders within the sports community to control their voice.
Rajko teaches people how to yell properly and still sound imposing as well as being impactful with the message you are trying to send. Today, he explained his methods and history and gave some real life examples of how voices can sound like when you are not taking care of it!
Topics: 00:00 Intro
7:15 Why speech pathology?
9:50 Speech pathology vs therapy
14:35 Common disorders
16:50 What is a voice box?
20:50 Common mistakes
23:50 Breathe effect on voice
32:30 Voice exercises
01:00 Old Trafford
3:30 Valdzia / Manager'is
12:00 Statistikos
21:00 Sunki pradzia Anglijoje
29:30 Inercija ir vizija karjerai
34:15: Ose Aibangee itaka ir spaudimas
55:10 Ugdyti žaidėjų savarankiškumą
1:05:00 Zmoniskumas ir zinios
1:09:30 Kompetencijos Arka
1:22:10 ATOs
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24:50 Tapimas treneriu ir naujo identiteto paieškos
30:00 Trenerio darbas & žaidėjo limitai
41:40 ProBallers.com
49:30 Pirmosios vyr. trenerio pamokos
55:50 Gregg Popovich pamokos ir žinios
1:05:50 Kokį identitetą nori perteikti komandai?
1:14:40 Darbas su sporto direktoriumi / Ginu Rutkausku
1:18:30 Asmeninis gyvenimas ir aukos
1:24:00 ATO situacijos
📢 Prenumeruokite mano „YouTube“ kanalą „The Benas Podcast“, jei norite nepraleisti naujausių epizodų! Šį tinklalaidės epizodą taip pat rasite visose garso platformose.
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