By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Heading to his first EuroLeague season with Bayern Munich after 11 years with Real Madrid, Pablo Laso talked with the European competition’s website to discuss hours before one of the German’s team preseason games against… Real Madrid.
“Pablo Laso’s first time playing against Real Madrid? Great story for Real Madrid, and a great story for Pablo Laso. We’ve been together for 11 years, so great. But when the game starts, I think everyone is doing his job”, he first said. “I missed the competition. I’ve been competing since I was 16, as a player and as a coach, so one year without competing, without being involved in the league, watching the games from outside and not preparing them…in fact, you miss it. It’s normal. But at the same time, I also enjoyed watching games without the pressure”, the legendary coach also admitted.
Losing eventually 85-65 against his former team while not having three members – Andreas Obst, Isaac Bonga, and Niels Giffey – on board, busy with the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Pablo Laso said his adventure with Bayern Munich won’t be easy straight away. “It’s going to take time, for sure. Do we coaches have time?”, he asked.
“That’s a great question, because, in the end, coaches are a lot of times valued just because of their victories, because they’re going to win games or lose games. And I think that if you want to win, you have to create a way where you will be successful. And successful doesn’t mean just winning. We’ve just been together for two weeks. There are good things and bad things. We have to improve our good things, but we have to repair our bad things. And this is something that, as a coach, for me, is always going to be there”, Pablo Laso went on to explain.
Finally, he also recalled one moment from the past, facing an NBA team as Real Madrid’s head coach. “There’s a funny story. When we played Oklahoma City in Madrid once, Dino Radonjic and Luka Doncic played. And one of my sons was behind the bench of Oklahoma. And I think it was Russell Westbrook, coming back to the bench, who said “It’s not possible that these two kids are 16 or 17″. Why? Because of the way they competed. That’s what I try to make my players understand. You have to compete from the first minute, from the first practice, and this is something that’s going to make you a better player”, the 55-year-old coach added.
New Season, New Team, New Country but SAME 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 😤
We checked in with @FCBBasketball new head coach @pablolaso 🎤
He spoke about, watching not coaching, @RMBaloncesto, and the aims of the new season…
Spoiler alert 🚨 He’s ready to win in Germany! pic.twitter.com/AfmKdzOKOf
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) September 12, 2023
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague