Movistar Estudiantes returns to action this Friday in Alicante against Lucentum (9:00 p.m., LaLigaSportsTV) after the break due to the qualifying windows for the 2023 World Cup. And they return as one of the co-leaders of the LEB Oro together with MoraBanc Andorra , Lleida and Palencia with a record of 6-1 after linking six consecutive victories. A streak that Javier Rodríguez (Pontevedra, 1979) analyzes for AS.
How about your return to the LEB Oro after passing through the Endesa League last season?
Very well. Obviously, it can’t be better than at Estudiantes. The one I had in Oviedo was a very good experience, both as assistant to Carles Marcos and as principal. It was also very positive in the ACB. And, now, luckily the Estudiantes have touched me. The truth is that I was delighted with the opportunity and taking advantage of it and enjoying it to the fullest.
There are no longer undefeated this season in the LEB Oro, Burgos have lost three games, Valladolid beat Lleida well, who beat Estudiantes well. It is a very interesting and even LEB.
Yes. It is interesting, even, complicated, difficult. This year all those adjectives can be attributed to the LEB. It is an increasingly competitive league, with teams with larger budgets, historical teams that play in this competition, high-level players who have opted to be here this year. With which, to be now as we are, is to be happy because after the first day being 6-1 is a very positive balance, knowing that there will be many teams that will fight to ascend. We are where we wanted to be and delighted with these first days.
Any team that has surprised you the most?
I really like how Lleida is playing, the solidity of Valladolid. Obviously, Andorra is a great team just like Burgos even if they go 4-3. The GBC has solved the first games well, winning, for example, Palencia. Palencia himself is playing very well, Coruña is very well trained… There are many top teams that are playing very well. Until now, all the games we have played have been complicated, difficult and, for this reason, we have to enjoy each victory because each one is very important.
At what level did the defeat by 30 against Lleida on the first day worry you?
If I’m honest, it didn’t bother me. We’re down two at half-time against a team that hasn’t changed many pieces, with the same coach as the few that remain from last year, with some very caught automatisms since last season. They were playing very well in preseason, they even beat Andorra in a game. With which, the defeat itself did not surprise me; what yes as we lowered our arms in the second part. It caught my attention a bit but I wasn’t worried. At the end of the game, we spoke and said ‘we started 0-1 and be patient’. We came from a very good preseason. The work is there, the players are a very good team, very good guys who are very hungry and who want to improve every day.
The word was not concern, just shocked at how they took us off the field in the second half. And, at the same time, very calm because I trust the team and because they themselves trust themselves. And I trust them 100%. It was a day to learn, a very good wake-up call for the team, for what we are going to face in the League and I think it was positive for the future.
Does a defeat like this, I understand, help the team know how to be more united in bad times and know how to face these situations?
Totally. If you have to lose, I think it’s good to lose like that. Because it was a great wake-up call for us and for the League in general: if you are not well, 100%, if we try to make war on our own, if in difficult times we are not all together… All those things that seem Little things are very important in a season because it is very long and there will be very good moments like now and very bad ones. Sure. We all know that because the League, being so competitive, is going to give everyone bad moments. The important thing is to remain patient, to have confidence in the group and in the daily work, which I am delighted with. That helps you to solve the bad moments. That’s why that second part was important to realize what we really don’t want. Many times it is difficult to know what we want, but we already know what we do not want: to go through what we go through, to suffer what we suffer.
Did you think there was a flaw in the idea you had for Estudiantes with that defeat?
Nerd. In truth, I never doubted. Not a second of the team. Upside down. In fact, the chat we had two days later, we talked about everything except basketball. That means that basketball is there, but as in sport life, not everything is about tactics and technique. The mental, emotional aspect is very relevant in the game and in people. We drew very positive conclusions from what we wanted to be as a team and that is what has really brought us here. If there is a team that beats us, perfect, but we don’t lose the game.
Since that day, full of victories. Is this the Student you wanted to see?
