De Lezo, nephew of the poet María Devesa, studied social work at the San Sebastian campus of Deusto and did a master’s degree in Intervention and Mediation … Familiar in Bilbao. He started playing basketball in Oiartzun, on the street, with friends. It was his way of expressing himself. They later played in the town’s sports center and even created the Oiartzun de Basket. He was 17 years old when a coordinator, Igor, saw something in him and asked him to train the younger kids. He was hooked. Over time he came to Donostia. He continued playing. At the Intxaurrondo International Sports Club (the youth team of its soccer division is famous). With others, he opted to regain the momentum of the field. It was also crucial to attend, as a coach, a participation tournament in Valencia and see very young girls and boys play better than him at the Alqueria de la Comtessa sports center. There the Mons revolution began.
– When did you discover that basketball and not painting or boxing was your form of expression?
– At 10 years old. I don’t know, I felt free with the ball. As I learned to play, I expressed myself better. And my companions too; That one was tougher, this one had a better vision of the game, I liked to control the ball… Our true personalities appeared on the court.
“The club’s style is still developing but we try to play fast, knowing that the key is in defense and playing with a lot of triples”
– What was, what is, your position?
– Base. And my teammate Beñat Garmendia, with whom I joined Inter, center.
– The AI says that the point guard is the ‘coach on the court’. You don’t need to be an algorithm to know that you are the ones who bring the ball up, organize the attack, dictate the pace and make key decisions but tell me something more personal…
– I am passionate about seeing things in the game that are going to happen but have not yet happened. I like to feel free to make decisions and be able to mark the time of the play. Years ago, the myth that short guys play in our position was debunked. Today good point guards have intelligence, size and height. Yes, the bigger the better.
– You are 30 years old, you have been playing, training, training for 20 years. You have witnessed the (r)evolution, the transformation of basketball. Tell us about it.
– It is played faster, with strong players, almost multitasking, who pass the ball well, shoot good three-pointers and play from the outside.
–Would all that be what is becoming the brand of Inter Intxaurrondo Basket?
– We could say it like this although our philosophy is and will always be that it is up to the coach to adapt to the team and not the other way around, trying to implement a style that does not correspond at all to the characteristics of his players. In the mountains you may think you are going trekking but it may happen that at some point you have to climb. The same in basketball…
– Explain.
– With a team of players that weigh 70 kilos you can play fast, without a doubt. With other stronger people you have to admit that the game slows down. But in exchange he acquires resistance, power.
– It has been 8 years since you revolutionized Inter Basket.
– It was a little dismasted, without too many people. We campaigned. In the neighborhood, in the surrounding schools and ikastolas. Of 70 licenses, today we will have about 215. The driving force is the basketball school. And the training teams. Training not only sports. Also values. Here you learn generosity and discipline. To manage failure. And the victory.
– Teams in all age groups. Three seniors. The girls one is going out. They play next Saturday, in Mons, against Erroibide from Irun.
– They are in the first provincial, they are first, almost undefeated and with aspirations of jumping to national. The men’s team is in second provincial and can advance to first. That same Saturday they face Luberri. We have another one at third who plays for the pleasure of it.
– Force! But what you say in the headline sounds authentic, the priority is not the results.
– If they were, we would make signings and reach higher levels, but it is true, we prioritize the process of training, participation and enjoyment over the results. No, we do not take shortcuts that distance us from our way of understanding basketball and believing in it. We are excited to see that a kid, a girl who started at school, is now at the top of our pyramid, playing in a senior team and doing better than those of us who trained her.
– And those pure gold veterans?
– 40-year-old women who are playing again. Mothers of players who liked basketball. In his games, Mons fills up.
– Basketball for everyone?
– We are in a working-class neighborhood. We have scholarships and ways for you to join Inter without paying a fee or equipment. One day we will also have basket adapted to different functionalities. Inter!
