very good It was always a place where good basketball was played, with a good atmosphere, with good teams. I lived the period from 2005 to 2008, that of Akasvayu, with Joventut, and Aíto as coach. I remember teams with talent, like the ones of Pesic’s year, with Marc Gasol, Sada or San Emeterio, or the next one, who reached the ULEB final in Turin against us and we beat them. We then had to play against them in the quarter-finals of the play-off and they demanded a lot from us until the third and final match in Badalona (that was Akasvayu’s last, in May 2008). Maybe we lost later in the semi-finals against Barça because we were tired. We lost the second game here in Fontajau, we had to go to the tiebreaker and we had to put in a lot of effort.
He saw Girona’s last game in theACBat that stage, i the first of the nova.
Yes exact!. That’s why I told him that Girona brings me good memories.
Worries about this bad start (2/9) a the leagueare they afraid of the match against Zaragoza?
The situation is not good in terms of results. We have to manage the pressure. Also the one we generate ourselves. We can do better, and not only the results, but also the way we play. We have too many ups and downs. And lately we do a good job during the week and then it’s hard for us to transfer it to the track.
This especially outside the home.
Yes. In Fontajau we lost two games that we could have won, the one against Gran Canaria and the one against Breogán, unfortunately, but it’s the same, this is basketball. We lack peace of mind, although we handle this situation quite well here. In other places with a 2/9 balance, people would have gone crazy. Here we obviously want a reaction, but we have not let ourselves be carried away by panic. Now we have a schedule where each match will weigh more because it will be against direct rivals in the classification.
Against Zaragoza and Manresa can we talk about “final”?
The focus shouldn’t be that. It should be what Aíto always says, improve every day and manage the pressure. Speaking of finals and that we are obliged to win, we generate even more pressure. Against Breogan here at home we were fine, we were leading by seven at the start of the last quarter, and we stopped playing. We made too many gifts, avoidable fouls that led to free kicks, actions that were too easy for the opponent. Pressure doesn’t help us, although we have to live with it.
Why is it so hard for them to score?
Because we don’t put them in from the outside. I saw the shots the other day in Valencia and they were good, it’s not that we don’t move the ball well in this case. It’s about getting them in.
Marc Gasol has already said that they are always waiting on the market and that if the squad can be improved, there will be reinforcements. Is it mandatory to sign up?
The focus should be on improving outside shooting. Nor is it a question of doing it by bringing in someone else, because what can also be done is to improve what we already have. This is also a problem for me within the staff because I focus on the impact in the short-medium term. Now we have to focus everything on getting the players to improve, but not in the long term, but for now. In the games that are coming now, we will need to be calm and have the right tension. If we are afraid, we must fight it with aggression, tension, be together and know how to suffer these moments because this will lead us to win.
Girona returns to the ACB 14 years later, with an exciting project. Would it be a shame to let it go down the drain?
We all have to make an effort, players, coaches, fans. And we are already doing it to realize the goals and improve the results.
How is it located, in Girona?
I’m super happy, the results just need to be better. It works very well, I am grateful to everyone, and the city, which I already knew, is perfect. I live with the family, the kids go to school here… I have no complaints. What Marc is doing is amazing, you can’t ask for more. We are on the right track. We are in a complicated moment but if we come out of it together, we will make it. There are six games left to finish the first round and most of the opponents are teams that are not in the play-offs. We have to play well and the results will come. We defend well enough, we have to attack better.
How do you get the offer?
I have been in contact with Aíto for many years. I retired in 2016 and started working in the training categories of Barça, I had obtained the title of coach playing one last year with Barça B in the LEB. I was very interested in working with young people. There I met Eric Vila and Pol Figueras, then Eric left for the USA. Jaume (Sorolla) had already left for the USA, to my university. As I told him, I was always in touch with Aíto, I had visited him in Berlin, and I also went to see him in May at a conference he gave in the Czech Republic. I knew that I would not continue in Brno, in a base basketball project, and I had decided that I wanted to focus on the seniors. I told him, before I had the offer from Girona, if I knew of any possible situation in Spain. Some time later he called me, when he was already the coach of Girona, to offer me to come. I was the happiest man in the world, it was a dream come to ACB to work with him.
Is the goal to become a first coach?
Yes. Grow up, especially. I think I have potential to be a head coach, my playing career helps me in many things, but that is not the key. That’s why I have to train, learn the basics and concepts of coaching. The last six years I have been very focused on the base and less on tactics.
What do you enjoy more, now or before when you played?
It’s very complicated. They are very different things. Being a player is very easy. I enjoyed it a lot, and now I also enjoy it in another way doing what I do in Girona. I enjoy it just the same. Basketball demands me in a different way now, and I would say it demands more as a coach because you have to constantly think about a lot of things. That’s why you also have to have moments to disconnect.
And how do you disconnect?
I have children and family. When I get home and they arrive, I forget about basketball. It is a natural form of disconnection.
what do you think Albert Sabatwho is also part of Aíto’s coaching staff?
I didn’t know him, I knew who he was but we had never met, we hadn’t been rivals. The first time I spoke to them was over the phone after my signing was finalized. I think he has all the tools to be a good coach. He is adapting fast, has good ideas and is experienced. He is very intelligent and knows his priorities, now and tomorrow or later. He’s more like Aíto than me. I shout more in training, but that’s another thing, we all have our own character.
