Assistant technician of Spar Girona. He lived through the collapse of Akasvayu and Sant Josep, but he also captained the rise of Básquet Girona to the ACB on June 19, 2022. Now, at 42, he is Roberto Íñiguez’s assistant at the ‘Uni, where he arrived last summer after deciding he wanted to make his way into professional basketball.
Was the gamble he made in the summer of leaving Basketball Girona to go to Uni worth it?
Yes, I sure do. Básquet Girona is a great club, and we could say that with Uni we are like brothers. Being able to be at home living this experience is positive for me: the international experience, because playing in Europe is something I hadn’t done, facing double competition, which is very demanding, managing the arrivals and departures of players , the change of coach, although these things are never pleasant… experiencing this in a single season makes me a better coach and makes me grow. Personally and professionally. There is also the issue of language, here you need English yes or yes, it is mandatory.
You had decided to try to be a professional basketball coach.
correct I had this idea for a year already, in fact since we went up to the ACB with Básquet Girona. There I decided to leave school (I was a physical education teacher) to focus on this. Last season I was responsible for the methodological area of the club’s base and this summer I wanted to see what options there might be. I was willing and familiar with moving, if the case came, or at least considering it. Working with Laia (Palau) for the female part of the base we had a good understanding, also with Laura (Antoja), who thought she could help, and the opportunity arose to come to the Uni as an assistant to the first team
Where was it seen, to a LEB team?
The idea was to be able to have an opportunity in the leagues I knew, LEB Gold or LEB Plata, or to be able to act as an assistant, as I am doing now, in a staff of a first-level men’s team.
What made you want to try it, to try to be a professional technician?
Most of my career I have been tasting the elite in droppers. In the time of LEB Or with Ricard Casas or Tabak at Sant Josep, this idea had already awakened a little in me, but the club, as had happened with Akasvayu, also left in ruins. Then I spent a few years at the GEiEG and for me it was like forgetting this idea a little, and the family also grew. What woke me up again was saying ‘oysters, I’ve been at the head of a LEB Or team, with Marc Gasol, we’ve done a brutal job climbing the ACB and I want to keep growing’. It was a great motivation for me.
Now that some time has passed we can talk about it: were you sad that Básquet Girona did not count on you for the first team after promotion?
There is a point of disappointment, of not having the opportunity to follow up with something cool. But I have learned that in the end decisions depend on many circumstances. I didn’t think too much about it. At the time I went through my process of disappointment and disenchantment and what I tried was to keep learning and growing. In the end that has brought me to where I am now. It didn’t have to be.
Does a men’s team train differently than a women’s team?
There are nuances. In terms of treatment, perhaps in men’s basketball you don’t have to give so many explanations, here in women’s basketball, speech and personal treatment are important. But it is quite similar.
Are Basketball Girona and Uni very different?
Yes. Structurally, that’s where I’ve noticed the big difference. At the University there are people working in all areas but it seems that there is a lack of hands. At Básquet Girona, even training with juniors, on trips… at a structural level, everything is different. Here we all have to multiply a little. This makes it vital to have good communication between us.
And hobbies? Are there differences?
There are points in common, but perhaps I perceive the Uni fans as more passionate. Above the refereeing, very dependent on the court… The Uni people give all their support to the team, to the institution, to the players, unconditionally.
Do you miss classes and your students?
On certain difficult days, in this world of ours, you may say ‘where have I been’. I like teaching, both as a physical education teacher and when I have given courses or a talk. I like that side of it, being in front of a group and learning and discussing things…but I miss it a little.
Who imposes more, when it comes to getting along, Marc Gasol or Laia Palau?
Perhaps the word is not imposing. Whenever you talk to Marc or Laia you are aware of everything they have experienced and won. But I’m not too much of a mythomaniac and I’ve always tried to treat them as naturally as possible. On both sides. Both are super demanding and competitive, people who have won a lot.
How is the team doing before going to Turkey?
I see the team very focused. In Valencia we didn’t compete as we would have liked, but that match was difficult because of the circumstances. I see the focus on the day-to-day, with the aim of extracting the maximum individual performance from each player to put it to the benefit of the collective.
Had he experienced a season with so many setbacks in the form of injuries or changes?
I personally don’t. But it is true that many things always happen in a professional team. In the LEB Or year we started a number of players, but many left, Jawara’s injury marked the future of Carles (Marco)… the day to day is always very intense. Of course I hallucinated a little, that so many accumulated things happen to us, but one lesson I take away is that you can’t look back. 10 days ago we had Gardner here at 100% and now he’s gone, he’s gone to the US and he’s had surgery. It’s a ball that if you stop to think about it, it crushes you.
With Galatasaray eliminated, is Uni the favorite in the Eurocup?
I do not think so. We are one of the four teams left in the competition. We have earned the right to be there. Besiktas is a very complete team, it has many weapons. Now the thing is we play the first game away, we have to focus on that, that it will be difficult to win there again and that it is an 80-minute tie.
Is homecoming a rock in the girdle?
It can give us some security whenever and when we do the work outside. Montpellier already suffered, they did badly on Besiktas’ court and dragged it all through the quarter-finals. Fontajau always responds, we saw it against Galatasaray, it was impressive. That our people can support us and be the sixth player in the return can be decisive.
What has he learned from Roberto Íñiguez?
He is a coach who is a very open listener. And he uses this listening to the benefit of the team and performance. You can talk to him about something and he is able to turn it around and at a certain moment it is useful for him to talk to the players. I like this analytical ability. And then he knows how to put it where it’s right and when it’s right.
Has he stopped to think that the coach of Girona’s promotion to the ACB can now win titles with Uni?
I don’t think too much about it, really. The great experience of climbing the ACB, everything we experienced so intensely, also gave me an interesting counterbalance: that everything is very ephemeral. Any win or great result, if it happens, we’ll celebrate it and be very happy, but the next day I’ll have to be thinking about training or seeing what I’m doing. You learn from everything.
2024-03-07 05:31:01
#decisive #fans #sixth #player #return
