By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Spain overpowered Tunisia 30 – 8 in the third period and had six players in double figures en route to getting a 101 – 62 victory to begin World Cup in a dominant fashion.
Ricky Rubio led Spain with 17 points and nine assists, Sergio Llull had 16 points and five assists while Juancho Hernangomez added 13 points and eight rebounds. Victor Claver and Pau Ribas dropped 10 points apiece, and Marc Gasol posted 10 points and six boards.
“The first game is always a little tricky,” said Rubio after the game. “We changed some things at halftime, we were not running in the first half, and we did in the second. We have a deep roster, and that was evident in this game. It can make a difference against opponents who have a rotation of six or seven players”.
For Tunisia, Salaj Mejri scored 15 points and got seven rebounds against a couple of his former Real Madrid teammates. Mohamed Hadidane had 12 points and six boards.
The Tunisian side, that led 29 – 28 in the mid of the first period, crumbled down in the second half after finishing the break down 42 – 39. They never recovered following the devastating third quarter.
According to veteran coach Mario Palma, the final score doesn’t represent what happened on the court: “We had a very bad second half and a great half. Maybe that was our worst second half. It was like we were a ghost. Of course, Spain has the target to win the World Cup, they have a great team, and we will try to qualify for the Olympics as the best African team in the tournament. Those are two very different situations. This game was not in “our” championship.”
And also Tunisia’s coach sounded a bit bitter: “At the end Spain started making shots from everywhere, and they went in. I think that in the future some of those shots are going to be very important for them, and they will not make them. For us, tomorrow is another day; we are already over this game”.
On the other hand, coach Sergio Scariolo explained why his team shot 17/33 threes: “We are not so physical as other top-level opponents, so we worked on three-pointers, and we have to take them when we are open.”
Photo: FIBA Basketball