Sergio Scariolo He appeared at a press conference after Spain qualified for the Eurobasket semifinals.
These were the words of Sergio Scariolo:
«I want to show my respect for the Finnish team. They have had a great tournament and have given their best today. Clearly our idea was to defend Markkanen without leaving too much freedom to others, especially those who have been brilliant for much of the tournament. I think that when we calmed down, especially in attack, we understood that we had to share the ball better and select shots better. They scored 19 points in transition in the first half and 0 in the second half. I think those things are what have made the difference. They hit us very hard at the start and then we gradually worked to redirect the situation. At the break we have adjusted some things and the players have believed in the comeback. They have shown it with facts at the start of the third quarter and that has been all. We have once again shown toughness, generosity finding many open shots, very well in the second half. In the end that is what you ask of a TEAM. Believing in oneself, not losing concentration, not stopping believing in one’s teammates and reaching the end with chances of winning.
I don’t think I’m going to leave him after this. Rudy is playing the best tournament of his life. If he wants to play it safe, thinking he can’t do any better, fine, you can let him. But that’s not Rudy. I hope that if he is healthy he will continue playing. He’s enjoying himself and his role on this team is unlike any other role he’s ever had. And he’s enjoying it, he’s trying new things. I have spoken with him and what can I say. He has everything wrong and he is not afraid of anything. He throws himself, he takes whatever it is as if he were 18 years old. He is leading by example the hard way. He is a great leader for this team, especially right now. Surely we squeezed more out of him against Lithuania and the next day he was on ice all day. This time we have handled him better and we hope that he will continue to have energy for the next match.
SCARIOLO on RUDY ????????????
❤️ LISTEN#Eurobasket | @Eurobasket pic.twitter.com/srPhHOb6xS
– Basketball Giants (@GIGANTESbasket) September 13, 2022
I have not had to raise my voice, I have only had to say the 4 things that had to be done in defense and attack. It hasn’t been a fight, the emotional impact of the demand and aggressiveness had already been made by Rudy. There it is much more comfortable to be able to improve in the second half.
Sometimes you have to stop for a moment and value it. There are years in which you have a lot of talent and experience… it’s always difficult because the players sacrifice a lot because they are the first swords in their NBA and Euroleague teams and they had to fit in. So we had that problem to unite them in an efficient and compact way as a team, which we also have now but with different technical and physical weapons, with a probably high hunger and with a different problem to get the most out of it. The players look for their role and, I repeat, to be among the top 4 in a competition like this, with the premise that we had that everyone gave us as 10th, 11th, 9th, those were the forecasts. People don’t make forecasts randomly, there are people, they even get paid to do these things. And then you compete, you go down to the field and knowing our limitations we try to overcome them. So far we are doing well. Our nature is to compete and the competition will not come down. Each turn is a higher level of competition and there will come a time when we won’t get there, but for now we want to make the most of what we have.
Alberto is the typical example of what I was saying before. I have been knowing him for years, training him and I know that he is a special kind of person. Although he was with his team we were able to call him and we found him physically recovered and he hadn’t even finished the first phase to ask me where he had to go. What people think outside of this team that “no, you’ve written me off before” has nothing to do with the values of this team. Those who were in the FIBA windows fight, fight and win in the FIBA windows and if they continue in the championship like many of them, well, and if not, they will return to the FIBA windows with a lot of motivation, with desire, with grit, with enthusiasm. Because they feel part of a great team. In the specific case of Alberto, the conviction that he had that he could carry out an extraordinary defensive role, of course. It’s also surprising me because that confidence is being amply repaid by making important shots and from there we have that extra weapon.
If you don’t know our whole structure it’s hard to understand (the track record of wins despite the retirements of important players). First of all I would have to say that the transmission of the legacy of certain players when they have retired, the legends, but some of these players have been in competitions against them, they have trained with them in summers, in national team concentrations… They have absorbed stuff from there, and a big part of it is how our teams grow from the ground up. We have a structured program that started 6-7 years ago starting with young boys aged 14-15-16-17 and we established a system. To teach something different in each generation and in each year. The way we train, the principles and a good part of that system is about what this shirt means. There is a lot of work behind it, a great effort by many people, many people who end up forming competitive groups. It is something that happens step by step and year by year. Everyone asks us about it and it doesn’t happen in a day. It is a consequence of many years and the work of many people and that comes from the work of the teams to train them well. We need to fit the piece so that when they reach 19-20 years old they can continue playing.
Photo: FIBA
Keep scrolling down to see more content