Marco Justo: “I want players capable of capturing my philosophy”

2023-07-29 00:28:06

He Zunder Palencia a few weeks ago made official the hiring of fair framethe new coach of the city team after the departure of Pedro Rivero to Movistar Students. The native of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been part of Lenovo Tenerife for 10 years as an assistant coach. After finishing the longest period of his professional career on the bench, he is preparing to be the head coach of an ACB team for the first time. Today Marco was presented at the municipal pavilion sports, where he has answered questions from the media for half an hour. Gonzalo Ibanezpresident of Zunder Palencia, assured at the beginning of the appearance that the profile of the coach sought was that of a person young, hungry and eager to grow together with the team. According to the president of the institution from Palencia, Marco had all these qualities, which led them to sign him.

Gonzalo Ibáñez also confirmed that the subscriber campaign will launch early next week, news that the people of Palencia were looking forward to, because on the occasion of the promotion to the Endesa League the historical record of subscribers is expected to be broken.

The words of the new purple technician

Marco has felt very supported by the team, and is very grateful for the trust they had Urko Otegui and Gonzalo Ibáñez from the moment the negotiations began. According to the new coach of the purple team, all the previous references he had about the team and the city were excellent. Among them, that of Joaquin Prado (former coach of Palencia and current coach of the Sub 20) since Marco was his assistant coach in the Sub 20 during the Europeans of 2022 and 2019.

The new coach of Palencia Básket has confirmed that he is a defensive coach, who seeks to find a calm in the defense on which to build an offensive game and thus adapt to any style that the rival team may propose. Despite never having led an ACB team, the canary feel excited and quiet, He believes that it is the best possible project for him. He has not yet set long-term goals, and prefers to focus on building a competitive squad for the highest division of Spanish basketball, since the preseason begins on the 14th and the squad must be 100% ready.

The master added: ”The renewals and signings will not only be aimed at the defensive field. I want players capable of capturing my philosophy and our defensive rules. Facing the type of rivals that we are going to face, we cannot defend all the players in the same way. That will require a capacity for adaptation. We will try to have an adequate defensive repertoire.”

The man from Palma does not feel scared by Palencia’s lower budget. despite being I refuse of the great teams in the league, he faithfully believes that a good transfer market will be possible and the board of directors will be able to reinforce the team with what is necessary to meet all the objectives. One of the possible signings that have sounded the most during these days has been that of Matt Haarms, 2.21 Dutch center who is a great defender and fits perfectly with Marco Justo’s philosophy. He did not want to go into the subject in depth, because according to him the supposed leaks from the press cannot be controlled, so he prefers to talk about the players who are officially part of the teamlike newcomer Franke.

Marco Justo shaking hands with Gonzalo Ibáñez | Photo: Jose Lopez.

The recently presented added: ”I prefer to talk only about players who are part of the squad. This afternoon the rest of the staff will be made official. We have opted for experience in ACB, familiar faces who are informed about other teams, who know the referees. Those have been the criteria on which we have based ourselves. The second coach will be Fran Hernandez.’’

Fran Hernandez It was until last July 28, second coach of the San Paul Burgos since 2015. He has eight years of experience in the ACB, which stands out on his resume along with several titles such as a two-time championship in the Champions League in 2020 and 2021, or the FIBA ​​International Cup in 2020.

After his speech at a press conference, Marco Justo had the opportunity to enjoy what will be his next pavilion, which by the way, the parquet is being changed. He has posed with the Palencia scarf so that the media can take several snapshots of the moment. Definitely, He has shown ambition and enthusiasm in his first press conference as Zunder Palencia coach.