resilience through basketball

“What you have left, after everything you do, is the love of the people.” He shone and was champion of the National League, European basketball, reached the NBA and is a fundamental part of the Golden Generation, but the phrase with which Walter Herrmann closed his last answer yesterday in the exclusive note with Black river reflects his human nature.

The former player is highly valued by the public in Argentina and in other parts of the world such as Spain, the country where he lives. He will be between July 22 and 24 giving a campus in Roca together with coach Julián Pagura.

“We have been surprised by the number of campuses that were generated. Together with Julián we started talking with teams and contacts, the Roca thing came about through Leo Ansaloni”, comments. “I started with these campuses in Spain with “Colo” Wolkowiski. Now the idea is to replicate it here and it is having a lot of acceptance”, adds and clarifies that there are no age limits to do the campus, “because the works are individual, they can be used by everyone to improve”.

Family issues and personal endeavors have him with one foot in Spain, where his partner and children are from, and one-eyed deer, where it is based to move with the basketball campuses throughout the country.

Like many former players who grew up in the National League, he has memories of facing Sports Rock in the highest category. “The area had good basketball, a good level and acceptance by the public.”

Herrmann explains that the idea is to reach different points of the interior to generate opportunities from different points of view. “We are experiencing it in many places, the reception is incredible. It happened to us in San Genaro (town of Santa Fe), due to the unique possibility of building a campus”. The intention is to exchange experiences, train boys and girls in places where access is more difficult.
In addition, the possibility of meeting players who in the future will contact clubs that compete at the national level is latent.

“We want to be in the details and in my case I take charge of the offensive part. For example, to the mini (category under 11 years old), I teach low-post jobs, despite the fact that to some it seems too soon. I think there are movements that can always be worked on. The idea is that the boys now take away tips that help them improve their basketball level”he added.

The pain is not comparable

Resilience is defined as “the ability of a person to overcome traumatic circumstances”. Wow, Walter knows about that.

In addition to being a fundamental part of the team that won in Athens 2004, his personal story generates a different empathy.

In 2002, his best friend committed suicide. with whom he had shared a week of vacation a few hours ago. In the year prior to the sporting feat in Greece, very important people for him died in an accident: her mother, one of her 11-year-old sisters, a friend of hers, and Walter’s partner. One year later, His father also died of a heart attack..

“There is a mixture of everything, when I started playing I was a revelation in the league when I was very young. I wasn’t very aware of that either and I grew up with that love of people that was perpetual. As a result of what happened with my family, people identify because things happen to everyone and the problems are there. Some see in me an example to follow and I always say that I am not. Many times I am asked how I got over what happened to me and I always say that everyone is different and that everything is a matter of time. I try to explain what I did but that doesn’t mean it works for someone else.”Explain.

For Herrmann, basketball was his therapy. But he does not tell it in a superb way, but from the most sincere. Walter went through the losses of his life without psychological treatment and says that his passion helped him get ahead. “Perhaps I would have liked it, but when some things happen to you, everyone shoots where they want. With my other sister we went to Spain and she tried to do therapy but she didn’t like it. In particular, I dedicated myself to basketball and that was my motivation trying to move forward. When these things happen, the only thing that scars you is time, the problem is the “meanwhile” to carry it. Over time, the vocation of each one that occupies your head helps you to live with it. One thing is to say it, another thing is to do it, we are all different”.

In this same sense, the former player highlights that “On campus we have a module to highlight the importance of psychology.”

Herrmann’s career from his perspective

“In training I already stood out and I always wanted to make a living from basketball. It was my dream and goal at the same time. I wanted to train to get there and in that sense it helped me to have Olimpia de Venado Tuerto playing in the National League: when you train with the best, your level goes up”.

One of the factors that makes him stand out is his determination, both on and off the court. “It was always a constant growth, I never stuck with what I had and I always believed that I could keep going up, even when I got to the NBA. I stayed for three years and went through different stages, as I played little the last two years, I decided to return to Europe to have continuity”.

