The Italian lifted his fourth EuroBasket crown with a team that started as the eighth favorite for the title. His players have believed in his message
Sergio Scariolo is a coach who stands out for knowing obtain the most of it When he has not had the maximum talent (like when we won the World Cup in 2019), the Italian knew how to get the most out of the team through defense and solidarity, achieving performance from players not seen before.
This pattern has been applied during this EuroBasket. He was with 7 debutants out of 12 in the team and has not lost an iota of competitiveness. His defense in the zone, when applied, was the best executed in the championship and a real headache for the rivals, as he demonstrated with an incontestable victory in the final against France.
Always stigmatized by his gel, Scariolo is a coach who has earned all the recognition he has. And that there was not a triumphant residue left in his time at Real Madrid from 1999 to 2002. Perhaps he signed too young, but he won a memorable League at the Palau with Djordjevic fighting in the center of the pitch with Nacho Rodríguez.
In Unicaja, he did become immortal and still owes them a second stage, something he has always said because he is half from Marbella. With the people of Malaga he won the Copa del Rey-Liga double in 2006 in a feat that has not been repeated in the Andalusian team.
His stage with Spain
Perhaps the work of his life came from the hand of José Luis Sáez, who in 2009 entrusted him with the reins of the Spanish team. The Italian It started with many problems to get the stars of the team on track to finally end up winning the EuroBasket in Poland in his first experience with the national team.
Stabilized in office winning another European in 2011 and then contesting the final of the 2012 Olympics making the United States sweat ink. He took two sabbatical years from the national team proving his worth because France wet our ears twice in a row with Juan Antonio Orenga as coach.
In 2015, when nobody expected it and with a much inferior team, led Spain to victory at the EuroBasket in France. Pau scored 40 points to eliminate the Gauls in the semifinals taking revenge for the last two years.
Scariolo guaranteed medals from bronze at the 2016 Games and at the 2017 EuroBasket in the face of the evident decline of Pau, Navarro and company. In 2019, when no one expected it, he brought out the best Ricky Rubio in history and the most motivated Marc to win the World Cup in China.
That same year he won the NBA as assistant coach of Toronto Raptors being fundamental as a defensive strategist. They wiped out none other than the Golden State Warriors, who had won three of the last four championship titles.
Scariolo returned home to be closer to his mother -very old- signing for the Virtus of Bologna. It seemed like a very inferior team for its pedigree, but not even that it has stopped him after a season in which he has won the first Eurocup -the Europa League of basketball- for the first time for the team qualifying for the Euroleague.
This summer, with the worst team in Spain in 25 years, they managed to win the most unexpected EuroBasket in history. He has managed to get all the juice out of some Hernangómez brothers who previously did not suit him in the slightest and has inspired Rudy Fernandez to evolve into an exemplary captain. Scariolo has made history in Spanish and European basketball as the most successful coach of the 21st century.
Four EuroBaskets, a World Cup, two Olympic medals, an NBA ring, the ACB, the Spanish Copa del Rey, the Eurocup, the Italian Serie A and what they put in front of you. Don Sergio Scariolo has earned the right to decide how long he wants to manage the most successful team in European basketball.