Vincent Macaulay is a UK coach who made a name for himself being head coach and general manager of the London Lions for more than a decade and was responsible for them becoming a top team in the BBL in the UK. He also had experience coaching the Hemel Hempstead Royals, Milton Keynes Lions and Manchester Giants. He spoke to eurobasket about basketball before the season began. Unfortunately I didn´t bring the interview earlier and then Vincent Macaulay was released. This interview is a combination of his thoughts before the season began and questions after he was let go.

Thanks Vincent for talking to germanhoops.com. Where are you at the moment and how is basketball life treating you?

Thanks Miles, I am currently on the road as we travel to Belgium for a pre season game vs Charleroi, this will be our 4th game of 8. Life is treating me well as I get to know my new team and surroundings and prepare for what looks like a very exciting Pro A season.

Welcome to Germany. After coaching your whole life in England, you have taken on a new challenge in Germany. What do you know in general about the country Germany?

Thanks for the welcome, and I have been made so welcome by the people in Quakenbrück in particular and Germany as a whole, I know Germany reasonably well, I have an uncle who is German and he told me many stories about the country, I am always always awed by the organizations in the country, how diligent they are with everything they do. Also secretly two of my favourite footballers are Sepp Maier and Gerd Muller. At this point I would say that my sports intro to Germany was Kevin Keegan leaving my beloved Liverpool for Hamburg.

How have you followed German basketball over the years? The country has made giant leaps in the last years in their youth department as well as winning the World Cup title?

Just awesome! I have often watched the League, especially so when players from England would come to Germany and excel, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Geno Crandall etc. obviously we all fell in love with Dirk Nowitski, but the development of Dennis Schroeder who was just a very quick kid, into a phenomenal player and latterly a great leader cannot escape any coach.

After coaching in England, what was it that gave you that spark to want to go away from England? Was it more than just a new challenge?

Basically I had achieved everything possible in our League really, having been in every position, player, coach, GM, owner etc as well as winning games against European opposition. The League was going through a bad time with poor management etc and I was going to try and rebuild a powerhouse in Manchester like I had done in London but the League owners prevented that so I looked for a new challenge. I initially thought Japan, or a National Team, maybe Nigeria, when this opportunity came along with the Dragons who have been a very very top team and have the resources to be so again, so it excited me and with the legend that is Pat Elzie as Sporting Director and Marius Kröger as GM I believe we have a real shot.

You will coach German Pro A team Artland Dragons. What did you know about the club? It produced NBA player Isaiah Hartenstein.

Yes they talk a lot locally about Hartenstein and his development and are very proud of him and the work his father did. In fact they are very proud of their past achievements as a club and the coaches that have gone on to bigger and better things. I always try to stay in the present, it’s time to have more current things for the fans to talk about so hopefully we can do that here.

Patrick Elzie interviewed many guys, but chose you. What was the main reason for joining this historic organization?

Well as to his reasons, I think you would have to ask him. I do know he wanted a change and maybe a different way of doing things and that’s certainly what I do. I enjoy learning the game, trying different things and inspiring players to be the best they can be whilst enjoying the game. As I said my reason is that the club has excellent resources to be at the top, it’s different sometimes you are at a good club with a good team but the resources are limited for you to go further, that isn’t the case here.

Talk a little about your basketball philosophy. What kind of a coach are you and what is your brand of basketball?`

I am a very competitive person and I love to play a fast and exciting brand of basketball. Score quick and score fast, but my entire upbringing in basketball was under the legendary British coach, Jimmy Rogers from Brixton in London, Jimmy was defence first and last so we will always be a very gritty team. The modern game is more uptempo especially at the three point line. It is exciting to see so many different styles of play in the Pro A and I think this makes it a very exciting League.

What is like working with Pat Elzie. Like you he has so much coaching experience. How vital is his basketball knowledge for your development as a coach in Germany?

Invaluable. I don’t think I’ve met anyone in Germany who didn’t play for Pat!! But seriously he is a bank of information and that is really going to help accelerate my understanding of German basketball, also with my assistant, Marcus Jackson who played and coached in the League.

What kind of character is Joe Asberry. He is a man that has seen it all. What do you believe is his biggest strength in the youth sector?

Joe is a great guy, firstly it is great having him around our Dragons Training Centre, he chats to the senior players acts as a buffer for them just in settling down and developing as pro’s. As for his influence on the youth it’s plain to see, they follow him all around the town, they love his energy, he shares his knowledge and I think most importantly helps to ground them as they try to make their way into the pro world, a huge asset.

How much influence did you have on making the the 2024-2025 roster? Was it all you or did Pat Elzie assist you? I can imagine that Elzie had some influence in getting veteran Yasin Kolo?

Ha ha! Yes I know they go way back. Pat assisted certainly especially with the vets, but also in helping me understand how the game is played here. Obviously I’ve also brought players who played for me and that I know to help blend in my style. I have had much more athletic teams than the teams in Germany but it’s about getting the blend right, to compete in bully ball if necessary, whilst also playing uptempo, high flying and exciting.

What is the goal of the Artland Dragons. The team struggled to stay in last season. Is staying in the league again the main goal

Clearly staying in the League will be a success, but the team already did that last season, I think getting to the Playoff’s and competing effectively is also a goal. There is no reason for us not to be one of the better teams however with still some weeks to the start of the season I haven’t seen too many teams from our league, after a couple of weeks or so, I’ll know exactly what we need to do to have a successful season.

I love how Brandon Thomas is still playing at 40. He told me last season that if Artland stayed in the pro A, he would add on another year. Seriously how good is this guy still? His body and the way he plays looks like he was still 30?