Yes. Well, we are still in November and it is very early. If this team has something, it is a lot of room for improvement. That’s why in making the squad he wanted a young team, hungry people, who wanted to learn and improve. And that’s where we are: we work a lot on individual improvement because I think it is the improvement of the collective. It is a team that has to go further. It has a lot of projection and I hope that every day a better Estudiantes will be seen.
Notice how fun the team is?
I love it. I enjoy it because the clothing that Pancho (Jasen) and I did in the summer is now being seen. We wanted a very versatile team, with a very open, dynamic, fast, attractive basketball, with good players. And in defense, intensity, energy. We are not the toughest in the League, but we do try to be the most intense. That set of things, aspects and features makes people have fun. And it’s kind of what I feel. It is important, apart from winning, that people enjoy themselves. Basketball is a show, people pay for it. When you play well, you have more chances to win and that’s what we’re doing every day.
They are not the toughest in defense, but they are lethal in attack (84.9 points on average, second best average in the LEB).
We play very fast. In efficiency we are also one of the best. In defense, apart from the day in Lleida, I think we are a fairly solid team, with ups and downs, although less and less. We’re not the toughest, but we are intense: when the ‘on’ moment arrives, we defend, rebound, run… We really enjoy ourselves there. All part of the defense.
He has a squad that allows him a lot of versatility: he can play with a very large team with Sean Smith as a ‘three’, he can use very small quintets. He’s the key to making the game he wants, right?
Yes. It was one of the main ideas I had with Pancho: look for versatile players, a 12-player squad like the one we have. The combinations are many: I can play with two point guards, with Sean (Smith) as ‘three’, with two shooting guards like Mark (Hughes) and Paul (Joergensen), I mix the ‘four’ and ‘five’… That allows us In each game, put the players that we believe can help us win. The players know it and I explained it to them from day one: a squad of a large team with 12 players, very versatile in which each game is a world. We plan the game to try to win it and they know that one day one will play more, another day another will play less, there will be more shots, less… but that they will have the same opportunities in the next game. The day-to-day training marks a bit what the role of the players is. But I don’t have very defined roles because that versatility allows each player to shine every day.
What is non-negotiable is defense, energy, the fight. All of that is non-negotiable. Later on, I allow a lot of freedom within what is not anarchy because there is quality and talent, and they are capable of solving situations on their own. The goal for me is for this to be the best defensive team in the League because there is talent up there.
The inner couple of Kevin Larsen and Karamo Jawara understand each other very well.
They are two pivots who have the ability to score and pass. That allows us to be them, a little, the ones who spin our offensive game. They read the game very well, they are very smart. And that’s why they often play together. I try to find them.
How do you see Mark Hughes?
He is an exceptional boy, who has incredible empathy. He is a great player. He trains amazing. Last year he was one of the best players in the LEB and he was one of the first I wanted to sign. He makes things very simple, he doesn’t need much use of the ball to produce, he is solid on defense. It depends a bit on him. He has all my confidence, but he lacks that good match, the one that gives him the confidence to show all the basketball he has. We all wait for that day. He comes from a team where he was very important, playing a lot of minutes and here the role is very different: there are days when they play 12, 15, 18 minutes… in a 12-player squad, if you distribute 200 minutes you have to juggle, well that sometimes It is difficult to assimilate and he is in that process.
What is missing from Héctor Alderete to have more minutes?
When you have such a wide and versatile squad, distributing the minutes is very difficult. He is a great boy, who tries to be better every day and that is his goal… it is a process, he is still very young, he is 19 years old and he should not be in a hurry. I explained that to him. He must continue working because he will have his opportunities. Sooner or later as he has all. What happens is that at this time of the year I have to opt for those players who I think can give me the most. That doesn’t mean that he can’t give it to me, but that I have to choose. I am delighted with his work. His goal should be to improve, in his fundamentals, in his experience. He is still a boy who has really played very little at a professional level. He has a lot of projection.
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