Few coaches in European basketball have earned the right to speak about success, stability, pressure and change with the authority of Pablo Laso.
The former Real Madrid play-caller, one of the most successful figures in modern European basketball, enters his first full offseason as Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach after taking over midway through a turbulent campaign.
Injuries, roster instability, constant speculation and a disappointing EuroLeague finish made his first months in Istanbul anything but straightforward.
Yet, as Laso explains throughout this conversation with SKWEEK, the challenge ahead is not about replacing Shane Larkin, rebuilding around a single star, or chasing quick fixes. It is about creating a sustainable team capable of competing at the highest level over time.
Speaking at the EuroLeague Head Coaches Congress in Athens, Laso reflected on a wide range of topics that extend far beyond Efes itself. He discussed the increasingly chaotic nature of the modern transfer market, the explosion of basketball information and rumors, and the difficulty of separating truth from fiction in an era where social media often moves faster than reality.
He explained why the departure of a player as significant as Shane Larkin cannot define a club’s future and outlined the areas in which Efes must improve if it wants to return to the EuroLeague elite.
Laso also offered detailed insight into roster planning, explaining the arrivals of players such as Dario Saric and Mat Strazel, and discussing the recovery of Giorgos Papagiannis, while emphasizing the importance of playmaking, physicality and team balance over individual names.
Disclaimer: Before diving into the conversation, it is worth noting that this interview with Pablo Laso was conducted before Anadolu Efes finalized the signing of Mike James on a 1+1 contract. As a result, neither James’ arrival nor his potential role in the team’s future are discussed in the interview.
This is also only the first part of our extensive conversation with the legendary Spanish coach. In the next installment, Laso shares his thoughts on Real Madrid’s coaching instability, Pedro Martinez’s rise, Zeljko Obradovic’s return to Panathinaikos, Luka Doncic’s involvement in the ambitious Basketball Club Roma SPQR project, the changing landscape of European basketball, and much more.
Stay tuned because what follows is a wide-ranging conversation with one of the most influential coaches of his generation.
A coach is never really relaxed during the summer, is he? There are always things to think about.
A coach who is calm is still thinking about market movements, how they can affect you, preparing the season. You are always paying attention to every small detail, and I think that, in the end, gives you a certain energy.
The work is different from during the season, but it is still work. During the year, we often say that your family asks you: “And now what?”
Now there are different concerns, but generally speaking it is more or less like every summer where you have a job ahead of you, and obviously it is something exciting.
A few months ago you said Efes’ biggest problem wasn’t results but the inability to practice with a full roster because of injuries. Looking back, was the season doomed from the beginning, or do you still feel the team could have gone much further?
I’ll give you an example.
There was a Turkish League game that we won against a lower-table team. During that game, sitting on the bench injured, we had Rodrigue Beaubois, Vincent Poirier, Jordan Lloyd, P.J. Dozier and others. Papagiannis wasn’t even there.
I’ve just named six players who together could probably play in a Final Four. They were sitting out.
Sometimes I’m very practical. I remember asking one of my assistants: “How much money do we have sitting on that bench?”. And that was only one game.
The problem wasn’t just that they couldn’t play. The next morning they couldn’t practice either. So whether we played well or badly almost became secondary.
With such a demanding schedule, you don’t have time to improve. You simply play and compete. That’s why I think the calendar combined with the injuries made the season extremely difficult for us. In fact, I think our best moments came after we were eliminated from the EuroLeague.
Suddenly we had more time to train, and more time to recover players. And you could immediately see the difference.
How do you see the market this summer?
I think this year has been the explosion of information. This year we have lived with news about players, coaches, market movements, new teams, new competitions. We have experienced market information earlier than ever and in greater volume than ever before.
So my question would be: if everything was true, it would be impossible. Because there are teams that have supposedly had four coaches. Teams that have supposedly had 35 players. That is impossible.
So I think you need the ability, the wisdom, the patience and many other things to accept that this information cannot change your path.
When you arrived at Efes, you said the challenge was to build a team and not to find a replacement for Shane Larkin. Now that you have had a full summer to work, how do you want Efes to play next season?
I think the team has improved in many aspects, but above all one aspect that is very important to me: the mental side.
Our season last year was very difficult. We had many injuries. A new coach arrived in the middle of the season with new ideas.
Last year was very difficult for us, very complicated and obviously not satisfactory in terms of results.
We want to improve that. We know that Efes is a team that must work to be higher in the standings. But we must also accept that we are going to have to do things very well. Throughout this whole answer, I have not mentioned any player.
