Pic credit: NBBL

As crazy as this may seem sometimes even an Andi Obst isn´t enough at the end to secure a title in a nasty game 5 atmosphere on the road for Alba Berlin who witnessed that recently. For shooting star Jack Kayil, he didn´t have his best game in game 5 shooting a dismal 2/11 from the field, but in the end all that counts is the chip. The 2 baskets he did make were important ones in the fourth quarter in the miraculous comeback from Alba Berlin. He also downed valuable free throws in the game to secure the 84-81 victory in Munich. The last weeks have probably been the best in the life of Jack Kayil. He won his first real pro chip with Alba Berlin after winning the NBBL (U-19) title back to back with Alba Berlin in 2023 and the Young Rasta Dragons in 2024 and then topped that by being drafted in the NBA in the second round and landing with the New York Knicks. He had an interesting path that had some adversary long the way, but in the end everything he did was right. One guy who was on his side for many years during his youth period as an assistant coach and the last pro season with Alba Berlin as a player development coach was affable Italian Emanuele Berti. Both were on the court in Frankfurt in 2023 celebrating after Nils Machowski dropped a buzzer beater to beat the Young Rasta Dragons and celebrated again recently in Munich after Alba Berlin won the easyCredit BBL title. They went through so much together and Berti had many fond memories with Kayil on the court, but nothing topped the win in Munich recently. “Being able to win the BBL title together was unexpected. I mean we fought through so many difficult situations during the season. Jack had so much pressure with college on his mind, then scouts, NBA etc. It was so much to digest, but he was still in the gym every day and worked hard to get even better. When we won in Munich, Jack was the first player I met on the court. I gave him a big hug. It was not normal for a 20 year old kid like him to play such a big role on a title team. Being able to hug him after the win was the moment where we closed the circle. It was the end of his development. Now he would become an NBA player. His nickname from me was always “El Nino (the kid), but now he had become a man”, warned Emanuele Berti.

Emanuele Berti joined Alba Berlin in 2018 when Jack Kayil was 12 years old. He saw him play for the first time in the U-13 and then was his coach for the first time in the U-15. “I remember him being a reserved kid, but he was always open to jokes. He liked to be funny. He was a kid you just liked right away. On the court, I noticed this special personality right away. He wasn´t shy with the ball. He saw things on the court that other kids did not see. He had fakes, could go full court, made great passes and had this smell for steals. He was a special player”, stressed Emanuele Berti. Kayil was always one of the younger players and one could see already then he really was a unique player that had a massive future in front of him. “I remember in his second JBBL year, he was injured in Feb and we had to play Rostock and prompt lost without him. One could see a huge difference in the team play when he wasn´t there. The team really struggled without him trying to find easy solutions. He had the best + – that season. One could see how important his game was for the success of the team”, remembered Emanuele Berti. Him being one of the youngest on the team continued in his first NBBL season with Alba Berlin in 2022-2023 and despite the team being filled with so much talent, he showed right away that he could be an impact player, but he also got vital trust from the coaching staff who let him make mistakes. “I will never forget the second game of the season in Vechta who was one of the best teams in the NBBL. We were without our top players Elias Rapique, Nils Machowski and Rikus Schulte who were with the BBL team. We had the next man up mentality and that person was Jack. Jack began with 5 consecutive turnovers. Usually the coach will take him out, but I have to give a lot of credit to Vladi Bogojevic who kept him in. He had to learn from mistakes and see what it felt like to struggle. He played 28 minutes and showed early that he had something special. He would show flashes of making flashy dunks or big baskets. The turning point was at ANGT in Munich. It was his break out. He was young and had no expectations, but he totally turned it on. He played unbelievably well creating for others and making key baskets. It was not normal for a young player like him to take over when there were older guys on the team”, stated Emanuele Berti.

