The Spanish basketball coach, the Italian Sergio Scariolo, considered that the loss of the forward Juancho Hernangomez, to which the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA They have not allowed to play because they consider that he must recover from his shoulder injury, it is “very strong” for the Spanish team.
“Now there is little time left for lamentations, the important thing is to clothe Juancho, has suffered an injustice. As a coach I have only been able to receive communications to which to react in the most logical and appropriate way, despite the fact that the loss is very strong, “he said. Scariolo at a telematics press conference in Tokyo.
The Minnesota Timberwolves communicated this Friday 23 to the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) that they did not authorize Juancho Hernangómez to play in Tokyo 2020 considering that he needs more time to recover from the shoulder injury he suffered on July 8, a notification that according to the FEB it is a drastic change with all the previous communications, in which they gave their support.
Scariolo He explained that in the sports area they have been “mere receivers of news” and have tried to adjust their plans to what they were communicating.
“At the beginning when they told us that it would not be, we began to think about how to propose the replacement of the three starter, then the situation came to us that it could be and we returned to the original plan, and then they told us that it would not and we have returned to the previous idea “he recounted.
The substitute will be the forward of the Valencia Basket Xabi López-Arostegui, a natural change per position, as detailed Scariolo.
“If a base-escort had had to leave, Darío would have entered (Brizuela), if a center or power forward had come out, Pierre would have entered (Oriola), leaving an eaves enters Xabi and to see how the rotation is, because he has left the team and will have to rejoin, but it is a fantastic experience for him, even if it is due to the bad luck of a teammate, “he added.
The Italian coach acknowledged that they do not yet know when they will be able to count on López-Arostegui in Tokyo, but they know that she will surely not be in the debut of this Monday at 9:00 p.m. local time (14:00 CET) against the host, Japan, a team that warned that it is “dangerous”.
“Japan It is certainly a dangerous team, we have seen win with great ease first to Belgium and then even to France, with a really very impressive performance, “he stressed.
For the Spanish coach it will be his third games, after London 2012 and Rio 2016, both finished with medals, silver in the first case and bronze in the second.
“I am left with the moment of the podium which is special, luckily in both games we have achieved it, and perhaps the moment in which you get the security of a medal, the semifinal against Russia in 2012, and those final seconds of the medal final against Australia in 2016, “he recalled.