By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
While the men’s team lost the chance to be in the final of the Rio Olympics, this summer still belonged to Spanish basketball.
Almost on the same time that the women’s team got the silver medal in Rio after losing 101-72 to the absolute favorite, the USA, the U16 men’s team was winning the European championship after beating Lithuania in the final 74-72.
The Spanish had already celebrated three gold medals in 2016, with their U20 men’s, U20 women’s and U16 women’s teams claiming the titles at the respective FIBA Youth European Championships, while the U18 women’s team added silver to the trophy case. The U18 men’s championship is not held yet.
It was a close final but the point is that Spain is still the nation that dominates Europe and while Carlos Unanue made the shot that decided the final against Lithuania, the star of Usman Garuda has emerged. The 14 years old big man, born in 2002 and playing against older competition, had an amazing triple double in the final (15 p., 11 r., 10 bl.) and averaged 16.3 ppg and 12.4 rpg on the way to the MVP title. So it’s more than obvious that the heirs of Gasol and Navarro are coming.