MADRID, 24 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The women’s national basketball coach, Miguel Méndez, stated this Saturday that his pupils had “absolutely taken Hungary out of its game pattern” thanks to the ‘scouting’ carried out together with his assistants in the days prior to the Eurobasket semifinal, where Spain they beat the Magyars 69-60.
“I think that with the ‘scouting’ we have completely removed them from their game pattern. They have had to improvise a lot throughout the game and they have not found easy baskets in situations of our errors,” Méndez said at the press conference after the victory. Spanish, achieved at the Arena Stozice in Ljubljana (Slovenia).
“We have to continue following the path we are on. Until now we haven’t paid attention to who was in front of us and it has gone well for us. We have been very concerned about ourselves. I don’t know if you have the knowledge of what Hungary plays and how it plays, but I have to remember today of all my ‘staff’, of all the coaches who have been working these last two days”, he reiterated about his assistants.
For this reason, Méndez stressed that this preparation “at a technical level” had made the Hungarians score “very few points from their usual game systems.” For this reason, he stressed that the members of his ‘staff’ had done “an incredible job” to instruct the Spanish players.
Likewise, the Spain coach wanted to “congratulate the Hungarian team because they have played a great championship and also have the option of winning tomorrow” the bronze medal. “Very happy with my team, once again we made a very good defense. We left everything to defend, but we had a lot of problems to score in the ‘paint’, to score in the low post,” Mendez described.
“Today they have made a good defense on our low post, so we played, basically, with our outside players. This was one of the keys because in the second half we went straight into a spin, but our defense once again with important steals in the key moments of the game. And very happy in general. It has been another type of basketball, not like the one from two days ago”, he insisted.
I’m not used to talking about individual performances, but I think that Maite Cazorla is one of the best playmakers in Europe, of course. She’s playing very well, she’s an impressive defender and she’s had amazing control of the situation today. We found a lot of pick and roll situations with her and she is one of our strengths in every match and against different opponents, and for us that’s perfect,” she argued.
“We want to play as a team, we make playing with passes before dribbling one of our basic rules. And in each game during the championship a different player comes out: Laura Gil, Alba Torrens, Maite Cazorla, María Conde … We are very happy with this type of basketball and it is our way of doing it”, he highlighted.
In addition, Méndez recalled his relationship with Alba Torrens, the architect of the victory over the Magyars. “We’ve been through a lot together. We’ve known each other for a long time and I’ve known her since before she met me, of course. She seems to me to be a special person, a special woman. From there, that leads track,” he said.
“She has fun playing, which is one of the keys to her game. She plays with a smile, she knows how to forgive herself for her mistakes and that is also very important to push the car. I don’t want to give examples with other stars from other teams, but you know that Alba is going to try in these types of matches; I’m not saying that she’s going to do it well, but she’s going to always try,” Méndez declared.
“I have experienced situations with her in other teams where it was necessary to fulfill any role, and that is not easy to find. We have found stars throughout the history of our basketball who are always stars, and Alba is capable of being hidden and applaud others, but he is also able to be aware when he needs to show up. This is very, very difficult,” she continued.
“I have enjoyed her a lot. When I was younger I would get some gray hair and all the gray hairs on my head now are largely thanks to her. But now I really enjoy her presence, her company and continuing to walk together. And I hope for a long time,” predicted the Spain coach.
Finally, Méndez congratulated himself on the medal obtained after having entered the final. “The first thing I feel is gratitude to the people who brought me here and who allow me to experience this,” he alluded to the leadership of the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB). “And maximum thanks to the players who listen to me and have brought me here,” he added.
“I think the only word I have in mind is gratitude, to be able to be part of this, to be able to fulfill this. To be in the final pyramid of so many Spanish coaches who work with these players and who have worked and who have trained them. , and be able to put my grain of sand in that final pyramid”, he concluded.