Ojeda: We are proud of our effort and progress – Aito is a magician

Himar Ojeda talked at the greek podcast, «Β-Ball Stories» about Alba Berlin and the Euroleague. He also revealed scouting and recruiting secrets. In addition to that, Himar Ojeda spoke highly about the «magician» Aito Garcia Reneses and he shared unique stories about Edy Tavares, Jaycee Carroll and Ioannis Papapetrou.

A few quotes from the Pod:

– «Alba was like a bit of fresh air last year in the Euroleague. I think we are competing better this year. We faced problems in the crunch time, but we are happy with our effort, our progress and our perfomances».

– «It was one of the toughest Septembers of my career. The circumstances were different, because of the timing and the Covid-19 situation. It was a special year, we lost six players, so we had to rebuild. It was an end for a circle and we had to start from the zero. It went well for us. It was a difficult summer, but it was a fantastic one too».

– «We have the lowest budget, we don’t have a rich owner or a football club to support us. So we need to be creative. It’s difficult for Alba to sign proven players. We say: “Let’s try to find the guys that will be in this pool for the next year”. That’s a risk, but that’s our philosophy. Everyone in the club understands that. We have to be patient and be ready. It’s a bet, a sacrifice, a risk. Not every player we sing is ready, but, on the other hand, I can’t wait too long for a young guy to explode, because we might lose him. So it’s all about the timing».

– «My philosophy has been always like this: Develop the players, let the young guys grow step by step, grow as a team, build an intentity so the fans could be engaged to the project for more than one year».

– «I have to do the job, a lot of scouting. It’s just me doing that! I talk with many scouts and agents, Ι have people that I trust a lot about the recruiting. I follow players for years. I watch them, I try to have always notes about them. Sometimes is crazy, there are so many players all over the world, even in Korea, in Japan».

– «Ι like to watch the players during the games. Their behaviour, their character. I trust my impressions watching the players. I don’t follow the typical topics about a player. I like someone who is humble and competitive. In addition to that, having a high basketball IQ is so important to us and our system. That’s the number one to us, the first thing I check».

– «Aito is a magician. A genius. He is so experienced and committed to keep a philosophy, to teach the young players, to make them be competitive, push them with the right way. You need to pay attention to him. If the players don’t do the things he wants, they will go to the bench. You need to do things and you need to deliver at this level. Aito doesn’t try to control everything at the team. He is focused at his work. It’s really good to work with him. He helps the players, he respects them. He is unique. The perfect coach for my philosophy is Aito. The perfect fit. He is an important part for us».

– «Tavares is an unbelievable story. He lived in difficult conditions. When we discovered him, the people in Capo Verde didn’t know about him. He is so good, a great person. Carroll is also special for me. High-class player. A funny story about him: I couldn’t sign him when I saw him. I had Carl English, he was the top scorer in Liga Endesa. So I couldn’t bring Jaycee to my team and I didn’t want anyone else to sign him in Spain. So I called a friend, the GM of Teramo in Italy. He was looking for a SG and I told him that Carroll was super good. He signed him, and the rest is history. I was so confident about his talent».

– «If I had to sign a player from the greek teams, I’d choose Ioannis Papapetrou. Good player. I remember we scouted him a lot with the Hawks».