"Whoever goes to the Palau is going to have a great time"

Recently named co-captain of the team, Darío Brizuela is one of the four survivors of the profound remodeling of Barça basketball. Once the restlessness of a summer marked by comings and goings has been overcome, the ‘Basque Mamba’ is convinced of the new bet.

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What feelings do these first days of preseason leave you with?

Good. It is obvious that entering a team with so many new players, with four new coaches, is also a bit strange, because in my previous three years the squad has been quite repeated. But hey, this is not the first time this has happened to me in my career and I try to face it with great enthusiasm.

That’s what I wanted to ask you a little bit, if you had been somewhere with so much sudden change.

Yes, once in Malaga. My last season in Malaga there was no change of coaches, but there were nine new signings and it worked very well. They won the Copa del Rey and it was a bit of that Malaga project that has given so many triumphs. In my career I have had many coaches, I have played with many players, so it is certainly something normal for me. Now I think the important thing is that we get to know each other, that we try to form a group quickly and take care of basketball as well.

Do you think that the fans, when it comes to Barça, are going to be patient enough to wait for those results to take a little while to arrive?

Well, yes, but we are aware that this is Barça. We have been without titles for three years and it is a reality that is difficult to swallow, but it is what it is. The new ones also know that it is not possible to continue in continuous reconstruction. We have to start competing as soon as possible. Our goal is not only that, but that all the people who go to the Palau feel identified with the new team, with the new way of playing. I think that whoever goes to the Palau is going to have a great time because it is going to be a different type of basketball, a very fast-paced type of basketball, in which our intention is to play, have fun, make the game fast, make people hooked on us… It is evident that these years have been a little turbulent, but we know that we have to start there and we are working on that.

A play style that I imagine also matches well with yours in particular, right?

Yes, I’m fast. Yes, it is true that I am getting older too (laughs), but it is a basketball in which I feel comfortable, in which everyone feels comfortable because I think we have signed very well to comply with that game plan that we have and that style of competing that we want. I think it is a basketball that is very fashionable now and that is working. I think that both players and coaches who are very specialized in this have been signed and there is a lot of confidence in the project.

Is there a particular teammate that has impressed you, that you didn’t know about before watching the training sessions?

No, as you sign, you see the type of player there is. But I can say that they are all very good kids. In the end, everyone, when they come to a team with so much newness, comes with that intention of being open quickly and creating relationships quickly. I think that’s very important. The players who were already here are playing a bit of a bridge role between the new ones and the staff and making everything more comfortable. For example, with Balcerowski I had never been with him, but the simple fact of leaving the same place has made us become friends very quickly and I am delighted.

And with responsibility now for co-captainship, right? Do new people ask you a lot?

Well, I’ve had it before. I had it in Málaga, I had it in Estudiantes, in the national team too. I feel comfortable because I can only worry about others, and try to make them feel comfortable both on the court and off. Let’s say that we are still at the very beginning of everything, but hey, I have already let them know that they can ask me with anything they need, whether it is sports or not. I have always been good at connecting with the players, I think that the psychology degree has given me a plus and well, in the end I think it is a role that suits me well and I assume it with responsibility.

During the summer, did you experience anxiety when you saw that many colleagues were leaving, that things were not very clear?

Yes, because there was a plan that was known and well, that plan was not carried out due to many circumstances. I had a conversation with Mario Bruno (Fernández) in the middle of the summer and he told me that even if things didn’t work out, there was a second plan or a second route that was being carried out. At all times I have had faith in this club, the truth is that it is the club in which I have been happiest. Some things were strange… the one about Shengelia because it saddened me personally in the sense that in a year with Toko I developed a very good relationship with him and he seems like an extraordinary person. Apart from that, he seems to me to be an almost equally extraordinary professional. But hey, in the end I understand your circumstance. He was one of the first players he called, we had a long phone conversation in which he explained to me, I understood him and I already said, above all this is our friendship. You have to change your mentality quickly and I am very happy with all the new players.

With so much newness, maybe Barça does not appear very high in the ‘power rankings’ now, but do you think this team can surprise with its potential?

I understand that there are many unknown players, but I can already say that all the players we have have a lot of talent, and a lot of hunger, which is very important. The quicker we can get together as a team, have clear ideas and roles and that people continue with that hunger and capacity for solidarity for their colleagues, the better things will go for us. I am confident that we can surprise.

Finally I wanted to ask you about the selection. Should we fear qualification for the World Cup?

The windows during the season have gone very well without the players who played in the Euroleague being in the United States. They have gone extremely well and they have been the ones who have really given results. We have complete confidence in them. It is true that this summer has been a little more complicated. Some of us had just finished the season days before, very young players from the United States gathered who are still trying to understand what it is like to reconnect with European basketball. And well, it is a price that must be paid. But the message I can give to the people is that they can be very calm because the generations that come—the De Larrea, Hugo, Aday, Mario—are very talented players. They have already shown the talent they have in each of the lower categories and they are showing it now. I believe that the new generations of the national team are going to be very powerful.

If we get the ticket, the next World Cup can also be high expectations for that reason, right?

Yes, but well, you have to understand that they are very young players and in FIBA ​​competitions they are very complicated, there are players with a lot of experience, with a lot of talent. But hey, with their ability and playing in the NBA, I think they can give a leap in quality to the national team. But you have to give it time, the same thing already happened with that golden generation. I’m not saying it’s the same, but I think there are players who have the potential to make a difference and the players who are now a little more veteran, we have to do a better job of trying to help them adapt to FIBA ​​basketball as quickly as possible.