Wholesalechickenwings

DAY CONFERENCE 19-20 FEBRUARY 12-13 FEBRUARY 6-7

Isma Santos, Ourense guard who played nine seasons (14 in total 1ños entity) and nearly 300 games in ACB Real Madrid (89-99). Remembered as a great defender, some say the best in Europe, many now relive his victorious matches with Djorjevic, Danilovic and Eddie Johnson. Santos is, despite the passage of time, one of the last English youth players to consolidate in the first team in the White House and a member of the last Euroleague title (1995).

Here you have a summary of the best questions:

1) Some critics suppose, insist on your game 'out' of regulation. You can have one of these dirty tricks or disprove this image.

I wonder what exactly is that play outside the rules. I can only say that one of the things I can be proud of my career is to have always played an honest and noble. I've never done anyone any dirty tricks, I've never played dirty and I have never injured anyone. I played hard and very physical, is in practice than in games, but again, I've never harmed anyone and I've never been to malice. The doubts have to ask my ex-colleagues or players I played against.

2) Give some defensive tips, a technicality ...

honestly do not know if I'm the right person to give advice, either defensive or otherwise, all I can do is talk My experience. I believe that to defend well a player needs to meet certain conditions such as self-sacrifice, intelligence, mental toughness and physical qualities. Then you need also the ability to study and analysis of the players who has to defend and very important, knowledge of the game. The more you know the game better read it will be easier to defend. To be a good defender you have to be smarter than to be a good attacker because you have to anticipate and think faster than the one with the ball, which is leading the initiative. The technical details change based on the player in front of you because you can not claim to defend in the same manner to all players. You have to study them, know your strengths and weaknesses, then develop a strategy and implementation.


3) In recent interviews, Joe Arlauckas insists it was the best that Madrid player, who gave up 30 points put to defend the greatest rival. What does that say about this compliment?

I have to say that this has happened. I have spoken with him and I thanked him for what he said, but I think he exaggerated. It is true that had the ability to score many more points and it will not do to give a balance to the team, but then to be the best player on the team ....

The best player of that team not only in Europe but was certainly Arvydas Sabonis. I was young and played with great players like Sabas, Joe, Antonio Martín, Chechu Biryukov and wanted to keep playing and get to be important in Madrid, which had two choices: a plan to try to play star getting many points as he had done up to the first team, which would have caused me to stay on the bench and as a result my departure from the team and the other to think, what I can do to play? Is there anything I can do that no one on the team who does? I chose the second option and the answer to my question was: to defend better than anybody else, cancel the other team's best player on offense and then give up my points and make the star players feel comfortable and mess points. Once again I continued pursuing my dream of playing in Madrid even if he had to give up my way to play and adapt to the needs of the team. I just wanted to play on that team and be important, and that team I should not get even 20 or 30 points because there were people who could do as Sabas and Joe, which had to work for them. I decided to reinvent myself as a player.

I went into the perspective of trying to do the right thing at all times to help and give balance to the team is on defense than on offense, with the ball or not, and that team had a lot of things I did to help its proper functioning: good passing, moving without the ball, good locks, grab rebounds, defend ... and shoot when I was left alone because for me the choice to put points was always the last, preferring that others metiesen. The team worked like a charm and we were all happy.

4) What was the secret of the team that won the Final Four in Zaragoza? Reminisce some secret, some anecdote.

There was no secret, just work, a strong commitment and overwhelming desire to win by all members of that template masterfully led by Zeljko Obradovic. From the first day of preseason workouts were a dog face because Joe and Antonio played a role, Chechu, Javi Coll, Pep and I played another and Jose Antunez Jose Lasa and the same. This fierce competition every day could be a double-edged sword, and that's where there were two differing keys to our team of others: the wisdom of the coach at the time to manage the group and the intelligence of the players when assume his role on the team. That team should have won the Euroleague last year also, and have followed all together had won another 2 Euroleague safer. But that's life ...