Conformism has played a role in Spanish basketball not producing multiple high-level players recently, Scariolo says. The veteran coach calls it an emergency and provides data to prove his point.
Youth basketball has been facing multiple challenges throughout recent years. Spanish basketball is no exception.
While the results of the youth teams have been tremendous, there is a noticeable lack of top-level talent produced in youth ranks. More often than not, the biggest talents now choose the NCAA path, which grants much bigger salaries than European clubs could offer due to the NIL rule.
Spanish national team's head coach Sergio Scariolo, who's often regarded as the best specialist of international basketball, says he's missing the fire in the players' eyes.
"Sometimes, it is a matter of conformism," Scariolo told Juan Morenilla from El Pais. "Players conform, perhaps unconsciously, to accept a privileged position of being in high-level, well-paid, well-organized teams, and that has the risk of softening their competitive instinct."
"They have to fight not to conform, to question the hierarchies, to rebel against the marked lines. Sometimes, they have passively accepted them. I see that, and that's what pisses me off the most, that they conform and not rebel and fight," the veteran coach said.
The golden generation of Spanish basketball is slowly stepping away, with Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Llull, and perhaps Ricky Rubio only left from the squads that captured multiple international titles throughout the past two decades.
According to Scariolo, the difficulties of Spanish basketball can be seen in the Spanish Liga Endesa (ACB) as well.
"It's an emergency situation. I'd like to reverse the trend of the importance of the Spanish player, which has reached worrying data," Scariolo said. "Of the first 50 players in minutes and efficiency in the ACB, only three or four were Spaniards. In 2009, when I arrived, there were three or four times more. These are the lowest figures in all the European leagues."
Scariolo's claim is backed by data. Only Sergi Martinez (5th, 27 minutes per game), Lluis Costa (7th, 26 mpg), Santi Yusta (13th, 26 mpg), and Sergi Garcia (38th, 23mpg) made the Top 50 in playing time in the ACB last season. In comparison, there were 10 Spanish players on the list in 2009, Noelia Gómez Mira from Relevo writes.
At the same time, only five Spanish players made the cut to the Top 50 list by efficiency in last year's ACB, and only Willy Hernangomez (10th) is in the Top 10. He's also the only Spaniard in the Top 25. In comparison, 17 Spanish players were in the Top 50 in the 2008-09 season.
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