Spain has launched a national B Team to bridge the gap between youth and senior players, with both squads training side-by-side under the supervision of head coach Sergio Scariolo ahead of FIBA EuroBasket 2025.
Spain has made a groundbreaking move in European basketball by launching a national B Team, a second squad announced Wednesday by the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB).
Coached by Jaume Ponsarnau, the current head coach of Bilbao Basket in the ACB League, the B Team aims to ease the transition for players moving from youth categories to the senior national team.
The B Team will train alongside Spain's senior squad during camps in Madrid and Malaga this summer as part of preparations for FIBA EuroBasket 2025.
National team coach Sergio Scariolo will oversee the development of the B Team.
"The treatment of the players will be essentially the same as for the senior team," Scariolo said. "Both teams will train at the same facilities and work closely together, with strong collaboration between the coaching staffs."
While this is a new move for Europe, the concept is familiar in the United States.
For example, fifteen players were named to the 2024 USA Basketball Men's Select Team, which trained with the main Team USA roster ahead of the Paris Olympics. Among them was Fenerbahce forward Nigel Hayes-Davis.
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