By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Heading to the latest Regular Season action in the 2024-25 Basketball Champions League campaign, BAXI Manresa had to reflect upon their second game of the season. Losing by 17 points (102-85) on the road in Italy to Derthona would have made things complicated moving forward.
Indeed, as the Catalans chased the unbeaten Italian Lions with a spot in the Round of 16 still up for grabs, they needed to beat the black-and-white opponents by 17 points or more.
Since when the format changed in the Basketball Champions League with the introduction of the Sweet 16, BAXI Manresa had never missed the straight qualification by skipping the Play-Ins stage. This year was no exception, as Diego Ocampo’s team managed to turn their fate around.
Diego Ocampo’s trajectory is one of a kind
The 48-year-old Galician head coach has distinguished himself from a lot of colleagues. Simply by taking a closer look at his decades-long career on the sideline, Diego Ocampo’s path is full of ups and downs.
Literally: he has been going from first to second and third divisions in a matter of just a few years. And he’s fully aware of it, giving a real and concrete explanation behind his working choices. “I don’t accept offers based on competitions’ names or levels. I move based on challenges”, he opened to Eurohoops.
“I like to be in a place that stimulates me, where I feel happy about coaching certain players. Every experience, even the hardest ones, has made me learn a lot and become a better coach”, he added.
For example, after coaching for two years in Badalona, he decided to step back and helped Manresa gain promotion to the ACB; however, once getting the job done, he accepted Barcelona’s offer to lead their Youth Program, where players like Leandro Bolmaro and Sergi Martinez were taking off.
He experienced the Basketball Champions League Final Eight with Saragoza later on but changed chapters again by moving to Frankfurt. Then, from the BBL he went all the way to LEB Plata.
“My season in Germany was very difficult, and I felt I needed to build something from scratch. I went to the Spanish third division with Tizona Burgos, and in a matter of two seasons, we almost got to the ACB, losing in last year’s LEB Oro Final Four. Then, Manresa called: another challenge”, Ocampo said.
🗣 “Hemos ganado, yo solo no hago nada, somos un equipo”.
Las palabras de DIEGO OCAMPO tras la victoria de BAXI @BasquetManresa.
📺 @MovistarPlus #LigaEndesa | #ConectaConTuPasión pic.twitter.com/LGXxXWxwoW
— Liga Endesa (@ACBCOM) December 1, 2024
Ultimately, his decisions are based on the emotions that move everybody on this planet. “It has never been a priority of mine to be at the top, but to be happy wherever I was coaching”, he explained.
From 2023, moreover, he has been guiding the Czech national team too. Something that may sound completely random, happened out of nowhere. However, Diego Ocampo’s relationship with Czech basketball goes back a long time, when he was an assistant coach in Sevilla from 2008 to 2014.
Back then, he helped train both Tomas Satoransky and Ondrej Balvin for several years, while later, in Zaragoza, he had Vit Krejci on board. “During the summer, I was also going to Prague to coach them individually, and that made me meet people,” he commented.
Following Ronen Ginzbug’s 10-year run with the Czech national team, he stepped up. “We weren’t starting a relationship from scratch, and I felt very well-supported by federation and players”, he said. Two goals are now in their sight: in the short-term, getting to EuroBasket 2025, and looking further ahead, putting the basis for the upcoming generation of Czech talents.
“We want to make the best out of this generation, with [Tomas] Satoransky, [Jan] Vesely, [Vojtech] Hruban, [Tomas] Kyzlink, [Jahomir] Bohacik, and so on. At the same time, we want to involve younger guys to get them better, helping them adjust to a development process”, he continued.
Obviously, Diego Ocampo needs to balance between the club’s duties in Manresa and the Czech national team’s appointments. “It’s a lot of work, but that’s easy when you have great people around you”, he said.
Points do matter – even one single point sometimes
Going back to what made us focus on BAXI Manresa’s head coach this week, the Catalans were able to do the unthinkable, beating Derthona by 18 points and heading to the Sweet 16 without a stopover. But how were they capable of breaking the opponents’ five-game winning streak this way?
“We weren’t focused on the points difference. We just wanted to apply our identity and play at our rhythm against a very difficult opponent like Derthona. Our early run was important because it helped us believe it was possible. We had a moment of down in the fourth quarter, but in the last three minutes we played with great determination, defending well and playing fast”, Ocampo summed up the 18-point win.
