Chus Mateo has been named the new head coach of the Spanish men’s national basketball team. First of all, two customary compliments—classic yet sincere. First, congratulations. He deserves it. And second, good luck. He will need it.
Mateo is the best choice, without diminishing Pablo Laso, the other candidate. Laso would have been a great coach for Spain a few years ago, with his feet on the court, but the current moment calls for a different profile. The Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) not only needs someone to direct games brilliantly but also a group manager who rebuilds the team from the ground up. Little remains of the Golden Age, and what remains may no longer be useful. The future must be built from the bottom up.
Mateo will take over a national team that has failed to reach the final stages of the last three major tournaments—the World Cup, the Olympics, and EuroBasket—and hit rock bottom in its last appearance with its worst-ever result. Incredibly, it could have been worse. At least the team qualified.
The journey begins here, in the FIBA windows this November. The absences are no longer limited to EuroLeague and NBA players as in the past, but now include the many talents who have moved to the NCAA. The first challenge is to build a new competitive group for the windows. The second lies in that fragmentation, as he will then have to convince everyone to join for the summer challenges.
Mateo has both the talent and temperament for this. He has worked with youth categories, coached young players and stars, and served the FEB before. The long shadow of Sergio Scariolo will once again loom as a daunting benchmark, just as Laso’s did at Real Madrid. But back then, Mateo left with his head held high—six titles in three years and ten finals out of twelve possible. Now he also has little to lose. The national team has never been this low. Mateo must make it take off.