Incredible!, Brandon was one of the first people I spoke to when I was given the honor of this job. His experience on the floor and his years in Germany are a real goldmine for me. We talked long and hard about what was needed to do well. His game is electric he is a finisher of the highest order and I’m trying to put him in the freezer from time to time so we can extend his career, he is a true pro who looks after his body and looking at him in training, it’s no surprise he has carried on for so long.

You brought in 2 Greens. Talk a little about their games. Do you feel like they could be impact players in the Pro A?

I do, Kierell will take a little time to settle as he literally finished playing in Indonesia, he is a glue guy who can plug many holes. He has good size and I think will hold us together in games. Tajh, well Tajh will be explosive, his athleticism is off the charts and he can run forever, the two of them will help our engine to keep ticking over.

I was very shocked when I learned that the Artland Dragons had let you go.Did it surprise you also?

Yes I was surprised, don’t get me wrong, 90% of coaching positions end in a sacking but I felt it was really soon especially as I had been told we were in a long term project. I was asked to work with 7 players provided for me and I was very happy to do so and was enjoying this.

I think it was too early after 5 loses, but it seemed like they don´t want a scenario happening from last season? Can you understand their reasoning?

I think it’s really not for me to worry about the managements reasoning, it is their right, however I feel I should have been told the plan had changed and I had to have such and such a League positioning by a certain time if indeed that was the case.

Are you able to explain why the team went from top to bottom with 4 wins and then sufering 5 loses?

This was always a transitional situation, a significant group of guys who had taken a lot of losses last season, a new coach a new system so things would be up and down, I think teams start to come together after 15 games, chemistry, trust etc. We had a bad loss in Karlsruhe and I sensed the fear in the club and in my opinion they over reacted but as I said that is the management´s decision.

I´m sure you will rebound from this experience. Did you learn anything from this experience?

I learnt a lot from the experience, seeing German basketball for 2 months seeing the depth of talent in the teams and also the support that clubs have to be successful. I totally enjoyed my time with the team especially Brandon Thomas and Robert Ohle. Also that change takes time and not everyone can come with you.

Do you have any parting words for the Artland Dragons organization and fans?

The fans were terrific and supported me throughout, I think the organization is trying to do the right things but process and communication is an area that still need further development and I think they know that too.

You made a massive name for the London Lions and coaching them for 11 years. Is it fair to say that they are like your baby? I would of thought that you would always have remained with that organization. Was leaving in 2022 a tough ordeal?

Not at all. I grew up in Africa and there was a saying always on the buses, “no condition is permanent” I live by this and it gives me a positive outlook. The ownership group that I had sold out to allowed me to remain and coach, but after awhile their idea of driving British basketball was not mine so I moved on amicably and with no hard feelings either side. Driving British basketball was and is important to me, making a home for British players, having Justin Robinson as a British player be Two Time MVP was important. Now with my new challenge, if a British Coach can be successful in Germany, it will assist a lot of other British coaches to belief in themselves and go forward more positively.

I remember hearing about the club 4-5 years ago. The club made an incredible development. They played Fiba Europe Cup for some years. How vital was this organization for the British basketball league?

Well as you may know the club has now fallen on hard times due to mismanagement. The club was very important to Britain because at the time I started the club post the 2012 Olympics, there was no Pro team in London, and really no success since the London Towers under Kevin Cadle and Nick Nurse so it was important to create a big city club that could challenge. We slowly grew the club to that level and I think it helped let people know there was good basketball in the Uk. Playing the Playoff Finals in front of 20,000 people, live in TV etc, these are the things that get people excited.

In the early years say 10 years ago, you brought in guys like Nick Freer or Orlan Jackman from the German lower leagues. But the team always seemed competitive. What kind of a coach were you then and what kind of a coach now?

Great memory! These were good players, Nick was very athletic and strong and Orlan is one of my favourite players ever. His pedigree you can see as he went on to win 3 x 3 Commonwealth Gold. I was a little over thinking then as a coach, my influences like Dean Smith and other college coaches, but then watching the success of Nick Nurse and Chris Finch in the NBA showed me that our League was actually a great training ground for Coaches, so I began to experiment and be more free flowing, that’s the kind of coach I am today.

The funny thing is I began interviewing guys some years ago as the rosters got more and more well known players and ex NBA guys. I interviewed guys like Orlando Parker, Josh Ward-Hibert, Jordan Spencer, Andre Lockhart, and Tarik Phillips just to name a few. Did the budget rise in the last years? How difficult was that?

You know the environment we are in for basketball in the UK is basically very clear. If you want something, you have to find the money and make it. We get very little to no Government support. For many years I was GM and Coach. That wasn’t easy but my vision stayed clear, Jon Spoelstra, father of Erik at Miami helped me a lot in understanding how to raise money in the sporting world and I did this, then very slowly we grew the budgets to the point we were able to compete in Europe.

How did you see the development of Jules Akodo. I followed him for many years in Germany with Frankfurt. He was a very special talent then.

Jukes was with us when we won the BBL Trophy, a young guy I always kept my eye on, I wanted him for many years before he finally came along. He is a true gentleman, very talented at both point and 2 guard.

Please name your 5 best players that you have coached in your career?

This is where I say it’s like saying who is your favourite child. A tough one, From a pure talent level it was probably DeAndre Liggins, he never stopped working and was blessed with real skills. Marquis Teague was a walking bucket but then I have to add Justin Robinson, Dru Spinks and Joe Ikhinmwin as players who understood what British basketball needed. If every British basketball player was like any one of them – the UK would have one of the best Leagues in Europe. But of course, I love all my players.

Please name your personal NBA Mount Rushmore?

MJ, Kareem, Olajuwon, Kobe, Magic

Who is your personal Goat?

Michael Jordan – no question

Thanks Vincent for the chat