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He then turned to a different subject, sending a message to FIBA: Sergio Scariolo: “Since it’s my last championship and I’m in a position where, after many years in FIBA national basketball, I can advise FIBA not to put doping controls on a team that is playing back-to-back games and finished playing at midnight. This is extremely disrespectful. With so many days available, the doping control could have been scheduled earlier instead of this crazy late-night timing. Hopefully, they will learn from this, because they are better than this.“
Spain began their EuroBasket 2025 campaign with a defeat against Georgia, and coach Sergio Scariolo spoke in the post-match press conference. Scariolo said: “Georgia is a very experienced team, with several high-level players, including NBA and EuroLeague athletes, and they deserved the win. I believe it was my fault; I couldn’t convince my players that they were a much bigger and more physical team than us. We should have made a huge effort to match their physicality, and we didn’t. In fact, by the end of the game, they grabbed 16 more rebounds than us.”
Following the team’s second consecutive defeat to France, the Italian mastermind still spoke highly of Spain’s performance, highlighting the team’s significant effort. “I’m not surprised because I know what this team is like, regardless of the individual names, but I am amazed by the personality they showed in front of 15.000 spectators and against a top-level team with brutal physical conditions,” he told Marca. “The team held on for 35 minutes, although their physical superiority began to take its toll from the start of the second half. Obviously, in this team, we’re not used to celebrating defeats.” “The results of these matches mean practically nothing to me, but the team’s morale does. We still need to get a boost of morale for the great game we played. This is the right direction,” he added.
Lorenzo Brown, recently announced as the new point guard for Olimpia Milano, has withdrawn from EuroBasket 2025 due to “personal reasons,” as reported by AS and confirmed by realolimpiamilano.com. The decision comes as a surprise, given Brown’s pivotal role in Spain’s 2022 gold medal run and his inclusion in Sergio Scariolo’s preliminary squad.
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Sergio Scariolo has announced that EuroBasket 2025 will mark the end of his tenure as head coach of the Spanish national team. The 63-year-old, who has been in charge since 2015 in his second stint, revealed the decision during a press conference initially intended to unveil Spain’s roster for the tournament. “This will be my last competitive moment with the national team,” Scariolo said, per MARCA, declining to discuss his future beyond the event. Spanish Federation president Elisa Aguilar expressed understanding and praised Scariolo’s legacy, calling him “the greatest coach we’ve ever had.”
In addition, Eurohoops reported Monday the Heat has expressed interest in adding Sergio Scariolo to its coaching staff. Scariolo, who began his coaching career in his home country of Italy, is currently the head coach of Spain’s national team and served as an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors for three seasons from 2018 to 2021. But a source close to the Heat denied that report, stating that Scariolo is not a candidate for a Heat coaching position.
Miami interested in Sergio Scrariolo as associate coach
The Miami Heat have expressed interest in Sergio Scariolo as associate coach. Such a potential return to the NBA would list him working under head coach Erik Spoelstra. The news was revealed by Alex Molina of Eurohoops Spain on Monday, following up on a recent report on the 64-year-old Italian tactician traveling to the United States to interview with an NBA franchise.
The Spanish national team coach may have a new job very soon. According to Eurohoops, Sergio Scariolo will soon travel to the United States to interview with an NBA franchise, which has formally requested an interview with him for the coaching position.
Scariolo also addressed the increasing involvement of the NBA in European basketball, noting that while its influence is generally beneficial, it must be absorbed in a way that preserves Europe's unique style of play. "Overall, it can't help but be good news for European basketball. The NBA brings value, richness, and professionalism—elements that make a real difference. From there, we'll see how things develop. It’s still too early to fully understand the impact, but as long as European basketball knows how to absorb it while maintaining its identity and distinct approach, this influence will be positive."
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Another big news is coach Sergio Scariolo. In fact, the current Spain coach will be a television analyst for Movistar Plus, the channel that broadcasts the games of the Spanish basketball season. However, coach Scariolo will remain at the helm of the national team and will make his TV debut this weekend with the Supercup.
Ben Golliver: Spain coach Sergio Scariolo on Rudy Fernandez after his final game: “I’ve been blessed to coach him… [I saw] him never giving up or surrendering to the physical gaps he had at the 3 position with any opponent he had to face during his career. So competitive and committed.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo leads Greece to a 77-71 win vs. Australia
Despite winning 77-71, Greece’s faith is still unclear but they locked the 3rd position in Group A. Australia, on the other side, will qualify if Spain loses to Canada in the upcoming match; if Sergio Scariolo’s team wins, the Boomers will be out after getting the bronze in Tokyo. At this point, if Serbia beats South Sudan by three points or more, both Greece and Brazil will qualify for the Quarter-Finals of the Olympics after respectively beating Australia and Japan in today’s first games. 16 years after their last victory in the Olympic Games, the Greek national team found success once again on the Olympic stage thanks to 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists from Giannis Antetokounmpo. Thomas Walkup added 18 points, while Dinos Mitoglou and Vasilis Toliopoulos shared 13 points.
Speaking about Australia, Scariolo admitted that his team was out of sync. The early tip-off time had to do something like that, but also it was hard for this version of Spain to match the physicality of Australia: “The level of physicality and athleticism of a team who has 8 -9 NBA players is different and this is what would put them above most of the teams. Then we figured it out. We found ways to compete, we found ways to stay in the game, to score. We have not been too consistent in the quality of our decision-making offensively. And we have to give credit to them because they got several offensive rebounds. That was probably the most important key in the second half. Physicality level in the first half was crazy, I would say”.
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