Finally, after almost a month of concentration and two long weeks in the championship, Sergio Scariolo smiled. Tension released after finishing the final with a victory to remember. Happy for a gold that is not one more in his record. He shines with his own light because he has a lot of work behind him. A summer in which his work has been more important than ever and that crowns him as the best coach in the history of Spain, on a par with legends on the bench such as Gomelski, Ivkovic or Nikolic. Eight metals in ten championships. Five in Europeans, two in Games and one in the World Cup. Scariolo was signed in 2009 with the mission of achieving Spain’s first continental gold. Objective that he fulfilled at the first change, and that he repeated two years later, sweeping the Eurobasket in Lithuania. A first stage on the national bench that ended with the Olympic silver at the London Games and that only had the blur of the 2010 World Cup, that of Teodosic’s very distant triple. Those joys found continuity from 2015, when he began his second adventure as coach. Journey that does not glimpse the end of him and that has reached in Berlin the most perfect work of his. It is difficult to gauge whether it is above the 2015 continental gold, snatched from France at home, or the 2019 World Cup title in China. In any case, achievements at the height of this medal in the 2022 European Championship, achieved by a team in reconstruction with which nobody counted for the podium. A group far from the talent of yesteryear in which the collective has been the main weapon. Scariolo’s masterpiece that began to be written a long time ago. Desktop code Image for mobile, amp and app Mobile code AMP 3200 code APP code Nothing is improvised in this team, where everything is studied and measured in detail. Few things are left to chance. Planning that does not stop at any time. 365 days a year. “We always keep track of the players. We manage a list of 30 or 40 possible names that can come to the team in the windows or in tournaments and we distribute them among the different coaches that are part of the technical area. We make periodic reports every month and a half or two months, which are weekly when the competition approaches. With that, Sergio decides on the final list and begins to work with it, “explains Luis Guil, one of the attendees at this Eurobasket, along with Ángel Sánchez-Cañete, Víctor García, Jorge Lorenzo and Manolo Aller. Adapting to the player In Bologna, Scariolo’s headquarters since last summer, these reports are centralized and the final decision is made, agreed by the Italian with his right hand. “From there, a tactical attack and defense book is drawn up based on the players who are going to come. It’s not the same to have Pau, who has some characteristics, than to do it with any other player. That script joins the philosophy and the basis of the selection, which is always the same and has not changed for decades. The essence that is passed down from generation to generation,” says Guil, who first joined the team in the qualifying windows of the 2019 World Cup. Those games that caused a conflict between FIBA and the Euroleague and that have revealed keys in the future of the national team. «All those who have passed through the windows fight and fight for the classification without knowing if they are going to go to the next championship or not. If they do, fine. And if not, nothing happens. They will return to the windows with motivation, desire and enthusiasm, because they feel part of this team, “says Scariolo. Sentence that is a reality, because after the 2019 World Cup the federation gave a reproduction of the medal to each of those who participated in the classification. The tactical cylinder In Georgia and Germany, up to six players from the windows have been part of the national team, which explains the importance of these games that sometimes go unnoticed by the fan. Many of the systems that later break into the big games are already being tested in them. Defensive systems that work in the shadows, that remain dormant in the “cylinder” – as Scariolo calls his tactical archive – and that later come to light only if necessary. “What you see on the pitch in a game like Lithuania, Germany or France is not something that is improvised the night before, they are defenses that have been rehearsed a lot in training,” they explain from the coaching staff. Then it is the Italian, soul and conductor, who sets them in motion, always choosing wisely. He breaking the rhythm of the games and taking them to his field. “It is the best ever. No doubt. He has a contract until 2024 and we want him to continue for many more years », admits Garbajosa, president of the Federation, satisfied to have a bench legend like the Italian at the head of the team.
