Ibon Navarro did not object to the two defeats suffered by his team against Barcelona at the Martín Carpena that have decided the semifinal of the ACB. Two indisputable victories that do not tarnish one iota the brilliant season of the team from Malaga. El Carpena, proud to the extreme of his team, paid a well-deserved tribute to the players and coaches when the game ended. “What we have experienced in the end is more than a title. I have never felt it, not even when we won the Cup”Navarro explained.
Assessment: “Congratulate Barcelona on qualifying, they have played two extraordinary games. They have shown the team they are. I think that increasing the rotation has been very useful for the players to arrive fresh. In what had been our domain in the second parts of the Palau, it has changed us. There have been situations to get close on the scoreboard, so that people get hooked. There has been some patting that has taken her out of the inside. A three-pointer from Kendrick that doesn’t go in alone and that basket from Barreiro that goes out, that 5-0 that they put in later; At that level they have been today, I think there are many points. It is hard to be sad with what we have experienced after the match, to thank the public, the press, everyone, this is more than a title what we have experienced at the end”.
Huge evolution of Unicaja: “I believe that life is all trial and error. You believe in a series of things, it does not mean that they go wrong, but that they can be done in another way. You can make a champion team without winning a title. This year many things have gone well and I know what we have done in the summer so that the test did not come out wrong, but it does not mean that we are going to do it the same. Now everything is changing. If next year I repeat the same things, they will not turn out the same, so as not to get into a routine. If the group is motivated and having fun, they find meaning in things. See that people feel it, this is worth it. There are things that in these three or four years have gone well and others have gone wrong”.
The Carpena, delivered at the end: “I have never felt the end, not even when we won the Cup. We are here for this, to make people happy. This is a different thing, different from everything. What we have experienced today has been incredible, happiness is not in things or in places, it is in moments. I would not like us to think that we have to win a title, but rather that people continue to be proud of the team; that people go to the center with the shirt, children to school, this is what it is about. Winning is very difficult. You just have to analyze how many teams have won. People have to understand that we are not always going to win it, that we are not going to die of success, it is about how, not what is achieved”.
Title Options: “I think that many people thought that we could win the League, we also believed because we saw ourselves as capable. They have been superior here, they have played amazing. What Barça has done has a lot of merit. Wish them all the luck. The good thing is that we thought that”.
Change of status: “A giant step has been taken, but not by winning the Copa del Rey. It is very easy to identify with the team, it is what we were looking for in the summer, for people to know what Unicaja is. We are going to finish third in the Endesa League, with a brutal level. With two Euroleagues, a Eurocup champion like Gran Canaria, a team like Lenovo Tenerife… I’m sure many teams will raise the level a lot. Likewise, we are not third, but it is what we have to maintain”.
Course note: “A 9.5 surely for all the problems that we have all been able to overcome. I have to mention all the workers and my staff. Without that job, it’s very difficult for us to do the job that well.”
Pending planning: “You have to see the things that the club has to manage, experience tells me that when you seek to improve something, the castle falls apart. The puzzle is so perfect… but repeating things from next year doesn’t mean things will turn out the same. There are too many good people, everyone understands the role here, who knows what is the path of success in the player’s career. Many of them can go to a Euroleague team with a secondary role. Everyone has that capacity, knowing how to do that is what will make the players grow. I would do 13/13, but then there is a budget and a club idea”.