"How can it be that Juan Núñez, one of the few players for whom a fan would pay a ticket, is not in the ACB?" The question, asked on air by a reputed agent who is not that of the former Real Madrid player, highlights one of the new dramas of the Endesa League that starts this Saturday. If the flight of talent was already a reality for a long time, now they are fleeing to the promises, before even exploring the possibility of making a place in the national competition.
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Basketball World Cup.
Sergio Scariolo: "In three years we will have a selection that will tuteará the best"
- Writing: LUCAS SÁEZ-BRAVO Madrid
Sergio Scariolo: "In three years we will have a selection that will tuteará the best"
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Supercopa Endesa.
Campazzo and a Madrid off to a good start: defeats Unicaja and wins its sixth Super Cup in a row
- Writing: LUCAS SÁEZ-BRAVO
Campazzo and a Madrid off to a good start: defeats Unicaja and wins its sixth Super Cup in a row
It was the case of Núñez and it is that of Aday Mara, who will train at UCLA after his debut last year in Zaragoza. Izan Almansa or Baba Miller, junior world champions, were not seen in ACB, nor were Santi Aldama, the pioneer. Usman Garuba was short-lived and has opted to continue rushing his NBA options rather than return. All of them prefer the US to domestic uncertainties. And the ACB continues in line with recent years: not even 30% of the players who start today are nationals, about 68 of the 230 who start in the 18 squads (or in other words, 70% are foreigners). Sergio Scariolo denounced that of the 12 of the selection that played the recent World Cup, only Joel Parra was a starter in his team, Joventut (this year he is one of the star signings of Roger Grimau's Barça). Before, the coach of the current European champion (and number two in the FIBA ranking) had publicly shown his concern because "Spain is the country in the world in whose League there are fewer national players. That makes the road very difficult."
There is no competition in Europe with such figures and not even the quota regulations (four born or trained at least three years in Spain per squad) prevents cases like UCAM Murcia: none of its 13 players is Spanish (Baskonia follows with one of 12), there are 10 different nationalities and up to three Swedes. "We are still bad, we get tired of preaching in the desert. This percentage is very low. We have to give more opportunities to young people, because there are many veterans who are soon going to retire and there is no replacement, "protests Alfonso Reyes, president of the players' union (ABP).
Joel Parra, during the presentation of the Liga Endesa.FERNANDO VILLAREFE
Significant, by usual, is the case of Chumi Ortega, one of the few new faces from home in the Endesa League. He already debuted with 19 years, canterano, precisely in Murcia, "minutes of the garbage", and had to take steps back. After years of fighting in the shadow of the, he scored 32 points in the final match for the promotion of Zunder Palencia in June. Now with 26 comes the opportunity that so many are denied. "It's a shame that in the 'Spanish' league there are so few Spaniards. This is a business and all clubs try to find the best to win, but you should look more at the Spanish market. I think there is a lot of value and it is not appreciated, "he denounces, speaker of similar. And he reasons, he who lived it recently. "There are clubs that instead of giving the opportunity to a Spanish player, take the same prototype but from abroad. And as he comes from a country whose surname ends in vic... They don't call Ortega, they prefer Ortegovic. It's a pity. It demotivates us Spanish players. If it is already difficult to reach the ACB... Luckily I have achieved it through promotions, but there are people in Oro who have the level but not the opportunity, "says the forward.
Interestingly, the two squads with the most nationals are those of Barcelona and Real Madrid (six of 14 each). It coincides with the fact that they are the ones who have the least trouble to achieve their goals: they have won seven of the last 10 finals. So to the lack of identification that causes so much detachment in the fan, joins the lack of sporting incentives, because, for someone who is not white or Barça to lift a national title have to spend years. This is what happened to Unicaja, brand new and surprising winner in Badalona of the Copa del Rey, 14 years after Baskonia.
The market hasn't brought too many stars this summer either. Two returns could lead the poster, that of Facundo Campazzo to Madrid and that of Willy Hernangómez, Barça morbid. And Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor (Barça and Zaragoza), guys predestined to be stars in the NBA (number 2 and 3 of their drafts, respectively) attract attention with an asterisk. On the other hand, some of the biggest claims of the tournament escaped to other European leagues, starting with Niko Mirotic (Milan). But also Cory Higgins (like the Montenegrin, fired by Barça, is still without a team after his injury), sensations of last year such as Darius Thompson (from Baskonia to Efes) or Kyle Guy (from Joventut to Panathinaikos, where he will be a teammate of Juancho Hernangómez) and classics of which the fan is hooked as Jasiel Rivero (Maccabi) or Bojan Dubljevic (Zenit) ... And even claims in the dock like Sarunas Jasikevicius are no longer there.