Julio Lamas announced his retirement as a professional basketball coach: “It’s time to learn new things,” he said

Julio Lamas announced this Saturday his retirement as a professional coach. A technical director highly respected throughout the world, who did an outstanding job especially in the Argentine team. After spending time with the Japanese national team in recent years, he made his decision public and thanked his “family” for their always support and the late Leon Najnudel, creator of the National Basketball League (LNB) and one of the promoters of its launch to the technical direction. ”I want to announce that I have decided to retire and stop directing basketball professionally. I go through this moment with a lot of emotion and the desire to thank, “he expressed on his Instagram.

”In the first place, three people: my mother, María Vicenta, who gave me everything and took care of me; Leon Nakhnudel, who gave me knowledge and opportunities with total generosity; And Alejandra Rebora, my partner, the person who always supported and helped me. Without them it wouldn’t have been the same,” she continued.

Lamas was a coach in Sport Cañadense, Olimpia de Venado Tuerto, Boca, San Lorenzo, Ben Hur, Libertad and Obras Basket in the country, Real Madrid, TAU Cerámica and Alicante in Spain. In addition he passed twice by the selected national between 1997-1999 and 2011-2014, being one of the important trainers in the formation of the Golden Generation. He also won the National Basketball League five times, once with Boca, Ben Hur and Libertad and twice with San Lorenzo, the club he loves.

”Then, a special thanks to the clubs and national federations who chose me and trusted me. To their directors. To all the colleagues I had in each of the technical bodies that we make up, ”he continued.

”And last (but not last), the players, the main reason why I became a coach: to teach the kids of my club, Deportivo San Andrés, how to play. That’s when I fell in love with basketball, teaching and being part of a team,” Lamas said.

Lamas’ last job was with the Japan national team. In July 2019, in a talk with LA NACION, he made it clear what his professionalism was when projecting a job: “After studying Japanese basketball I decided to build a custom suit for the national team. We are not asking them to play like Argentina or Spain, or like any other. We want them to have their own style. And we take advantage of all the virtues that local players have, who are intelligent, disciplined, dedicated to work… We seek to sustain it over time. In addition, in the project we try to upgrade the size of the players and in all positions. And in all the selections of Japan. Then we seek to improve the athletic condition of the players, with a physical improvement and a more high performance diet”.

Another award he won was that of best LNB coach in the 1990-91, 1996-97, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2010-11 seasons. , knowing that I dedicated myself passionately and that I gave my all in the search for constant improvement. I didn’t keep anything. It is time to learn new things and work in the sport from another role, ”he concluded his message. In other words, he felt like he had already come all the way from the role of basketball coach.

In that note with Diego Morini from 2019 for LA NACION, the question arose and an answer as to what could happen in the short term:

-Do you feel like staying outside or do you want to turn around?

-I haven’t thought about it yet, because if someone told me a while ago that I was going to direct in Japan, I looked at it kind of weird… But now I live it with such intensity and I’m so happy that I’m doing the experience in Japan, that I don’t think about anything else . In addition, in Japan the Olympic Game is omnipresent. So I don’t think beyond that. Then I will see what the path is, if it is another national team, manage a league team abroad or return to work in Argentina y I look forward to giving up directing to dedicate myself to professional sports management. It is a task that attracts me.

In 2018, in an interview he had face to face with his colleague Sergio Hernández for DeporTV, with whom they had the greatness of sharing a coaching staff being one second to the other, they recalled the teachings of León Najnudel, the father of the National Basketball League , with whom Lamas worked when he was 22 years old: “To the DTs I would say: you have to stick to a great teacher, that raises the ceiling for you and speeds up the speed of looking through his eyes for some time”, Lamas advised, while Hernández provided an incredible anecdote in times where today practices are closed as if they were state secrets. “In the 90s, León brought you the videos, the VHS, of his team’s last two games. And you told him: what is this leon? ‘So you can see how we play,’ I would reply. He gave you a tool to try to beat him. Why? That way we would all end up empowering ourselves. Because if we could beat him, that was going to force even him to be better.”

Lamas and Hernández agreed that “the authority of the DT is in the knowledge” and Lamas added: “I don’t lead now the same as I did ten or 20 years ago. Knowledge is key. I try to lead from diversity, some touching here, here or here (head, heart or pocket), you have to know them and well, you enter where the button of each one is”. And as for the game systems, he says: “I put them together based on the skills of the players I have, in that conceptual behaviors are key.”

The name of Lamas sounded strong in recent days as part of Abel Balbo’s soccer coaching staff. In fact it was offered in San Lorenzo de Almagro after the departure of Pedro Troglio. It will be necessary to see if this rumor gains strength or, as Lamas once said, he will look for a project that excites him to dedicate himself to “sports management”.