At the "most complicated" moment for the men's basketball team in recent summers, the figure of coach Sergio Scariolo (Brescia, 61 years old) serves as a common thread between the golden generation and this renewed Spain.
The withdrawal of Pau Gasol, the resignations of Marc and Sergio Rodríguez and the injuries of Ricky, Alocén and Llull have multiplied the challenge for a team that won three of the last five editions of the Eurobasket.
This Thursday begins a tournament with a luxury poster with Jokic (Serbia), Antetokounmpo (Greece) and Doncic (Slovenia, current champions).
For La Familia, the most difficult yet.
Ask.
What can you expect from this Spain?
Response.
A competitive attitude, fidelity to our identity and the values of the game, a high level of intensity and an ability to play as a team, which is what has always characterized us, although now with a different amount of talent.
P.
It is the first time in 16 years that the Gasol surname is not on a big date.
How is life changed without them?
A.
I wouldn't personalize it too much.
Due to talent, size and size, they are realities impossible to compare.
Rather than looking for differences, it is better to forget about what is no longer there and focus on what is there.
There is no use making comparisons.
P.
How has Lorenzo Brown fit in?
A.
Very good.
On a human level, unbeatable on both sides, for his availability, his humility to enter the group, and for the way in which the rest of the teammates have accepted him.
And on a technical level, Lorenzo is a team player, who generates play for others and has excellent defensive quality and correct scoring ability.
His entry into the team has been much more at the service of others than of himself, which is what we asked of him in a set that does not have plenty of game generation options.
We are interested in him fully exploiting his ability to generate advantage and easier shooting opportunities for others.
P.
Do you understand that there were players who were hurt by their express nationalization?
R.
The call with the Spanish team is a privilege, not a right.
This shirt is one of the most admired and envied in sport, not just Spanish.
At no time has a stake in windows been acquired a repeat right.
It has never been the spirit nor has it ever been the promise to anyone.
If someone has interpreted it that way, they have been completely wrong.
I am not aware of, apart from very isolated cases and totally not relevant at least.
Every player realizes that wearing this shirt five or six years ago was an out of reach dream for most of them.
The only answer can be: "I am delighted to be in the national team, I am willing to eat the world every second and what happens tomorrow will depend on my performance and circumstances that I do not control."
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P.
You say that the greatest betrayal is disloyalty to a partner.
Have you ever seen him in the selection?
A.
Never, never.
That's why I say that's the bar.
That's what sets us apart from other teams that have sometimes let individual egos get the better of the team.
That's what I have to watch out for.
Q.
Without Llull, Alberto Díaz has been taken over.
Does the national team have problems in the base position?
R.
The incorporation of Lorenzo Brown is the search for a partial solution to a problem that is even big, obvious.
We need players who have the ability to play in this position and also the physical condition to be able to compete at an international level, which has nothing to do with doing it correctly in lower level competitions.
That's the problem.
We have technically capable players, but then when the physical bar goes up, unfortunately we have far fewer.
That is essential.
Lorenzo is a pure point guard.
Juan Núñez is very young [18 years old] and is called upon to play a very important role in the national team, although the deadlines will depend on him and the opportunities to play for his team [Ratiopharm, German, has signed him from Real Madrid], and there are combos, like Jaime Fernández.
Q.
In today's basketball, does physique matter more than talent?
A.
It all depends on the level you want to compete at.
To be at the top in the Euroleague, without physique and talent you can't even step on the court.
In the selections, the same.
It is clear that you cannot be a physically weak player or be a player without a minimum of offensive talent so that you do not become a weakness for your team.
It is true that basketball has reached a level of physical demand that does not even allow those who do not meet these minimum criteria to sign up for the race.
Q.
Is the style of the NBA moving to Europe?
R.
There is an osmosis that goes in both directions.
The idea of playing in the open field, at a higher speed and with a higher number of positions in transitions comes more from the NBA to Europe.
But there are ideas of the static attack that go in the opposite direction.
There are European teams that go at a high pace and NBA teams that are very interesting in how they attack while standing still.
P.
When talking about a team with less talent, can't that hurt the group?
R.
The biggest mistake would be to think that we are the same as before and we want to play the same.
That would be a guaranteed failure.
Awareness of what our limitations and our qualities are is essential to know what we have to improve and, above all, to accept that there are things that we do not have the qualities to do well.
You have to try to cover it up or hide it.
It would be idiotic for one of the players to feel offended by saying that there is less talent: they are the protagonists, they are in it day to day and they know how to objectively assess themselves.
Outside, if someone feels offended, worse for him.
We have to be very clear about who we are, what we can do, what we have to improve.
We are not that type of team or player anymore and it is not worth trying things that we are not trained for.
Q.
What kind of leader is Rudy?
R.
It is a tremendous example of intensity, of energy in training, as he has almost never had, because the responsibility in the role of captain encourages him to do so.
He has multiplied with 37 years, it's amazing.
You can hear him giving advice, even raising his voice when he plays, which is pretty cool.
Leadership has to be an example and then when he plays, verbal.
Scariolo, during the preparation phase. ALBERTO NEVADO / FEB (ALBERTO NEVADO / FEB)
Q.
How do you stay motivated?
R.
I have returned to club competition and I have won two titles [Super Cup and Eurocup with Virtus Bologna].
For me it has been an injection of confidence, of security.
I had to show my competitiveness.
This is the group at national team level that will present more players to the first important summer experience, Eurobasket, World Cup or Games, in history.
There has never been a year in which so many players are going to debut in a tournament like this.
That is a tremendous challenge, a brutal motivation.
Being in charge of all the lower categories, I have followed these players since I was 14 years old.
That is another strong motivation.
Q.
How do you see the tournament?
R.
The presence of NBA players who spend a lot of time on the field in their consolidated teams gives an excellent rating to this championship.
Jokic, Anteto and Doncic belong to a different planet.
And there are a few more all-stars.
The level is tremendously high.
That raises a lot the bar to which we must reach to compete.
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