The CIFP Fontecarmoa has had the honor of having Aíto García Reneses for some training sessions. When he returned to Vilagarcía he again left evidence of his privileged mind regarding the evolution of basketball and sports in general.
– Glad to see you in Vilagarcía again. What do you think of the campaign launched by the CIFP Fontecarmoa with Olympics as a training element?
– I think it’s very good, but especially if the attendees thought it was good. So it is somewhat surprising.
– What makes the Olympic Games so special?
– This is the most important competition for basketball. Especially in terms of the importance the teams that attend and the spectators give to it. Then there would be the European Championship and then the World Cup in order of importance.
– This year Spain has to go through the sieve of the Pre-Olympics in Valencia. How do you see it?
– There is always a chance to go to the Games. We will see how things go in terms of injury and form, but above all we wish him the best.
– Are these not good times for the national team anymore or can we be optimistic about the future and in the short term?
– I think, apart from the fact that there have always been good players, where talent has always been lacking in the masses. With the Gasol brothers we had an advantage that we no longer have. Those who play the roles will do their best, but their ability is a little less. That makes the whole team suffer.
Aito is immersed in the project to create a University League. / Abella River
“With the Gasol brothers we had an advantage that we no longer have”
– Maybe there is a lack of brave coaches who are able to bet on young talent or is there a shortage of young talent?
– In general, with big players it always costs more. Sometimes it is difficult to understand that a good player needs more time and many minutes to become a good player. If he has a chance to improve, he is not going to improve while he is on the bench. You must try to help him, enhance his good things and improve his bad things with more patience than with the little ones. Many coaches do not have many coaches and the development is much slower. And secondly, there are great ones, which are not so easy in our physiognomy.
– I am referring to your example. Some Ricky Rubio went out under his leadership at the age of 14 in the ACB League and at the age of 17 he became an Olympian, let’s not talk about Pau Gasol or Juan Carlos Navarro. Do you realize that you have discussed the latest great talents in Spanish basketball?
– These players need to show up, then have the confidence to put them to play and, most importantly, teach them. If they have the ability, it is easier to teach them because they learn quickly. Then they are the ones who will continue to improve when you have already laid the important foundations for them.
– A player’s training ability will have a lot to do with his progress.
– Of course. There are some whose eyes are wide open from the start and others not so much. But this can change. When some of the team are hungry to learn and they are learning, the others will have that desire, to the extent of each person’s ability, and enter into that animation.
Aíto receives praise for his long career on the bench. /FDV
– Throughout his life he has trained players from many generations and decades. Have you noticed over the years that the player’s ability to participate or effort has changed?
– I don’t think so. People are willing to put in the effort. It is easier when the general public accepts that sport. A lot depends on that ability for effort, but it’s relatively easy for a player to get excited about basketball. It is true that now people play less on the street because it is almost impossible. In my case and in the case of many, the commitment comes from the club itself.
“Ricky Rubio was already a great player mentally as a kid”
– Speaking of Ricky, his return after the mental crisis has been good news on every level. You who know him well, what do you think about the situation he had to live through and come back?
– It is a benefit that returns the most. I met Ricky on a beach on the Costa Brava. He was walking with his brother Marc. Mentally he was already a great player as a child. Now when he comes back, he needs time and he will be very high again.
– Are you not tired to train again?
– It depends on the situation, but I don’t think about it. I’ve had gap years and didn’t think about what might come. It was just a matter of waiting for a suitable opportunity to present itself. Coming back depends on other people and also how I feel.
– How do you spend your time now?
– Watching a lot of games from our many competitions.
The Madrid coach won the Olympic silver medal in 2008 with the Spanish team. / Abella River
– Do you like current basketball?
– I like it, but I have some doubts about where we are going. At first our mirror was American university coaches like John Wooden or Dean Smith, and then it was the NBA. There was always a concern about finding positive models. But, now the NBA is much worse. The marketing is still excellent, but the gameplay is much worse and less interesting. We must not fall into the same thing and we are going on the same path. What is more important: the level of the game or sell well? Now there are too many games and the most important thing is to earn money and there are too many competitions at the same time which makes us fall into the same mistake as the NBA. For now it has not happened, but if we are not careful we will destroy the level of basketball.
– Do you miss something in the way you play now?
– Now everyone defends better physically, but I think the rules and practice for the game are also very important. Now there is a question of what dimensions of the field need to change. Now players shoot longer and longer and the low post within a game has disappeared. If you make the area wider, you can favor the inside game, which is a good addition to the direct blocking game, which is the most used thing in attack, even to excess. The field needs to be expanded so that baseball has more resources and continues the evolution of non-conformity.
– Complete the sentence: A good coach must …
– Know a lot and know how to pass it on. The second one is the easiest. For this you need the help of your own players and your coaching staff and involve them in their individual and collective growth.
Aíto receiving recognition from the Minister of Education, Román Rodríguez, at the CIFP Fontecarmoa. / Abella River
“Basketball and education go hand in hand”
– What do you think in Vilagarcía that the technical basketball circle is recognized by the Department of Education?
– It is a perfect connection. In my particular case, I trained by studying at school and at the University, but also in basketball with my coaches and teammates, which have helped me a lot to get a better education . It seems silly, but it’s not.
– Few know that it has a lot to do with property signs in Spain?
– I made the 30 second mark. The one who introduced the Fair Play brand marks for Spain from the United States. People started to invest in the general scoreboard of the marquee, but they go a little further and the Federation wants property marks. The prices were 150,000 pesetas for the general score and 90,000 for property. For the clubs, possession clocks seemed to be too much and if they didn’t have to, they wouldn’t put them down. Based on my studies, I made electronic signals, instead of electricity, with integrated circuits. I presented them to the importer and they sold for about thirty to sixty thousand pesetas the first time.
– Now with his Aíto García Reneses Foundation he is still a pioneer with the Spanish University League as a project.
– I try to make the young player want to improve tactically, physically and intellectually. A project player also needs training off the field and one way is to be a university student. We have made Cupa as a start and it works in Madrid and Catalonia and we will do the final stage this year in Granada. If we can implement it in Spain and Europe it would be ideal. It costs a lot, but I hope it can be done in the future.
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2024-04-21 04:14:43
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