In this sense, he comments that “I had been the top scorer for my team everywhere, but at Unicaja de Málaga with Sergio Scariolo, current coach of Spain, I became more of a role player. It was a constant growth due to the friction and because I never settled down”.

A possible horizon: to be professional

“People value me as if I were the current champion of something and I try to explain where I come from. That I was born in Venado Tuerto, I went to a public school and that I arrived because it was a great effort. If you have a goal you have to train to achieve it, no one is going to help you”, argues.

Herrmann highlighted at various points in the talk the importance of training. “I defend the athlete’s career a lot, for me it is undervalued. If you want to be a professional you can train from a young age, later if it doesn’t go well for you. I try to spread the message that to be an elite athlete you have to train and train. It can be achieved”emphasizes.

With great humility, Walter closes his answer with a very clear concept: “In my case, 5% talent and 95% effort. If you see a video of me, I wasn’t the best shooter, defender or rebounder. Afterward, it was one workout after another. There are players who have another share of talent. We always talk about it with “Chapu” Nocioni, we are quite peachy, but we put a lot of courage into it, a lot of training and in the end you end up triumphing because you kill yourself trainingit is the part that the majority is not willing to do, that is why so few arrive”.

The match against Greece

Herrmann broke into the 2004 Olympics with a stellar performance in the quarterfinals against host Greece. “It was a very important game because I came in to change the dynamics of the game. When the coach (Rubén Magnano) called me, I felt that he had given up the match. I wanted to show that I could play for the national team and that I should have had more minutes. But the reality is that it seemed like the end of the tournament”, he confesses.

From the game remember that “I grabbed a couple of rebounds and hit him forward. The team got up, everyone sees it and we won a game that seemed unthinkable to win. I don’t see it as a break in my career because I continued as it came, winning things. But it was important,” he maintains.
About the environment in that country in the Euroleague games or local tournament, he says that “It was dangerous to play in Greece at crucial moments. At the time I played there, flares were lit inside the stadium, it was similar to the Argentine fans “underlines.

Herrmann and his best moments in basketball

“My best moment was Fuenlabrada, my first year in Europe, I did what I wanted. The objective of the team was to maintain the category and we were left out of entering the Copa del Rey by points. For Walter in Spanish basketball he showed an unstoppable version.

At the same time, he highlights that the national team gave him the most outstanding match that he remembers from his enormous campaign. “The best match of my career was the South American final against Brazil. It had been many years since Argentina was champion in Brazil and I scored 37 points”.

San Lorenzo, dream come true

In 2015/2016 he was the MVP of the champion Cyclone. “I was comfortable in Flamengo (Brazil) and Marcelo Tinelli called me to tell me that San Lorenzo was going to make the National League. My whole family is from San Lorenzo. It caught me in a particular context but I put a lot of things in the balancedespite the fact that there was an economic difference in favor of Brazil. It was a pleasure for all”, commented Walter.

“We didn’t have a great team, we were even, We didn’t win the league end to end. 70% of the league was irregular and we got up in the playoffs. Personally, I was at a good level and I wanted to show that I was fine. In tune with my teammates we achieved a spectacular championship”, addition.

Facu Campazzo and the NBA

The Cordovan, current point guard for the national team, lost prominence since January and hardly played for the Denver Nuggets, in his second season in the NBA. Herrmann experienced a similar situation and, when he saw that he no longer had minutes, he returned to Europe. “The decision is very personal. In my case, what I enjoyed was playing, not being in the NBA. When he returned to Spain I felt like a player back”, cont on this topic.

“Trying is always good, if he is convinced that he can achieve his dream of being a leading player in the NBA. I support any decision of his because it is very personal.Walter argued.

Herrmann’s history throughout his career and life never ceases to amaze.
The man from Santa Fe, born in Venado Tuerto 43 years ago, relied on sports to keep going when life hit him over and over again. Not only did he come out on top, but he established himself as one of the best in his discipline and in the coming weeks he will be in the region to share his experiences both on and off the pitch.