Not Shane Larkin. Not Jordan Loyd. Not Ercan Osmani. Not Pablo Laso. Efes must be above any player.
If you ask me now about Shane Larkin, I would tell you that he is one of the best players who has played in Europe in the last 10-15 years, to the point that he has won championships with Efes.
If we said: “We are very happy that Shane Larkin is leaving,” you would tell me: “That cannot be true.”
And you would be right because it is not true. But we cannot stop as a team. We must keep thinking about improving.
Sometimes that happens with players who have been here for a long time. Sometimes it happens by bringing in new players.
Since we mentioned Shane Larkin’s departure, it seemed like it was his decision to leave. How did you deal with his situation?
I always try to understand these decisions, whether I am on one side or the other. If Shane Larkin leaves because he is a bad player, then I think we are making a mistake, because he is a very good player. If he leaves because he earns 100 million euros, then perhaps we made the right decision because we save 100 million euros, which is a lot of money.
So you have to find the balance and, above all, think that this situation can only make us improve.
Did you have a conversation with him before he left?
No, I did not speak with him.
He was a player under contract, and unfortunately when I arrived in December, Shane practically could not join the team until April. So I lived through the situation where he was trying to come back and help the team as soon as possible. From April, when he returned to the team, I think he helped us a lot.
If I thought the team could not be better without Shane Larkin, then I would somehow be making a mistake. I have to think about improving the team. That is my only obsession. It does not matter if Shane Larkin stays or leaves.
What is the first change you have in mind when building next season’s team?
I think in the center position we had a player who, for me, was one of the most dominant big men in Europe: Vincent Poirier.
His contract expired. There was an option, but unfortunately his injury meant that we couldn’t continue with him. So I think we needed to reinforce that position.
The signing of Dario Saric helps us do exactly that. He knows the club, he knows the city and he helps strengthen our interior game because he’s a player who can play both at the four and the five.
With the departure of Nick Weiler-Babb, I also believe we need more play creators.
Earlier we talked about assists, but what I’m really talking about is creating play. And we also need to improve physically at the ‘3’ position.
Let me explain those last two points. The issue of playmaking is easier to understand.
I think the signing of Matthew Strazel clearly goes in that direction. He’s already a EuroLeague player. He can play at the ‘1’, at the ‘2’. He can score, pass, read situations well and we believe he’s still growing.
But if we think that one signing will change everything, then we’re putting too much pressure on him. That’s why I think we still need players who complement the group we already have.
Jordan Loyd remains with us and I think he had a very good season. Most people think of Jordan as a scorer. As a coach, I’d tell you he’s more of a facilitator than a scorer. He’s capable of doing many different things on both ends of the floor.
Then there’s PJ Dozier. This year we had to use him many times as a false ‘3’ because of his body, but in reality he’s much closer to being a ‘1’ or a ‘2’ than a ‘3’.
For me, the only true ‘3’ we had for most of the season was Erkan Yilmaz.
So those are clearly positions we need to improve. Not because one player is going to solve everything, but because the team has to collectively absorb those responsibilities and become better.
Was the signing of Dario Saric an easy operation?
I always think these operations are difficult.
But if I had to tell you what made this one easier, it’s that Dario knows Efes and Efes knows Dario. As Real Madrid coach I faced him in a playoff series and I always considered him a player of extremely high level.
He’s had a long NBA career. The game there is different. He’s another player who will need time to readapt to Europe.
But I also think the fact that he’s been playing with the Croatian national team and will have a full preseason with us will help enormously.
What role do you expect Giorgos Papagiannis to have?
Papagiannis is coming from a very difficult situation. And I’ll explain why.
When a player over 2.10 meters tears up his knee and is out for 10 months, if as a coach you think he’ll come back and immediately play at 100%, then you can think whatever you want—but you’re not being very intelligent.
It’s very difficult. I don’t believe Papa can be at his best in his first game back. I think we have a player who can give us many things. His size and versatility can add another dimension to our game.
But we’d make a mistake if we expected the best version of Papagiannis immediately. He’ll need time to adapt to the rhythm of the team and the team will need time to adapt to him.
Let’s not forget that we’re talking about a player who spent almost ten months without touching a basketball.
How is he physically right now?
Quite well. When we played Panathinaikos in our last league game he came to visit us.
The medical tests have been very positive. He’s been working well. The knee has recovered well. In fact, the doctors are pushing him hard to get back to the physical condition he had before the injury.
