Special guest. The ESPN Show program, by Alejandro Fantino, had a luxury interviewee this Wednesday: Néstor García, the brand new coach of the Argentine basketball team. Che, as he is known in the environment, he shared his feelings in the new position and did not avoid any questions.
García, Sergio Hernández’s successor in the Albiceleste team, recounted numerous experiences of his career and was clear in his concepts on ESPN Show.
“I was in Puerto Rico and when I saw that Sergio was not continuing, I felt that they could call me … When I saw the call from the president of the confederation, I told him: ‘Yes, I want to, I didn’t talk about money or anything.”
“In our profession there is no c … that can endure, making a decision every 10 seconds.”
“Basketball is more logical because it is played with the hands, but in this sport there is a lot of strategy first and tactics later. With the new technology, there is a lot of interaction from the coach.”
“Now everything is very based on what the percentage is, it is handled a lot with tactics, the game becomes mental.”
“In basketball, if you don’t take charge of the game, the game takes charge of you. Pregame, game and postgame are so important. Scouting is not only about the team but also about the coach.”
“By the time you have to make quick decisions, you already have it incorporated. Overcoming mental shortcuts, behaviors that you have incorporated, that is why the pre and post game is so important.”
“I had a great teacher, who is Julio Toro, a lawyer who was on the front lines in Vietnam and is one of the most emblematic coaches in Latin America.”
“In the year ’80, Julio went to Olimpo in Bahía Blanca, my club, and my father, who was the bartender, took him and I, who was 15 years old, was in the car asking questions because I already knew I wanted to be a coach.”
“At 23 we went to Puerto Rico with Hernán Montenegro, who Julio took us and when they drafted him for the NBA I answered the phone and he asked me not to answer them.”
“Toro says our profession has created a new weapon, ‘the long knives’ because they stab our coaches from afar.”
“At the age of 24 I began to coach professionally in Puerto Rico, which was the best league at the time, I was the same age as the players. In the first game I was so nervous that I grabbed a towel and from there I lead with one in hand. . We had been winning everything, but I had to leave because of a paper problem “.
“I went back to Bahía Blanca, to Estudiantes, and my dad didn’t talk to me for a week because of that.”
“The coaches go through three stages: when you write down everything, ask questions and want to learn; the second is when you lead minors and children and come out champion, this is the worst and right away they say that the top one is dead; the third is when you have already passed everything and you share the knowledge. “
“I worry about the ranking because it is pure mathematics, I am talking to a mathematician to help me, because my process is going to be based on this. Being among the eight from here to the World Cup is not the same in a draw.”
“I told Campazzo that I was going to be the captain the second day after they appointed me. The captain is the one who represents everyone, he is not the unionist of the players. He is the nexus of all and Campazzo is prepared for that.”
“Effective leadership is the one that through communication gets things done quickly.”
“It seems to me that the basketball court is a laboratory and the locker room is where you prepare the samples. We, the coaches, have to listen to everyone around us.”
“It’s no longer important to win, the important thing is to win again. The day you win you don’t enjoy it, because you’re already thinking of winning again.”
“I have a very cordial relationship with the players, I am very paternal. I define myself as a traveling companion of them. The most beautiful thing about my profession is the trip. Just now I have younger players, they were always the same age.”
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