By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
BEIJING – Nobody things that Spain is an easy opponent. However, very few expected them to be gold medal contenders before the start of the tournament.
With players like Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic, Serge Ibaka and Sergio Rodriguez missing, there has not been a lot of talk about this version of Spain. And coach Sergio Scariolo pretty much agrees and understands the reason: “When you make pre-tournament predictions, it’s natural to speak mainly about players and the talent of each team, and we were missing a lot of players.”
However, coach Scariolo also added with a sly smile: “However, our team is also very experienced and very competitive. Plus Spain is a team that knows how to peak the right moment”.
It remains to be seen if the story of this semifinal game against Australia will be the same as the third-place game of the Rio Olympics. “It was a close game,” Scariolo remembers with his team getting the narrow 89-88 win. “They deserved to win it, we deserved to win it, and we will see how things will play out this time.”
Sergio Llull also kind of smiled, when asked if he feels that his team lost the chance to beat the USA in this World Cup, but he kept himself in a solemn tone and added: “We are focused on the semifinal, on great players like Patty Mills and Joe Ingles and we have to do our best in order to get a medal. I don’t feel like our opponents overlooked us. We know who we are and we have to fight in order to get the semifinal win which also means a medal”.
Spain was the last FIBA World Cup winner before the two titles of the United States, back in 2006.
Photo credit: FIBA.Basketball