The Spanish method on the bench that triumphs in the Euroleague: "Scariolo is the shuttle"
The German derby on Thursday, on the first day of the Euroleague at the BMW Park, spoke Spanish. Pablo Laso won the game with his Bayern against Israel González's Alba. “We have Hispanicized German basketball,” celebrates the Cantabrian, heir in Berlin of Aíto García Reneses, who recounts: “Pedro Calles (EWE Oldenburg), Jesús Ramírez (Löwen Braunschweig), until recently Diego Ocampo (Skyliners Frankfurt)… “We are very well regarded here.”. And not only there: the top continental competition starts with six Spanish coaches (out of 18) on their benches, something never seen before.
Chess, sudokus and studies, the Israel González method in Berlin: “Let the players hit the coconut”
An ACB without stars, with young people on the run and with 70% of foreign players
Because the two German teams are joined by the four national teams, no foreign coach in Real Madrid (Chus Mateo), Barcelona (Roger Grimau replaces Sarunas Jasikevicius), Baskonia (Joan Peñarroya) and Valencia (Alex Mumbrú). Xavi Pascual could be on that list, who is still in charge of the Russian Zenit, expelled from the Euroleague. Or Joan Plaza, in the legendary AEK in Athens. In the Endesa League, it is close to full, 16 out of 18, in contrast to the number of Spanish players, which does not reach 30% one more year. Only Veljko Mrsic (Breogán) and Jaka Lakovic (Gran Canaria) break the norm, both former ACB players. The conclusion seems obvious: “There is a Spain seal on the benches.”
It is pronounced by Juan María Gavaldá, president of the AEEB (Spanish Association of Basketball Coaches), who reasons the reasons – “Ingenuity, talent and method” – and vindicates the training: “There is an enormous self-demand that begins with the Higher Course of Coaches, which is the highest level in Europe and the World.”
Peñarroya, with Baskonia. EFE
Like the Balkans years ago, Spain is now a technical export machine. Not only at the first level. There are more than 400 spread around the world, in places as remote as Costa Rica or China.. “We have dared to take the leap outside, maybe that happened less before,” admits Israel González. One of those pioneers in packing his bags was Piti Hurtado. In 2013 he became the first Spanish coach in the Japanese league (Levanga Hokkaido), two years later he also coached in Venezuela. “The dominance of the 80's generation took a few of us abroad, but what is happening now has to do with the last 10 years, with a less technically gifted generation,” reasons the Movistar commentator who mentions Sergio Scariolo, “the epitome”. “He is the shuttle of all this, the hand that rocks the cradle. Many countries hire Spanish coaches because they have been won by Spain,” adds Gavaldá. “The successes of the national team help us to be promoted, as well as the level of the ACB, which is very high,” adds González.
Because there is a common style that is more a way of understanding basketball. “Jordi Fernández has put that seal on an NBA team like Canada, order against individualism, until he led it to win a medal in the last World Cup,” highlights Gavaldá about another clear example of the courage of the Spanish coach: “Jordi is the example. “He went as a young man with a suitcase to a Campus in Las Vegas and is about to become the first Spanish coach in the NBA.”
Alex Mumbrú, during a recent Valencia match. EFE
“The fact that there are six Spaniards in the Euroleague is a consequence of the very broad tactical control that the representatives of the Spanish school have exercised, not leaving any loose ends, having everything quite tied up and, above all, the ability of the small schools to insist on the pass, to find the best option. We are not great scorers, but we are players in all positions who know where to put the ball. There are very few selfish players and that is a product of how basketball is taught in our country,” explains Hurtado, who talks about the method, the “playbook” against individualism, of “sublimating intelligence due to the lower physical capacity we have.” always had.”
Grimau, with Barça. EFE
But, to understand this phenomenon you have to look deep down, at grassroots basketball, the key to so many things.. “I never cease to be surprised by the people below, anonymous people who do a priceless job.”. Educating and growing basketball, you 'freak out' with the content and tactical and technical wisdom. People who then have their jobs, some of them at a high level, lawyers, professors, who do it in their free time.. “They are the key, hand in hand with the clubs and the Territorial Federations,” explains the president of the AEEB, who fights for all of them to have labor recognition and for their training to be recognized when they leave the country.
Behind Spain, and far away, some of the countries that tyrannized the benches. Serbia, Greece, Italy and Turkey each have two coaches in the Euroleague. In the Endesa League, the best on the continent, it is a common phenomenon of recent times. In the 14/15 season all 18 teams started with Spanish coaches and in the 18/19 season they were all except Svetislav Pesic at Barça.