Pic credit: Alba Berlin

Alba Berlin would win the 2023 NBBL title mainly because it had a deep roster that had great talent at each position. The club was especially talented at the guard position with Nils Machowski, Jack Kayil and Dorian Grosber. None of these guards were dominant, but instead there was a healthy balance between the three. “Our style then was a lot different to what Vechta did. We did a mix of isolation, finding our teammates and getting the big men more involved. Nils was in front of Jack and Dorian. It was good for them 2 to learn from him. Jack and Dorian played more transition. But already then Jack had a special knack of reading the game well and knowing how to make the right play”, remembered Emanuele Berti. How well were his leadership qualities already developed on a team that already had many great leaders? “At the beginning he didn´t speak so much, but led by example. He became more vocal later. Elias Rapique was the vocal leader then. But he showed that he was never scared to take over in important moments of games and put his body on the line. He was fearless and showed his teammates how it should be”, stressed Emanuele Berti. Kayil already had a potent drive in 2022-2023 and nice offensive game, but it was his playmaking that was still raw then and would develop nicely the last years and especially last season having a teammate like Martin Hermannsson around. “Jack already had the ability to read the pick and roll well and when to go by himself or create or to slow down the game when needed or look for the correct tactical solutions. His passing made big strides this season. Jack always has had good instincts and knew how to find that first scoring option. But this season Martin worked a lot with him reading the situation well when the opponent makes adjustments. He learned that it doesn´t always have to be that first pass, but the late pass can be just as important. Jack couldn´t have found a better person than Martin to help him with his playmaking”, remembered Emanuele Berti. But it wasn´t only his offensive game that got him to the NBA, but his physicality and defensive skills were big assets as well. “Jack has always been an athletic kid. If you were to see his brother, you would think a mountain is there. He is a bit shorter, but double the width. You notice right away that there is something special in the family in terms of body. His body mass helped him then already to slow down the game, change speeds and be in the air longer than others. His physicality came latter, but was in the making then. He did a good job the last years continuing to build on his physicality. In terms of his defense, he always had a knack to steal the ball. He didn´t have the habits yet when he was young, but it grew with time. He made his biggest jump this season on defense. Pedro Calles said it best when he said that Jack used his physicality every second. He understood to be physical on every possession”, added Emanuele Berti.

After Jack Kayil won the 2023 NBBL title with Alba Berlin, he surprised many by leaving the organization and joining rival Young Rasta Dragons. This move had 2 sides that one had to understand. Many people didn´t understand this especially Alba Berlin. “On the one hand, it was brave for him to leave his comfort zone and he gained valuable experience being away from home and taking on a new challenge. However on the other hand we as Alba Berlin tend to think that we do an excellent job with our youth. We think that he could of even become better had he stayed with us. He could of played with the BBL team earlier and been successful. Serbia was a tough experience, but all in all a time where he could face adversary and grow as a player and person”, said Emanuele Berti. He took another step this season with easyCredit BBL team Alba Berlin averaging 12.4ppg, 3.0rpg, 3.4apg, FGP: 48.1%, 3PT: 31.0%, FT: 78.5% and in the Basketball Champions League averaged 11.9ppg, 2.9rpg, 4.0apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 53.8%, 3PT: 26.6%, FT: 77.4%. “Jack became a very very reliable player this season. Pedro Calles said it best in preseason when he said Jack was like a 7th American. His strong physicality and mentality counted like a seventh American. His confidence also continued to grow within the season. The team began to accept quickly that he could make the big plays. His defensive presence was amazing. Jack had a big role on scoring passing and just being unpredictable. You never knew what you would get from him”, laughed Emanuele Berti. As Kayil departs for the NBA, the special working relationship between Berti and him has come to an end. It is a relationship that he will never forget. “We had a very open relationship. He was a very responsive kid that always wanted to understand and asked questions and was never short of having ideas. When I was an assistant during his youth days, we weren´t as close, but now as a player development coach we were closer. He was always nice to be around and was always focused about basketball, but could also be funny off the court. He is the example of how I would like every youth player in the Alba Berlin organization to come out to the pro´s. He was always in the gym and had the right mind set”, warned Emanuele Berti.

Kayil was drafted by the Houston Rockets at #39 and traded to the New York Knicks. “It was a huge achievement for him to be drafted. It was always his dream. Now we will see what happens. Him being drafted was a good representation of the hard work that the Alba Berlin organization put in. The coaching staff was huge for his big development this season. But really every person in the Alba Berlin organization have a piece in him being rewarded being drafted”, added Emanuele Berti. The German guard is coming to a team that just won the NBA title after 53 years again, have a German big man with Ariel Hukporti and incredible players like Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. “I think that Jack has all the tools to make it. He has proven in the past that he can overcome any challenge and get the best out of it. I´m very optimistic he will make it. The Knicks have an Italian player development coach and I hope that Jack takes advantage of it”, commented Emanuele Berti. With Jalen Brunson, he will have a top guard that could serve as his mentor. “I think that he will be perfect. They have a lot in common. Both were second round pics, have a nice mid range game and are physical. Hermannsson did a good job helping him become a pro in Europe and Brunson can do the same in the NBA”, stressed Emanuele Berti. The question now is will Jack Kayil be a role player or impact player in the NBA? “I think that he could be an impact player if the situation is right. When I see how well a guy like Hugo Gonzalez fit in Boston, I don´t see why Jack can´t do the same in New York. I don´t know how much time it will take, But he has the tools to become a high level player in the NBA”, warned Emanuele Berti.