Continuity in the project. “Obviously, we have talked about the future, but we have scheduled ourselves for Monday to do it seriously and officially, definitively. We were focused on doing the best we could in this final stretch of the season. Obviously it has not been as good as wanted. We will make an assessment and decide,”
first foundations? “No, I don’t think the foundations of anything have been laid. Within what for me is to build, give an identity, do things that identify you as a team and assume certain values, no. Not for lack of desire, desire and work. There has been a moment in the season at that critical point of going to the next level where we haven’t gotten there. It’s not a matter of making excuses, but it’s telling the reality, injuries have not helped us, we have changed rules, regulations and style of play due to the lack of open fours and with the integration of Cameron. He has made us take several steps back, it has cost us to have balance, perseverance and regularity and has caused defeats. It is not an excuse, but not saying so would be unfair. We were taking identity, but it has not given us time to recover new signs.
Are you disappointed? “I have been disappointed when I have seen the work of the staff, the players… There are no culprits. There is a responsible, which is me. The ideal was to build something and keep growing. For the reasons I told you we have not succeeded. It is true that I know the club, the club knows me, I know the players and the players know me. It may be a first step for something else in the future, but this instability has not left us what we would have liked, which was my goal and we have not achieved it”.
Reality. “Certainly there is potential for more. But this team is going to finish 12th, the previous season it was 11th and the previous one 11th. We all believe that this has a much higher ceiling, but reality places you where you are. In the pandemic he would have finished higher surely, but he finished 11th too. It is not an accident something that is repeated three times. There is the potential to be higher, without a doubt. But it’s not an accident.”
Lack of competitiveness of the players? “The player does not have that need in training and day to day to demonstrate. The day to day is better in terms of commitment than the match. When you are in a state of tension you hold on to what you know you are good at and defines you as a player. If we had players with less talent, that there is a brutal talent here, they would cling to the fight, to survive. Stress and emotional state does not come to that on a day-to-day basis. The players who are not here next year will do very well wherever they go. And you will wonder how it is possible and you will pull your hair out. But you can’t have so many players who are very good at doing the same thing. On a day-to-day basis, you are more aware of what you have to do. But we haven’t managed to assimilate it for the games.”
Yields accommodated by the peculiarity of Malaga?. “This is a pre-match press conference. That question gives for a gathering with coffee. It is a very deep analysis. Here the players have performed very well. The basketball he did, to name a few, Jayson Granger in Malaga, was excellent and here he made a leap. Not only him, other players gave a great level and launched their careers. It is a debate to be two meters away. I don’t think the players are incompatible. When someone does something new, it is thought to be a mistake until it works. Surely it is our mistake. If it is a success, they copy it. We have been several coaches and we have not found the formula that something does not work. I consider myself responsible.”
Nzosa. “My feeling and my information is that last year he competed better than he worked and this year he works better than he competes. There is a clear issue, his position. I think he is not a five, his real potential and his ceiling is to be a 4, even a 4-3 defensively, but he has to learn to play there. In European basketball it is easier to play as a 5 than as a 4 or 3. The more records you have, the better for your career. You have to keep working on a mental level in managing the error. The other day he made mistakes, like others, but he played without worry, without that bad feeling of losing by 20. Just like Cameron or Matt, because they don’t have the backpack of what it’s like to play at Carpena losing by 20. Yannick is a very high club value, when he does not have mental burdens ”.
Situation. “There is energy, but it is not positive and exciting. We have two ways of approaching the match. One, let’s see if this ends already. And another, we are going to try to enjoy the trip, the dinner, the shooting and the game and try to enjoy this last journey. If we don’t, it will be very difficult. If not, 36 hours that we are not going to enjoy, torture”, Navarro finished referring to this Saturday’s game in Lugo, end of the season: “Musa is going to be there and he is the candidate to be MVP of the League, it will be his last ACB match. He is going to play, surely with a lot of desire. There will be the atmosphere that has been in the Pazo all year. We will try to give the best version. Beyond the club and the team, have a dignified farewell at an individual level. If we only think that it will be an ordeal, it will be. We have to enjoy the last game. Working, enjoying, suffering… It will be the best way to play that match”.