Today is the conclusion of our three-part interview (Part 1 and Part 2) with international scout Bruno Baltazar. In this portion of the interview, we discuss the importance of scouting for the NBA, and the top international players you’ll be seeing in this summer’s Olympic games.

DB: Explain why you think foreign scouts like yourself are important to the NBA.

Bruno: Foreign scouts are important because most grow up outside America. They understand and have a global perspective of the game, ways more then the Americans have. You always follow the NBA if you love basketball, but outside America, you watch others champs, and you move from country to country so you have a different perspective of the game. Didn’t you notice more and more foreign players are coming to the NBA? Maybe foreign scouts have something to do with it.

Some scouts are signed because they know a lot of people, not always because they great scouts. That’s what I witnessed last summer in the NBA Without Borders when I heard the Knicks’ general manager asking a African if he wanted to work for them just because he knew African basketball.

That’s why many scouts are foreign scouts. They bring a well-known system of basketball outside USA. Plus, when you know how to speak another language it’s a big plus, just like having a lot of basketball connections. For example, I never worked for Besiktas, Galatasaray-Turkish teams or ACB teams but I know many of their coaches and when they give you inside information it’s great.

Pete Philo, my friend and scout of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is the Reebok Summer league director in Treviso. Many of the best youth European players are, wonder why the Wolves signed him?

DB: What’s your biggest strength in regards to coaching and scouting?

Bruno: I’m really communicative. I like to speak, meet new people, and make friends. When you build a relationship like that, both players and coach understand better and are more to each other, building a better relationship that is well needed in order to win.

I like to help, and they sure will help me as well. I listen, but I also speak. I like to learn philosophies and mentalities. I’m not afraid of trying new things, and I don’t feel pressure on anything I do, as far as having food on the table.

But in the scouting profession, each person likes to focus on something. I pay special attention to the foot work of a player, as it shows a lot about his technique, and I also like to see how well a player fits in a system.

DB: Do you find your job relative easy-going, or is it stressful?

Bruno: I studied the game enough in order to understand it. Right now it’s pretty easy for me, but stressful? Sure, the logistics are tough. Sometimes you don’t feel that good, but still you have to travel. One day you wake up in one country, the next day you must be in another country. It’s a little complicated, but when you do something you love, everything turns out to be great. I already have experience so it helps, but when I started I must say I committed a lot of mistakes. Everything takes time, and now the experience is paying off. I just put a basketball game on TV and forget everything else.

DB: What mistakes have you made so far? What’s been your biggest mistake so far?

Bruno: I could say this isn’t a place for mistakes, but of course I have made a few. When I first started, sometimes I would not scout the right players, pick players that got injured, and even sleep during a game I was scouting because I was so tired. Of course, this was a few years ago. These days I know my place, and I found ways to do maximize my time.

I would say when I started on this, the lack of experience brought me to situations such as being lost in foreign towns, and being late to some games, like I mentioned before.

DB: Who are some of the top players in Europe, that fans in the USA may not know about?

Bruno: To name a few, there’s Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernandez, and Danilo Gallinari. You are witnessing more and more players from France, ever since Tony Parker joined the San Antonio Spurs. You have Nicholas Batum, Alexis Ajinca, and Rodrigue Beaubois from France.

Andrew Ogilvy came from the same academy in Australia as Andrew Bogut. As you probably know, he now plays in the NCAA for Vanderbilt, and he’s a wonderful center that surely will do great things in the NBA.

Pekovic, Kravtsov, Ante Tomic, Omar Asik, Milenko Tepic, Zakis, Teodosic, Tim Ohlbrecht, Janavicious are names to keep on the track.

Sergi Ibaka from Congo — he is another example where African players play well in other countries.

Those are the players that every one pretty much already heard about in USA through the mock draft sites.

You have Demetric Shaw, who went undrafted but is looking to continue his career with a tryout (I will give him a tryout in May with the Pistons). In addition, there are a lot of former NBA players working hard on their games, and they should sign some for the summer leagues, and have a chance to play in Europe, if not the NBA.

Be careful with contracts. That’s a seemingly obvious tip for players. Some countries pay more than others. Spain, Italy, Lebanon, China — those countries pay well. Germany and Portugal don’t pay bad at all either for a career start in Europe. For a rookie year, you might not get a lot of money, but you get a chance to move up later.

I also would like to say that the Jamario Moon process to the NBA was a process that everyone doubted, but he ended to be in the NBA like he deserved to be. I helped him in the process as he came from Mexico. Even after he played in those considered minor leagues, he made it and he should be taken as a example to everyone who doubts they might be in the NBA sometime in the future. The scouts are out there — and I don’t care how old you are — if you got game, then you’ve got a scout looking at you.

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Bruno, once again, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You’ve offered some unique insight, not only as a real professional scout, but also as an international spectator of the game.