Spain's Saiz: ''To be in the national team, it's the greatest thing you can do''
BURGOS (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Spain's Sebas Saiz has four World Cup Qualifiers games under his belt and is counting the days until he can play in more.
Nothing matches the feeling, the sense of pride, of playing for his country, the 23-year-old says.
National team boss Sergio Scariolo recently cited Saiz as one of the players that has benefitted enormously from the experience of the Qualifiers.
"It makes you feel great," Saiz said to FIBA.basketball.
"It's a dream come true for every player to represent his country. At the end of the day, Spain, after the US, is one of the best national teams in the world."
Even in the summers before the start of the World Cup Qualifiers, Saiz got a chance to rub shoulders on a daily basis in training camps with players in the Spain setup that will be viewed as international basketball legends.
"THE BEST THING HE (SCARIOLO) DOES IS THAT HE GETS A GROUP OF REALLY GOOD PLAYERS AND GETS THEM TO PLAY TOGETHER WITH THE SAME GOAL, WITHOUT ANY EGOS."
"To be able to play with those players, the Gasol brothers (Pau and Marc), Navarro (Juan Carlos Navarro) in his last year, those guys are so great," Saiz said. "We've grown up seeing them play and to be a part of that is a dream come true."
Tras 5 duros días de entreno, ya estamos en Podgorica para empezar la clasificación de la FIBA World Cup 2019 | After 5 hard days of practice, we are finally in Podgorica to start the classification of the FIBA World Cup 2019 #SelMas 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/mbsoBc1ME1
— sebastian saiz (@sebassaiz) November 23, 2017
Saiz has also placed a lot of value on the experience he has had with Scariolo.
"He's one of the greatest coaches I've ever had. He makes everything clear, explains things well," said the 6ft 9in (2.05m) big man.
"The best thing he does is that he gets a group of really good players and gets them to play together with the same goal. Even when you’re not playing with the Gasol brothers, and Navarro, he has the ability to get everyone to play together with the same goal, without any egos.
"They all know they’re great players but he can show them their role once they get there."
“EVERY TIME YOU PLAY FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM (IN THE WINDOWS), YOU GO FOR A WEEK AND COMPETE AND IT'S A LITTLE BREAK FROM THE CLUB. I THINK IT'S GREAT. YOU COME BACK REFRESHED WITH A GREAT FEELING AND EXTRA MOTIVATED. I LIKE IT. I THINK IT'S SOMETHING GOOD."
Saiz says it was good to take a break from the club season and play in the November and February windows.
"I think it’s something that everyone looks forward to," he said. "At the end of the day, you play for your club, and every time you play for the national team, you go for a week and compete and it’s a little break from the club. I think it's great. You come back refreshed with a great feeling and extra motivated. I like it. I think it's something good."
Looking ahead to the upcoming window of the Qualifiers, Saiz is excited.
"They're going to be hard," he said. "It’s going to be tough. Belarus almost beat us over there and they beat Slovenia. There are no teams in this competition that you can slack off against and get a win.
"They’re going to give you the best they have so we're going to be ready for them, have a good preparation that week in practice and give everything we have."
The game against Belarus will be in Malaga and that's one Saiz is particularly eager to play in.
"Yes, when you play at home, you feel like you can't lose," he said. "Everyone is cheering for you. It’s an extra motivation that you get once you play in those games."
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