He has just completed six months in the position of Spanish basketball coach Chus Mateo You can see his happiness just by greeting him. The Madrid coach visited the set of the Objective Los Angeles 2028 program to analyze his project for one of the most successful teams throughout the history of Spanish sport. Along with him, the Team Manager of the national team, the former captain, Carlos Jimenez.
“I am very happy, I am really enjoying these six months“, was the first thing Chus Mateo confessed to Lourdes García Campos and Virtudes Fernández.
“Illusion” is the word that is repeated the most during the recording of the Olympic program that reviews the four games that Spain has played in its new era, after the departure of Sergio Scariolo.
“The DNA of the Spanish team is something that I do not want to lose: the competitiveness”Mateo warns.
The times of the national team that Carlos Jiménez lived through as a player are very different from those that a coach has to live through today. From the number of training sessions per year, currently much lower, to the work that must be done with young people, most of whom are competing outside of Spain. Going through the particularity of the classification windows without the possibility of being able to count on players from NBA or Euroleague teams.
“I’m not talking about the selection for this window or the last one, but for the future. There is a selection for everyone. A selection of 70 Spanish playerswhich at a certain time can be selected. Let them not feel that their federation and their coach are ignoring them. Really, I would like to carry this out,” explained the coach.
One of Mateo’s first decisions in office was to travel to the United States to meet with several of the most outstanding players in the American university league.
“The times now make us look to the other side of the pond. We have been in contact with them from the first moment, speaking with the players who are closest to being selected. I conveyed my hope to them and I want them to be in contact with me to tell me anything,” he explained.
Calling these players for the next call-up is one of the short-term objectives of the new technical team made up of Mateo. Even more so after the good performance of the Spanish in the final phase of the NCAA, with the master Aday Mara making history.
Los Angeles 2028 goal: batch of Spaniards triumphing in the NCAA
“Let there be two Spaniards in the Sweet Sixteen Not long ago it was something unthinkable. You have to look at each person’s personal circumstances (what their equipment allows them to do), but I would love to have them here. If it is not them, it will be others because we handle practically 70 or so Spanish players who can be selected. They know it, that They are going to be the future of Spanish basketball. I know it too. And when it has to be, it will be. We have to be patient too,” he said.
How much do you know about Olympics: Chus Mateo and Carlos Jiménez
These topics and many more—such as the assimilation of the feeling of family—will be discussed during the 17th Objective Los Angeles 2028 program. A fun and enriching talk with the boy who, as a child, sneaked into Canoe to watch Díaz Miguel’s training sessions and now he is fulfilling his dream of being a coach.
