To win a Bundesliga against Bayern Munich takes more than just luck.
Aíto García Reneses got it.
The legendary Spanish coach, recently hired by Marc Gasol's Girona, turned Alba Berlin into the German champion in 2020 and 2021 with half the budget of the Bavarian team (about 3 million euros in wages for the 5.3 of the Bayern).
But then, the coach decided to take a break and left the team in the hands he trusted the most: his second, Israel González (47 years old, Cantabria).
The challenge was to give continuity to the project that he had built together with Aíto, but the result has ended up exceeding all expectations: champions of the regular league and the Bundesliga play-offs, and champions of the German Cup.
Arrive and kiss the saint.
The coach took charge of a team for the first time after a career as second in which he was chiseled by some of the best coaches in Spain: Aíto, Pablo Laso, Manolo Hussein, Pedro Martínez and Luis Casimiro.
Confirmed his renewal with Alba until 2025, González attends from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where he has gone to spend the holidays at his in-laws' house after "an unforgettable year".
Question
.
He assumed command of the team with a one-year contract and Alba have announced his continuity.
How has the adaptation to the club been?
Answer
.
I'm very comfortable.
It is a team that does everything with great care.
Besides, Berlin is magnificent and my family has adapted very well.
I have a 15-year-old daughter who speaks perfect German and my wife speaks broken German.
I, not at all.
P.
_
Did it give you vertigo to assume the position?
R.
_
On a day-to-day basis you can feel the pressure, but you can't think about it too much.
The club has supported me a lot, especially Himar Ojeda (sports director), who was well aware of the situation after Aíto's departure.
The plan we had was for a transition year.
We did not consider ourselves defending the title, but we wanted to steal another one from Bayern.
Looking at it with perspective, we overcame very difficult moments, but thanks to everyone's work we managed to reach the Cup and League finals and win in the end.
P.
_
Did you expect such a good season?
R.
_
Honestly, no, not at all.
I thought about doing a good job and maintaining the style that had identified us these years, the one that people associate with Alba.
What I didn't expect was to do a double and also become the regular league champion, which I value a lot because we also played in the Euroleague, where we played a great role with 14 wins.
P.
_
Does it give more pride to win like this?
R.
_
What makes me proud is getting the players to play better every day and at the end of the year they thank us for our work.
We are a trampoline club and we know that our idiosyncrasies mean that we make it easier for many players to make the jump to a great team.
That is also a great satisfaction for me.
The advantage we have over Bayern is our approach.
They have two different teams, one for the League and one for the Euroleague, since only 6 foreign players can play in Germany and they have 9 or 10. We don't change the team that much between competitions and that has been an advantage.
More information
Israel González, the methodical replacement of Aíto in the Alba Berlin
P.
_
This has been his first season as head coach after many years being the second of some of the greatest. How have the different teachers that he has had influenced him?
R
.
My career as an assistant coach has been a luxury, I can't believe how lucky I've been.
I started with Manolo Hussein at Cantabria Lobos as a physical trainer and assistant.
I took advantage of the fact that Manolo is one of the coaches with the most knowledge of physical preparation in Spanish basketball.
Then came Pablo [Laso], who is pure instinct, capable of anticipating everything.
I enjoyed a lot with him because he has incredible knowledge and is a very happy and fun person.
Later I was with Pedro Martínez in the Canary Islands, who is a master when it comes to instilling the values of effort and daily work.
With Luis Casimiro I was only one year.
I was sorry to spend so little time with him because he is also one of the greats at a tactical level.
And finally, Aíto, of whom I can only say that it has been an honor to spend six years under his tutelage.
P.
_
Aíto is the coach who has influenced you the most. What is the most important thing he taught you?
R.
_
Apart from many basketball questions, I have two of his phrases engraved in my head.
He told me a lot: “listen to everyone, pay attention, but do what you want”.
He also insisted that I try to be myself, that I try not to look like any of the coaches he had worked with.
P.
_
Have you talked to him throughout the season?
R.
_
Very much, we have a great relationship.
At the beginning of the year he was more close trying to help me and give me his tactical point of view.
But as the season progressed he talked to me more to give me support and encouragement.
Aíto García Reneses with Israel González during an ALBA Berlin match in 2019.@ALBABERLIN (@ALBABERLIN)
P.
_
Aíto has decided to return to training and will take charge of Marc Gasol's Girona in the club's first season in the ACB. What do you think he can achieve?
R.
_
He is going to do what he has always done.
He will surely start regular, but he will end up outstanding as he has done in all teams.
His method is a method that requires time, but I am sure that he will achieve things that nobody expects at Girona.
P.
_
This year he also met again with Laso, another of his teachers, who was measured in the Euroleague.
R.
_
We have seen each other many times even though I was assistant coach.
We also have a good friendship relationship and we try to keep in touch.
I have a lot of love for him since he is the coach who made me a professional.
I spent some very good and very nice years with him in Cantabria.
P.
_
These last few weeks have been very hard for Laso, from his heart attack to his dismissal as Madrid coach. Have you been able to talk to him?
R.
_
I have written him several messages, but I have not been able to call him yet.
I want to wait for the vortex to pass a bit and I'll talk to him because I appreciate him a lot.
P.
_
How did you convince him to become a coach?
R.
_
When Laso arrived at Cantabria Lobos he said that he needed someone else to do the video analysis after the games and that another coach had to be found.
The club didn't want to and I told him that he was willing.
He ended up so happy that he suggested to the club that I be the second coach and thanks to that, and to the chagrin of my parents, he turned me into a professional.
P.
_
What did your parents want?
R.
_
I was a physical education teacher and they wanted me to continue with that to have a more stable life.
One of the years in Cantabria, I had to play some games as the head coach and my mother came to my first meeting.
She didn't usually come and because of the nerves she experienced in a match that we won in the end, she told me: “Next week will this happen again?
Are you sure what you're getting into?"
In the end, parents want their children to have stability and in this adventure you never know.
P.
_
There have been many nights like that and worse. Do you think that next season you will have to suffer more to succeed again?
R.
_
It seems to me that next year there will be a big change because the players who were in Russian teams will be distributed throughout the upper-middle zone of the Euroleague.
This is a market where we have no chance of fighting, so we may be a little behind.
I would have liked to compete two seasons in a row with the same group and see what happened.
We knew that there were rumors about certain players and that they could leave (Oscar da Silva has signed for Barcelona), but we have also strengthened ourselves with Gabriele Procida and we have all the hope.
P.
_
What formula is proposed to compete in these circumstances?
R.
_
We are the lowest budget in the EuroLeague and we know that if Bayern do things right we have little chance in the Bundesliga.
But we have a club philosophy and we know who we are.
We will try to improve our players and do things well.
From there, if something else comes it will be great, but if not, we have to be satisfied with the work we have done.
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on
and
, or sign up here to receive
our weekly newsletter
.
50% off
Exclusive content for subscribers
read without limits
subscribe
I'm already a subscriber