By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Spaniards demolished the Icelanders 73-99 in Berlin, a team that wasn’t going anywhere anyway after three consecutive defeats in the tournament. Iceland were always going to be the underdogs in a group that was chock-full of European powerhouses like Spain, Serbia, Germany, Italy, and Turkey. Apart from this unfavorable draw, they also had the aforementioned accumulated defeats coming into this game and the last one, to Serbia, was particularly heavy.
So they clearly wanted to put up a fight – even if it was just for honour’s sake – and even though they were trailing by 4 by the end of the first quarter, they managed to claim the lead midway through the second. The Spaniards, though, didn’t let them enjoy it for too long, claiming it right back before half time. From that point on, the Spaniards simply left the Nordic side behind and ran away with the game (in the third quarter Sergio Scariolo’s team scored a hefty 33 points), taking the victory with a 26-point margin.
“This kind of team is a difficult match-up for us,” Scariolo commented, “especially for the big men, as their best three-point shooters can play at the ‘4’ and at ‘5’. After the second quarter we figured out how to make those match-ups work for us and in the third we came out focused and we resolved the game pretty quickly, so we had the chance to give some time to more players, as we’re playing a crucial game in less than 24 hours.”
Pau Gasol gave another majestic performance, dropping 21 points and grabbing 7 rebounds and on the way he became the top scorer of the Spanish national team in Eurobasket surpassing legendary Juan Antonio San Epifanio. His teammate in the Chicago Bulls, Nikola Mirotic – who got himself in a pickle after the Serbian flag incident at the end of Spain’s previous game against Italy – racked up an impressive 22 points, 5 boards and 1 assist. Sergio Rodriguez got 13 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, and Felipe Reyes (5 rebounds, 2 assists) and Victor Claver (6 rebounds) added another 11 each.
For Craig Pedersen’s team, Jon Stefansson was the top scorer with 17 points, also collecting 4 rebounds and dishing 6 assists. Haukur Palsson wasn’t far behind with 14 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. Pavel Ermolinskij added another 12 and collected 3 rebounds.
“I am again really proud of the team,” Stefansson said after the game. “We were there in the first half and even kept fighting in the second, making life difficult for them for the first three quarters, as was our game plan. We were really focused for this game and wanted to compete and show what we’re made of. But of course Spain is one of the strongest teams in the world so in the second half it was difficult for us. I want to say that the final score does not really show how the game was. I think we were in the game for the majority of the game.”