Overall, BAXI Manresa stood out on top in Group G, split into two halves. On one side, they were tied with Derthona at 5-1, while both NINERS Chemnitz and Benfica concluded their Regular Season with a 1-5 record, as the Germans advanced thanks to points difference despite lastly losing in Portugal.
“Both Benfica and Chemnitz played very well, despite winning only one game. Derthona is a great team. I believe we had a difficult group where everything could have happened and where details have made the difference. In our case, a key one-point difference for us in order to get to the Round of 16”, he added.
😱 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗗 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗔 😱@basquetmanresa finish first of their group after their 18-point W over Bertram Derthona Basket!#BasketballCL pic.twitter.com/nrUWvYncfS
— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) December 17, 2024
All of this without losing an identity that was shaped by Pedro Martinez, who has now shifted the job done in BAXI Manresa to Valencia, one of the most entertaining teams to watch.
Diego Ocampo came to the Catalan team, picked up what was left by the experienced 63-year-old tactician – whom he joined back in Sevilla as an assistant coach just like he did with Joan Plaza and Aito Garcia Reneses – and added some ingredients to the recipe here and there.
“I think it’s sensible people’s practice to take advantage of what works. Sometimes, our ego makes us go to a place where we want to impose or try to accomplish what we believe. When you’re new to a site, I think it’s smart and practical to see what has worked”, Diego Ocampo first spoke about Manresa’s identity.
“For me it was easy: we kept what was working, playing fast, always going for the offensive rebound, defending proactively. At the same time, we added some nuances in certain aspects”, he added.
Enjoying coaching Mario Saint-Supery and Derrick Alston
The result? BAXI Manresa is the second-best scoring team in the Basketball Champions League (93.7 points per game, behind Unicaja at 97.3), with the second-highest assists per game (23.0, again behind Unicaja at 25.2), and second-highest offensive rebounds per game (16.7, behind Nymburk at 18.0).
According to the Basketball Champions League’s advanced-stats service, provided by Viziball, they’re the third-best Offensive Rating team (123.1, behind Tenerife at 125.8 and Malaga at 130.1).
All of that while inserting seven new players. “Today’s coaches want to impose everything, but it’s very difficult. It’s about making a proposal to the players, but also adapting yourself to their needs, habits, and ways of playing. That generates and creates an identity, which is the most important thing”, he said.
Among the new roster elements, there are the 2006-born Spanish gem Mario Saint-Supery and Derrick Alston Jr., son of the memorable big who won a historic ACB title with the team in the 1997-98 season.
“Mario [Saint-Supery] is in constant evolution. Last year, despite being 17 years old, he adapted very well to the LEB Oro. Making his way to the ACB and the BCL was a big step, but he has been doing well. In an adaptation process it’s important to understand that there are ups and downs”, he said.
“You just need to accept it, stay calmed and relaxed about it, continuing to work. I wish we could emphasize the word “normality” a bit more, as it’s completely natural to compete and develop each and everyone at his own pace. I’m very happy on how he works on a daily basis”, Ocampo said on the 2006-born talent. Moving on Derrick Alston Jr., he’s difficult to identify in a specific way.
“You can’t say he’s a 4, a 3, or a 2. He’s a positionless player, very fun to coach because he can do it all. He can bring the ball up the floor, playing in transition, conducting a pick-and-roll, playing low and high post. He’s a versatile asset that helps us a lot to take advantage in different scenarios”, he commented.
Fighting for a spot in the 2025 Copa del Rey by standing in 7th place in the ACB with a 6-5 record, BAXI Manresa will have flashback memories in the Round of 16, where they will surely meet with La Laguna Tenerife, waiting for the picture to be completed with the winners of the Play-Ins matchups.
Back in the 2022-23 BCL Final, they came up short against the experienced and well-trained black-and-gold team, but the red wave coming from Manresa created a unique scenario.
“There’s a crucial connection between the team and our fans. Living in one of the smallest towns of all teams in the ACB and BCL gives us pride, identity, and a sense of belonging together. Playing a certain way also helps our identity be shaped more and more”, he added.
Manresa’s identity and always wanting to compete inspire happiness within the whole Catalan city’s community. “It’s our responsibility to take care of this relationship with our people: we understand we’re not playing only for ourselves, we play and we are dedicated to the maximum for everybody. That makes us extremely proud”, Ocampo continued.
The happy and proud way of succeeding isn’t made up, but it’s connected to certain roots in Manresa. Taking the baton from Pedro Martinez’s coaching staff, Diego Ocampo is making the system work in their own but similar way. Results are only a reflection of how philosophy is installed within a team.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League