By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
During the pre-game presser ahead of Real Madrid’s match against Khimki Moscow for Round 5 of the EuroLeague regular season, Pablo Laso was also asked about the FIBA Windows and the World Cup Qualifiers schedule.
His answer was the following:
“Nobody has told me anything. I have a game (against Khimki Moscow). I’m not very interested in this story. Have you talked to Marc Gasol? Do you know if he’s coming? Did they call him (for the national team)?”, Laso said.
This last question was a rhetorical one of course. The “Blancos” head coach is well aware that Marc Gasol won’t join the Spanish national team during World Cup Qualifiers games of November and February since he’s an NBA player.
“If Marc Gasol is not coming then I have nothing to say,” Laso added, as reported by Spanish news agency EFE.
Laso’s words more or less echo what Zeljko Obradovic had also commented time and again in regards to NBA players being automatically excluded from the national teams.
Spain will play in Group A of the World Cup Qualifiers and will face EuroBasket champion Slovenia, Montenegro and Belarus. They will have four games during the season, two against Montenegro (23 November in Podgorica, 26 February in Spain), one vs Slovenia in Burgos, Spain (26 November) and another against Belarus on the road (February 23, probably Minsk).