Scariolo compares Spain's EuroBasket gold to Leicester City winning Premier League / News - Basketnews.com

Sergio Scariolo doesn't worry about the table which involves coaches with the most EuroBasket golds: 'The medal takes one more place in the trophy room and let's think about the next one.'

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Sergio Scariolo once again proved why he is considered the GOAT of FIBA basketball.

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The Italian head coach managed to guide Spain to their fourth EuroBasket gold medal in 13 years.

Following an unexpected win with the Spanish NT, which is experiencing a generational change, Scariolo analyzed Spain's triumph with MARCA.

"Honestly, no," Scariolo responded when asked if he had imagined winning EuroBasket 2022 before flying to Tbilisi on August 30.

"You always think about playing good basketball and competing for every centimeter on the court. For that, I did not have any doubts. But we were eighth in the championship power ranking and came out as champions."

Does Scariolo remember a bigger surprise in Spanish basketball?

"There will have been others, but now we feel the effect of this victory. It is not easy for a team to enter as the eighth squad in a short competition and end up winning it," the 61-year-old stressed.

"I remember Leicester City winning the English Premier League in 2016 [Leicester won England's highest football league for the first time in the club's history. The club had odds of 5,000-to-1 to win the league before the season kicked off].

The situation was similar, but a season is long and things like this can happen but in a tournament like we had...

I also recall when Denmark won the UEFA European Championship in 1992 [the team was included at the last minute due to the exclusion of Yugoslavia]. It is something similar," Scariolo compared Spain's gold medal to some of the greatest football underdog stories.

With capturing his fourth EuroBasket golden accolade, coach Scariolo overtook Dusan Ivkovic, who has 3 European Championship golds on his resume.

Only Alexander Gomelsky is ahead of Scariolo with 6 EuroBasket gold medals.

"Those rankings leave me cold. I don't pay much attention to them. The medal takes one more place in the trophy room and let's think about the next one," Scariolo pointed out.

The Italian specialist also had a small glimpse of his coaching's future.

"From time to time, the [retirement] idea comes to you. However, I never considered it because I train and enjoy basketball. I have passion and energy. I'm up to date, I feel competitive and strong," Scariolo told MARCA.

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