So we’re calm about the recovery itself, but we also know there’s still a lot of work ahead.
You often say that coaches today manage games more than practices. Has your way of coaching changed compared to 10 or 15 years ago?
Yes, because you’re forced to change.
When I coached in San Sebastian, a middle-level team in Spain, we played one game per week. Now, with the EuroLeague calendar, there are months where you play almost eleven games. One every three days.
Add travel. Add recovery. Add preparation. It’s very difficult to train.
I think teams with players who have great basketball intelligence have benefited enormously from this reality. Those players can adapt very quickly to what a particular game requires. Other players need more practice time.
The problem is that you don’t have that time anymore.
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During the season, was there ever a moment when you felt your future at Efes was genuinely in doubt?
As a coach, I always think a coach’s future is in doubt. Always.
Every coach thinks that way, not only Pablo Laso. Because it often feels as though everything that happens will eventually be blamed on the coach. I can assure you that every coach thinks about that.
The question is whether that possibility changes the way you work. For me, it shouldn’t.
When a club hires you, they hire you because of how you do things. If they dismiss you, you should still be the same person. You shouldn’t suddenly change your philosophy because you’re afraid.
Then where does confidence come from? How important is trust from management?
Of course trust has to exist. It has to exist if Pablo Laso is going to coach Efes or anywhere else.
But at the same time, I always look at things this way: Let’s imagine you and I own a club. We fire the coach. Who’s responsible for the failure? The coach or the club?
The coach loses his job. That’s true. But the failure belongs to the club. Because the club hired him. The club chose those players. The club made those decisions.
That’s why I’ve always believed coaches shouldn’t change who they are. If the club hired you, it did so because it believed you were the right person. If things go badly, perhaps the club made a mistake in choosing you.
That’s why I think the coach must continue believing in his ideas and continue working in the same way. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary.
If you lose every game and management decides to replace you, then you lose your job. But the management must also look at itself.
That’s why I think the word “failure” is much bigger than one coach. It’s something that belongs to the whole organization.
Do relationships inside a team change when results change?
No. At least I don’t think they should.
If you hire a player and treat him one way when you’re winning and another way when you’re losing, then you’re making a mistake.
You’re trying to do what’s best for the team. So in terms of philosophy, values, relationships with players and many other things, I don’t think a coach should change.
Then why do so many clubs still replace coaches?
Because it’s easier to replace one coach than 11 players. That’s true in football and basketball.
I always remember a wonderful story from John Benjamin Toshack. He said that after a defeat on Sunday he would go home and tell his assistants: “Next week none of these eleven players are going to play.”
By Tuesday he thought maybe three would play. By Thursday maybe six. By Saturday maybe nine. And on Sunday he would put out the same eleven bastards again!
That’s how he told the story. And there’s a truth in it.
As a coach, your job is to improve those 11 players. When you win, everybody suddenly looks fantastic. When you lose, everybody suddenly looks terrible.
I don’t believe reality is that simple. For me, it shouldn’t be that way.
Was there any conversation or any particular moment that convinced you to continue with the Efes project?
Well, at Efes I found a very good working group, players and coaching staff.
And I have the feeling that this is a team that is always competing to be at the highest level. It has won EuroLeague titles. It is a club with a good organization and with people involved.
That is why, when you think about the future, you always ask yourself: “Why should I stop believing in Efes?”.
Obviously, when you arrive and you aspire to certain things, and you see things happening in the opposite direction, you say: “Wait, wait, wait.”
But I think that, in the end, time has proven me right. I had the feeling that I made the right decision by going to a new team, and I am very happy there because I like the environment and the way of working.
If did not believe I was capable of improving this team, then I would be the first person to say: “I no longer see it.”
That is why I am very optimistic about the future. Because I believe Efes is a team capable of competing at the highest level in the world.
What does that mean exactly? What defines this highest level?
The level of the Turkish League has surprised me in a very positive way. I think there are many competitive teams, and a good overall level.
The Turkish League is a demanding league. We know the EuroLeague is demanding.
And this year, since I have been there, I think we lost six or eight games by fewer than five points. If we had won them, we would have played the playoffs. Well, I think that is being a little bit opportunistic. We lost them.
But I think we have to aspire to win the EuroLeague. And to win the EuroLeague, we have to aspire to play the Final Four.
We have to aspire to play the playoffs. In the case of Efes, obviously we have to first play the Play-In. Because you are not going to win the EuroLeague with 12 victories like we had this year.
So I think we have to be demanding of ourselves to be capable of competing throughout the entire season.