Did all that ritual help you to put an end to it?
No, it was totally natural. I did not do it thinking of leaving two years to end it, it automatically happened. Having studied this also helped me make the decision. I didn’t want to wait until 40 to retire from basketball to jump right into physical therapy. I made that decision, the cycle was closed and that’s it. Now I am in full swing with this.
What was it like to be in a World Cup experience with rugby and a whole delegation?
I already had to be in England in 2015 and in Japan in 2019 and it’s crazy. When they give me the floor in meetings with the players and coaches, I always emphasize the same thing. Many know me, they know my history, they are basketball fans and some atomize with this or that related to basketball and I repeat the same: “You don’t realize what you have here. The other sports have to take it as an example in many things “. They have to value leadership, respect for the other, respect for the rival, respect for the referee, the hierarchy of the captain. He speaks and no one else speaks. The ways of addressing each other and their peers. The behavior inside the hotel is like this. And finally the values for and with sport and training are not compared to any other activity. I spent three years in Danubio and I have no doubt that rugby’s respect for training is unmatched. They are very careful with their diet, with rest, with training and although nowadays they are trying to be more preventive, to go aside to do physiotherapy or osteopathy and to follow the correct path I consider that it is very far from how rugby is lived.
How much is the difference between basketball and rugby?
I am going to compare because I know both taking into account the Rugby National Team and the basketball team. We went to train at Welcome at 12 o’clock because we were summoned, we arrived and there were no balls. It does not enter any head that a selection is cited and there are no balls. Whoever is in charge and sees that there are no balls to go and buy three balls. How can there not be balls in a selection? Let’s not even talk about the clothes. If we wanted to bathe there was no way. We are talking about 2007, we are not talking about 1995 which I imagine must have been worse. I believe that with the birth of CEFUBB, it is going on a path quite similar to that of rugby and I think it took a bit of the football and rugby model. I have no doubt that it will grow enormously. The results are already being seen that we were about to go to a World Cup. Obviously it is very important that they go abroad, it is the key to Uruguayan basketball, they do not have to play here. The more they have played outside, the more basketball and the national team will develop. The path of professionalization does not go only in the players, it goes in all. In the professionalization of leadership in sport. Rugby has dedicated itself to professionalizing all actors, not just players, and today it is paying off. Basketball has to go that way and I know that little by little it will build.
Are our basketball leaders brave?
All sports have two problems: the leaders and the parents. They are the two weakest legs that there are because the Federation is run by the clubs, so each one takes care of their little farm. Until they put neutrals that are really focused on the advancement of Uruguayan basketball and forgetting about the clubs, it will be difficult. If they have to do a 10-month League and low-budget teams come and say it is not convenient for me to be in the League but I can play for 4 months and they do not see the pro of national basketball, there will be nothing or anyone to change it . They have to be truly neutral with no conflict of interest for their clubs. That is the most key. In rugby it happens and those clubs kick, they don’t look for the pro of national rugby, they look for their clubs. There are teams that protest because they have five players in the national team and they don’t celebrate it. The other day in the final, the Old Christians team had 18 players who went through the selection process. There are teams that if they have 18 players in the national team, they kill them because they don’t have that many players but it would have to be a source of pride.
Are you in favor of playing all competitions in parallel?
I do, without hesitation and years ago. I even say that you must play from March to November and all the parallel leagues. That a player does not play in the subway for more than being under 21 and then that he plays in the first division. It’s perfect but give it a shot in the sub 23 that was talked about so much and never formed. It is all debatable but the competition has to be parallel as everywhere in the world.
Did tiredness end up keeping you away from basketball?
There are several legs without a doubt. One was being able to dedicate myself fully to this of osteopathy and physical therapy. Another was the family dynamic because I have a son and I left when my wife arrived, then I arrived and everyone slept, so the family dynamic becomes a bit difficult. It’s true that on Sunday nights it was hard for me to go to training (laughs). I know that if I had not been in physiotherapy, I would surely continue playing, capable that until today.
Do you miss the atmosphere?
No, not really the environment. What I miss is playing, the game itself. Sometimes I start playing something and I complain or I tell myself that I miss that. Then maybe a few months go by that I don’t play anything and I don’t miss. I played the Montevideo League with the Bulldogs, I was there one semester and we went up but the next semester they changed the days and it coincided with the work, it was already complicated and I left.
Do you see any Diego González in the League?
I honestly don’t (laughs). The other day I was talking to Leandro that same thing, the point guard has already been lost. There is no longer the one who sees the defect of the other team and tries to attack there or the one who sees the virtues of our team to enhance it and overcome the rival. You can’t see the one who thinks, thinks about the play, decides and assists. The point guard that made up the game and the team has been lost, I was like that and today there is no such style of player. Today it is true that the point guard is more of a shooter and less point guard. You see at the international level and they are very protagonists in offenses. Today pick and roll is played a lot, almost exclusively, so there are few plays. Today I already see downloads, penetrations, pick and roll and that’s it. There is no longer the low post, there is no longer Chris Jackson, Cardenas, there is no that style of play. They are all shooters, agile, they all run and it has been modified since 10 years ago. In Uruguay the ones that are most similar are Romero and Marotta.
Who is the best Uruguayan point guard today?
I am not one to watch European basketball and if I think about bases I cannot not tell you Granger or Fitipaldo, there are no doubts. But I haven’t seen them play much. I saw Fiti a little more but Granger almost nothing. From what they say I know they are the best, maybe if they play in Europe for something. If Jayson was the base of the Spanish champion at the time, if he currently plays in a Euroleague team and four years ago he was the best point guard in Europe and he was to go to the NBA obviously there is no one to compare him with here.
Why does he deny it so much to Granger?
I believe because it does not come. The same has not come for certain reasons. In the internship we know that he did not come for a managerial issue. I don’t think you don’t feel like coming to defend your country. It is also true that a lot of money was being played. So when saying “I’m going to play a South American in Uruguay or play my clothes here in Europe with a contract that will stake the season” I find it difficult to make the decision.
Were you happy on the court?
Yes, obviously, without a doubt. Basketball gave me a lot of joys and it continues to give me great joy because I have many very beautiful memories. I would continue to choose the same story that I had to live.
