The Spanish National Team to Establish a 'B Team', the 'Tank of the Absolute'

The Spanish national basketball team is set to form a second team that will operate alongside the main squad this summer in Madrid and Málaga as they prepare for the EuroBasket starting on August 27. Spain B, to be managed by current Bilbao Basket coach Jaume Ponsarnau under the guidance of head coach Sergio Scariolo, aims to "facilitate the transition between youth categories and the main team as smoothly as possible," according to the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) on Wednesday.

Ponsarnau previously served as an assistant to the main national team, achieving gold at the 2015 EuroBasket and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics. "He has not only shown great ability to achieve results but also in developing young talent and improving his players," Scariolo remarked about the Catalan coach from Bilbao, who will lead the inaugural edition of the national team's second squad.

"This is a very important project for us. We want the men's national team to have a second team considered as the main team's tank. It's a novel concept that is here to stay and become a fundamental habit within our national teams," highlighted Scariolo, four months before Spain begins defending its European title in Limassol, Cyprus. The EuroBasket 2025 will also take place in Tampere, Finland; Katowice, Poland; and Riga, Latvia, which will host the final phase.

"The treatment of its players will essentially be the same as in the main team. Both squads will train in the same facilities and maintain close contact, with the close collaboration of their respective coaches," detailed Scariolo, acknowledging that the B team "will have a strong youthful imprint." "However, we don't want it to have a strict age link, as in all criteria it is a second team of the main squad. In this first edition, the team aims to continue the work previously done with the under-22 national team," clarified the Spanish coach.