The Spanish basketball coach, Sergio Scariolo, has recognized that making the list for the Eurobasket has cost him less than other times because “there are fewer and fewer players who may have less technical or physical talent to compete at the level” that is required of the Spanish team, although Spain is clear about its “reality” and assumes it to compete to the fullest.
“There are fewer and fewer players who may have less technical talent or physical talent to compete at the level at which we are required to compete and more at an international level. So, the initial choice has not been so complicated,” Scariolo explained at a press conference before leaving for Georgia.
The Italian coach assured that in certain cases they have “privileged age and looking to the future than to the present”, but that for “the choice of the 12 the criteria are purely of origin and technical-tactical nature, because everyone On a mental level and on a personal level, he is perfectly involved in the group”.
Another reason for choosing certain players that Scariolo has taken into account is to try to anticipate some eventualities that may happen to him. “Obviously the really final decision we’ve made right now, because we also had the situation of a couple of injured players, Lorenzo Brown has a problem and Usman still hasn’t fully finished his ankle recovery,” he said.
About the center of the Houston Rockets, although he assures that “he is better” and specifies that “he has not finished training today as a precaution.” “There are situations that needed at least the assurance that everyone’s health level was sufficient to carry them,” he added.
Scariolo also explained the reasons for the return of Alberto Diaz and his inclusion in the final list. “It is not the first time that a player who leaves later returns, Alberto was not one hundred percent the first week, he did work very well with the club and recovered perfectly and at the time Sergi was injured (Llull ) we need a point guard with more experience and more defensive presence,” he said.
The injured party of this decision has been Juan Nunez, the discarded point guard, but he does not believe that he has been bothered by it. “Juan is delighted, nor did he think that he could reach the end. The idea was that he was there the first week, he didn’t even know if he was going to be able to make his debut in the friendlies because we wanted to put him in the dynamics of the national team,” he declared.
Looking ahead to the Eurobasket, Scariolo is clear that Spain will have to face “rivals of the absolute international level such as Turkey or Georgia, rivals with a lot of skill, presence and fans such as Montenegro and rivals with lesser names but who have the strength to compete” in the first phase.
In front there will be “NBA and Euroleague players” and others “with a lot of talent”. “Teams like Bulgaria, which has a player like Vezenkov, who is a top level player in the Euroleague, something that I don’t see in us a player who has a Euroleague level,” he said.
“Or teams like Belgium, which has many athletic and capable players who have beaten Serbia in the qualifying window. It will not be an easy match, we have it very clear, and when you have it clear, you are cautious and you have very present the level of effort that you have to produce to compete and win the matches that are presented to us in the first phase”, he sentenced.
The coach assures that he has put together a squad that “is ready to compete”. “The competition will put us in our place, we are seen outside the top eight, we have to fight to be first in the 16, because it is going to be a very complicated group, qualifying for the next phase is going to be very expensive” , he claimed.
“We will have to sweat from the first game this year, with our batteries set one hundred percent from the start. We are clear about our reality, we accept it and we have all the enthusiasm to be able to give the best of ourselves,” he concluded.
Source: Europa Press
