Joaquín Prado (Oviedo, 1976) feels like a coach. Although for a few months he has been in charge of the offices. The man from Oviedo is the sports director of Lleida, a club that plays for LEB Oro and will host Oviedo Basketball tomorrow (12.30 pm). “I am a coach and I will always continue to be. In fact, I train the children of Lleida ”, explains Prado, who is also the Spanish coach of the U-20 and assistant to Sergio Scariolo in the senior team. Being the strong man in Lleida’s sports planning allows him to have more time to train.
“We can say that this summer what Lleida needed was combined with what I needed. Being a sports director allows me more freedom to remain linked to the national team. If you are the first coach it is difficult, although there are those who combine it and very well ”. Prado has been out of Asturias for twelve years and has gone through almost all categories of basketball. He started training at the age of 14 at the University of Oviedo and his first great position was that of coach of Gijón Baloncesto. She also has experience in women’s handball. The basket is your life.
Before commanding the Lleida offices, he directed Guadalajara and was Murcia’s second coach at ACB. He also coached Lleida (2012-2016), Basket Navarra and Palencia. He is a rare bird: an Asturian who made his life abroad in the sport of the basket and was successful. The Spaniard analyzes it while dissecting tomorrow’s game against Oviedo Basketball, to which he dedicates compliments. “I am really enjoying Alonso Meana’s season. That an Asturian has quality minutes is something that is little valued, but that in Asturias is news. Unfortunately, we have had few players and it is positive that Alonso contributes to a team like OCB, which is doing things so well ”. Prado also shelves the season of the Oviedo. “For me, his course is being spectacular. First, because of the objectivity of the results. But also because of the way to achieve them: with a visually very beautiful game and a high level of intensity ”. Lleida’s sports director is obsessed with basketball. On average, he watches thirty games in a week. Some, at dawn. Tomorrow he will see Lleida live against Oviedo Basketball. “It will be a nice game with two teams in good shape. I believe that the objective of both is not to descend and that is why it allows us to play without so much pressure. It will be a disputed match “.
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