The Spanish basketball coach, Sergio Scariolo, has warned that North Macedonia “will put in difficulties” this Friday because it is a team “quite fast and athletic”, which has “high European level” players such as Jacob wiley, who “surely, is the player of reference of this team”.
After finishing four training sessions in Guadalajara, The national team travels to Skopje on Thursday to face North Macedonia, his first rival in the qualifying windows for the 2023 World Cup.
North Macedonia has “small and aggressive guards, who threaten penetration and also their play in the open field,” added Scariolo.
The Italian coach does not dispute that in the first match of some qualifying windows for a world championship “there are always doubts” because “the values of the teams are not well defined”, but “We have a chance to win if we play at a high level”, he assures.
For the coach, in addition, away games always have “a point of unknown and difficulty added by the environmental factor”, and he has said that “you have to be tactically prepared, with intelligence and concentration.”
Scariolo wants his team to start “with good footing, enthusiasm and intensity”, and commented to the media, hours before leaving for the airport, that “the players have worked well”, with an “excellent attitude”, something that he appreciates and is grateful for, also agreeing that, for them, it is “a privilege and an honor to wear this shirt”, but that is also “an important effort”, because they come from a demanding season with their clubs.
In Scariolo’s opinion, the players “have digested very well” the tasks that have been proposed to them in these four days of preparation. and “I think they have reached a good level of cohesion and mastery of concepts.”
López-Arostegui: “We want to do a good job”
Xabier López-Arostegui, player of the Spanish basketball team, faces this Friday’s match against North Macedonia, corresponding to the qualification windows for the 2023 World Cup “wanting to do a good role” and knowing that “all parties are important”.
After finishing training in Guadalajara, before heading to Skopje, the young player from Getxo told the media that he believes they have done “a good job, with double sessions and with a good attitude from the group from day one. , picking up the pace, entering hard and eager to start competing “.
López-Arostegui feels prepared to fight “among other things because we have a young group, with a lot of desire and we want to win every game, this team always chooses to be at the top and it is the line that the youngest also want to follow “.
In his opinion, the Spanish team is “a solid group”, who has already experienced many windows, and is convinced that “all this experience will help.”
The Valencia Basket guard expects a good atmosphere this Friday, with the presence of the public in the pavilion, but trusts that he and his teammates will be “focused” and will be able to “enjoy the game.” He assures that he is physically and mentally well, very happy to be in the national team and, above all, “wanting to compete”.
