By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
BEIJING – If you look outside the USA for the most dominant national team in world basketball, nobody can be compared with Spain.
For the last 20 years, Spain is the team which sets the standard in world competitions. Since 1999, only once they missed the semifinals, ironically in the previous World Cup which they hosted in 2014. And in total, they have won 13 medals.
Back in 2006, the Spaniards won the gold in the FIBA World Cup. They also have two silver Olympic medals in 2008 and 2016 and one bronze in 2016. And on top of that three Eurobasket golds (2009, 2011, 2015), three silvers (1999, 2003, 2007) and three bronzes (2001, 2013, 2017).
And in a few hours, they will fight for their second gold medal in the FIBA World Cup. Not bad for a team which before that, was a respectable force, but had five medals since 1934 and none of them was gold.
The Golden Boys
Back in 1998, an 18-years old lanky boy from Barcelona gave a sign for things to come. The junior Spanish national team led by Pau Gasol won both the 1998 Albert Schweitzer Tournament and the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.
A generation of players who were about to take Europe by storm created a core which has evolved through the years and remains the basis of the Spanish national team.
However, it was not a walk in the park. Spain had a great team but also had not won any gold until 2006, the tournament that changed the Spanish mentality for good.
In a historic tournament, an injured Pau Gasol made two free throws, and Andres Nocioni missed the last shot at the buzzer. Spain won the semifinal, but they were had to play in the final without Gasol – who had also lost due to injury the previous year the 2005 Eurobasket – against the Greek national team. The Greeks were the reigning Eurobasket champions and had just beaten the USA for the first time since NBA players have been added in the roster.
Nobody would have put his money to Spain, but the final turned out to be a game that defined the next 15 years in FIBA basketball.
Jorge Garbojosa, the current president of the Spanish basketball federation, made it rain from the three-point line, the Greeks felt empty after beating the US, and Spain got the 70-47 win. Garbajosa and Juan Carlos Navarro with 20 points each led the charge, and nothing was the same again.
The Spanish know-how
Sometimes it takes just one big success to unlock the full potential of a team and change its mentality forever. That happened after that final and Spain, despite losing next year at home the Eurobasket final to Russia, never looked back.
The Spaniards knew how to win, how to get into the minds of their opponents, and when to step it up in international tournaments.
Head coach Sergio Scariolo proved the right match for the bench, replacing Pepu Hernandez, the initial architect of this team. Scariolo won Eurobasket gold with Spain in 2009, and now, ten years later, he can conquer the basketball world with his armada.
While others may have felt pressure in a tournament or a final, Spain has already been there and done that. “Spain knows how to peak the right moment,” Scariolo said before the semifinal against Australia, and he was right.
Argentina is waiting for them in the final. And yes, it’s the team they beat back in 2006 on the way to FIBA World Cup gold and, yes, Spain knows to peak the right moment…