It was January 13, 1974, half a century ago now. The Círculo Católico de Badalona won 81-84 on the Náutico de Tenerife court in a First Division match (the ACB would be born nine seasons later) and a 27-year-old young man from Madrid named Aíto García Reneses made his debut as coach on the Catalan bench. Only three months earlier he had left his position as a point guard at FC Barcelona and then embarked on a career as a coach that continues to this day full of summits: nine League titles with Barça, an Olympic silver with the national team, the record for most matches coached in the League (1,111, 67% victories) and a very long list of stars under his command, from Epi and Solozábal to Navarro and the Gasol brothers, Ricky, Rudy, Djordjevic, Jasikevicius, Villacampa… At 77 years old, and following his last experiences at Alba Berlin and Girona, the great teacher of a generation of coaches reflects on his 50 courses on the blackboard while ruminating on the possibility of returning to the ring.
Ask. Look for work?
Answer. I’m on a gap year. I have no idea what will happen nor am I worried regarding anything. We will see in due course whether or not I continue training. I usually live in the present and not the future. I just spent three weeks in Mexico with some clinics. I had a lot of fun and will likely return.
P. Do you still feel like a coach?
R. Yes, that is without a doubt. I have been a coach since I was born. I don’t care much if teams are thinking regarding how old I am. Everyone who thinks what they should. I don’t have any problems training and directing. The last two years in Berlin were something else. We traveled on regular flights and also during a pandemic, four games a week with their planes and their stopovers… I don’t feel like that.
P. Do you watch a lot of basketball?
R. Yes, live a little, sometimes. But on television, huge. The offer is exaggerated due to the number of games there are. Mondays off. I don’t like watching the NBA. They have continued to improve marketing but not in basketball. To favor that marketing, a star player does what he wants, even if what he wants is not to defend anything. Many teams defend their marketing and they reinforce that star. The matches are not very interesting.
P. Are young people leaving for the NBA too soon?
R. Some may get it right but others leave as a result of propaganda. Then they come back following a year or two without having succeeded. It’s hasty. If we refer to Pau Gasol, he left at a time when he was progressing and he was lucky to land in Memphis, which was a weak team where he might continue developing until going to the Lakers. Others leave and have no option to play.
P. Why did you become a coach?
R. When I studied at Ramiro [jugó en el Estudiantes entre 1963 y 1968 antes de ir al Barça], one day the Physical Education teachers were missing and I dedicated myself to making a reserve team. We trained with the little we had, we challenged the starters and beat them. The following year we took Infantil C de Estudiantes. Without knowing anything, I was training.
P. How was it formed?
R. When I finished training the junior I stayed to see the junior. And I listened to the coaches. Apart from having gone to hundreds of international tournaments every summer, more than 20 times to the United States… It is the passion of my life. At 26 years old I stopped being a Barça player because I was not important enough. Three months later I started as a coach.
P. That first game?
R. On the flight stopover to Tenerife, in Madrid, I took out some coins and thus taught the players defensive and attacking movements. There were three players older than me.
P. How has basketball changed the most?
R. Now mostly the teams defend. Before they hardly did it. Some rivals and the press told us that we did karate. Nothing of that. We defended more, the players made an effort and there were more rotations. Now everyone does it.
P. What legacy does he leave?
R. The intensity and progression. Today coaches, like players, don’t last long on teams. And the way some people train is just tactics. I want to teach fundamentals. I have also always wanted to motivate the players intellectually. Xavi Fernández played chess, and when I had Tavares for two years in Gran Canaria I put him to do Sudoku. It was to make them think. I love when they have taken advantage of that for basketball and for his life.
P. What is a star?
R. The player who knows how to do everything, attacks, defends and is involved with his teammates. The coach draws the line.
P. Has the role of the coach changed today?
R. There are many games and so progression is difficult. In Berlin we used the Euroleague matches to train. If not, it is impossible to improve.
P. Do you have the regret of not having won the Euroleague despite being in six Final Four?
R. It has its negative side, although once we had an arbitration loss [el tapón ilegal de Vrankovic a Montero en 1996 entre Barça y Panathinaikos]. Having been there so many times is very good, apart from having won the Cup Winners’ Cup and the Korac.
P. And the silver from Beijing 2008?
R. There was a very good involvement of some players who were also very good. The youngest, Ricky, had not turned 18 and played 29 minutes in the final because Calderón was injured. If the player is a star, the ego takes second place.
P. In the sixties he created the first electronic scoreboard…
R. Yes. I studied Physics, and then Telecommunications. In Spain there were only some basketball scoreboards, which were American and electric. I did a project to make it electronic and 30 30-second possession markers were sold. They were cheaper. I have always liked to think regarding many things. Until today. Every day is different.
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