Scariolo: “Ricky Rubio asked us for a time of reflection”

Sergio Scariolo, Spanish men’s coach, explained the reasons why Ricky Rubio did not enter the list for team commitments this summer and said the point guard asked them for “some time for reflection.”

“Ricky asked us for a time of reflection, he had to make certain decisions about his life and his professional career; it’s only fair to respect that. Because of the love we have for him and the continuous continuous communication that always exists, we We received this communication, it is clear that he is not happy, but the respect for him and for any of our players is the highest,” he declared.

His absence joins Víctor Claver, Tyson Pérez and Sebas Saiz as those who cited personal reasons for not being called up. On the other hand, in the roster of 22 players for the Pre-Olympic and the friendlies against Italy and the Czech Republic there are new features such as the presence of Lorenzo Brown.

“He’s with his team and there are still games, let’s knock on wood so nothing happens to him. He has a few more days to move with his family and move everything to the US and come back here. I He knows his strength and the his promise, but he’s had a lot of damage to it throughout the season and still has some left, I hope it comes in good shape,” he commented.

“I think Lorenzo is a player with experience, perhaps the most skilled to have an important role in an important team and he clearly has the capacity to infect others, in terms of quality and basketball commitment. I hope a proper, important contribution “The question is if he can reset quickly after such a heavy, atypical, hard season… We will only discover it when we start jogging,” he added.

Santi Aldama and Usman Garuba will also go to the Valencia event, where Spain will seek to qualify for Paris 2024 between July 2 and 7: “There are rules in the NBA that impose a maximum number of days if where you can have players with you. We chose to have them ‘full’ if we are qualified. They told me that they work individually, that they will come well in the conditions of Usman, that worse than the 2022 European Championship, will not go.

Both will join later than others. This is also the case of Brown and other players who are still competing with their teams like Juancho Hernangomez, where he said that “the role he should play in the national team should be a bigger contribution compared to his club . . .

“In his club, he only played a few games. He has played some acceptable games within the complementary role he has within his team. He is gradually adapting,” he added.

Regarding the Pre-Olympic, he pointed out that they are excited about this new challenge, but they are aware of its difficulty.

“The challenge is to qualify once again for the Games, which is what discriminates the top teams from the rest. It is a difficulty and an added pressure, but we count on the Valencia fans to be able to help us a lot, especially in difficult times,” Scariolo said.

“The majority of our players are not coming off a good season at club level; but many times we have managed, through commitment, unity and teamwork, to overcome what we brought from the season. The Games are something more,” he said.

One of the names to follow is Rudy Fernández: “He could be the player with the most Games in history, and that is a huge motivation to try to do the maximum and show again the qualities that this team has. “More or less talented, with more or less experience or ability, they give their all and act as a team, demonstrating solidarity, generosity, capacity for effort and sacrifice on the field.”

“It is logical to say that there are rivals with talent and with important names, but until there is a list… at the moment the lists are still big, it is very difficult to make predictions. There are countries that will soon include players , others with doubts about the participation of some great names that could make a difference in terms of performance. It is too early to express themselves in detail,” he declared after the announcement of the call at Espacio Iberia.

Asked if he would like those who have not closed the future on club matters to arrive at a hypothetical Game with everything resolved, he said: “All these years I have had examples of a different color. There are I am players who are able to separate legitimate concerns about their professional future at club level with the ability to focus and be good professionals.

“And I have had very distracted players who were not even capable of training. Here we can also see on the fly and on the court I trust that they will be able to professionally separate the two facets,” he expressed in this regard.

On the other hand, he spoke about the NBA final between Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics: “Luka’s commitment to his team is always amazing and has a lot of merit, because we know very well that a player is it takes a lot of character and a lot of self-confidence to keep that promise intact despite all the centrifugal forces that exist, and beyond that level and the interests that surround it.

“For many reasons, everyone wants to see him succeed, this is a sign of importance for European basketball. It will be another one, but they are not enough considering how things are seen in the NBA. Boston is a good team , with players with experience and talent but the chemistry between Luka and Kyrie has been very good, maybe better than I expected it could be an entertaining final where the Celtics can have a slight advantage graduated.