By Antonis Stroggylakis/ astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
Back in 2015, the shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers were beaten by the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of their first-round NBA playoff series. The main storyline ended up being what French star and then Blazers player Nicolas Batum had written on a locker room sign prior to the match.
“We don’t lose to Spanish players”
The “Spanish players” was actually one: Grizzlies All-Star center Marc Gasol. Batum simply said that the message was a joke with Spanish forward Victor Claver, a Blazer’s member until March 2015. But its source was something deeper and older.
France – Spain games have a long history. They would meet time and again in knockout stages, semifinals, or title games in FIBA tournaments and, sometimes, those matches included a serious amount of tension.
When asked about these clashes, most players from the two national teams will probably tell you that there’s nothing more to them other than what is at stake in each situation.
That’s cute, considering that the evidence gathered from what we have seen all these years in these matches (or even outside of them) points to the contrary.
This is not just a traditional match-up between two powerhouse countries of European basketball. This is a rivalry that, in some cases that you’ll read below, has turned into borderline animosity and conflict.
And its new chapter will be forged tonight (18/9) as France and Spain meet in the 2022 EuroBasket Final.
Throwing the first punch
The roots of this basketball tug-of-war were quite possibly planted during the final of the 2011 Eurobasket tournament. A bit before halftime, Rudy Fernandez attempted to stop Tony Parker’s lay-up effort with a rather dangerous move that dropped the French superstar to the ground.
Spain won and 98 – 85 and was crowned European champions for the second time in a row, with Juan Carlos Navarro being named MVP. Although there wasn’t much discussion about Rudy’s hit back then, it’s quite possible that this incident lit the fuse that would bring some highly explosive moments in the next years.
The hot summer of 2012
The preparation period of the two teams ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games included a rematch of the previous year’s Eurobasket final. A so-called “friendly game”.
Mickael Gelabale and Rudy Fernandez forgot to get the memo obviously. When the Real Madrid forward stood in front of his opponent, reaching up his arm on his face, the French player reacted by shoving him on his back. The two players almost began a brawl, but their teammates intervened to prevent it.
They were both ejected from the match, as the home crowd booed Rudy heavily, still remembering his 2011 “hack attack” on Parker. This incident was just a prelude to what would take place in London.
France and Spain met again in the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament. The two teams walked side by side for the larger part of the match until Sergio Scariolo’s players took a six-point lead, 63 – 57 with 23 seconds to go. Victory was at hand since they also had ball possession,
Their opponents would obviously foul, but Nicolas Batum went somewhat further than just that. He threw a full swing on Navarro, slugging him in the groin. Perhaps that wasn’t the area he was targeting, but it was there that his fist actually landed.
Not only did Batum look absolutely remorseless for his move but also joked about it, only moments after the game.
“I wanted to give him a good reason to flop,” said the French player. Before he went Rocky Balboa on Navarro, he and his teammates had been frustrated with the Spaniards, accusing them of using some major flopping tactics to elicit calls in their favor.
When asked if he thinks that what he did was in the Olympic spirit, Batum replied: “Do you think if you lost a game on purpose, that’s the Olympic spirit?”, openly implying that the Spanish national team tanked games during the Group stage.
Batum would later write “I want to apologize for my stupid act at the end, I showed a bad image of France and myself, Congrats to team Spain” on his Twitter profile.
Usurping the throne
Spain was 2-0 vs France in summer tournaments and marched to the 2013 Eurobasket looking to expand this record if the situation called for it. Indeed, the two teams were bound to have another face-off, albeit with a different winner this time.
In an overtime thriller for the semifinals, “Les Bleus” were the ones to celebrate in the end, winning 75 – 72 following a comeback from down 14 at halftime and sending their opponents to a third-place game.
Thankfully, this match was free of any nasty, ball-punching, hack-and slash action and the like. Almost.
As colleague Yann Ohnona from L’Equipe reminded me, there was a bit of a tension when Boris Diaw whacked Sergio Llull’s arm from behind to prevent a transition basket with almost a minute left in the first half. It surely was a hard, unsportsmanlike foul but not something that qualifies as definitive unsportsmanlike behavior.
France moved on to win a gold medal in the Final vs Lithuania, being crowned European champion for the first time in history. And Spain had already set its eyes on next year’s World Cup.
Assault and burglary
Everything was on the side of the “La Roja”. They were playing at home and their basketball elite was present on their roster. Spain looked more powerful than ever in the 2014 World Championship.
So when they met France in yet another knockout game, this time for the competition’s quarterfinals, they seemed to be the ultra favorite. Even moreso because the French lacked the services of their superstar Tony Parker.
Few had predicted that Vincent Collet’s players will force Spain to a horrid offensive performance, and beat them 65 – 52 to kick them out of the medal zone. A tremendous upset, given the aforementioned circumstances with which the two teams entered the tournament.
This time Florent Pietrus and Sergio Llull were the protagonists in a small crisis, which was quickly deescalated by experience Latvian ref Olegs Latisevs.
la petite altercation Florent Piétrus – Sergio… από BasketInfos
While France lost to Serbia in the semifinal, they finished the tournament on a high note by winning the bronze medal after defeating Lithuania in the third-place game. It was their first-ever medal in World Championships.
Taking it to the NBA locker rooms
Rewind to the prologue.
The new episode in this long and dramatic saga would not take place on the floor of a European arena, but on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and in the NBA. More specifically, in the “Moda Center”, home of the Portland Trail Blazers.
On a card that was attached to a television monitor inside the locker rooms, one could read “We don’t lose to Spanish players”, among some other motivational messages. The collage was posted before the 2015 playoff series between the Blazers and Marc Gasol’s Memphis Grizzlies. Not just “another Spanish player” actually but one of the most prominent Roja warriors.
Now…. would French forward Nicolas Batum, then a Blazer, have something to do with it? Apparently yes, taking responsibility for the quote and even issuing an apology.
The Grizzlies won the series 4-1 and the “Spanish players” (minus Marc Gasol) would soon get some payback for what they suffered at home in 2014.
Revenge is a dish best served at home
The roles of the two teams for the Eurobasket 2015 were completely reversed in comparison to the World Championship.
Few would bet against France in this tournament. They were the hosts and Vincent Collet had been able to select from the “creme de la creme” of available players in order to compile the team’s roster.
Spain, on the other hand, had to cope with notable absences (Marc Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro and Ricky Rubio) while featuring some inexperienced ballers. Many expressed their doubts about this squad’s eligibility to compete for a medal.
These people didn’t ask Pau Gasol’s opinion on the matter.
With a titanic performance of 40 points (an international career high) and 11 rebounds in the semifinal vs France, the mighty Spaniard wreaked vengeance for what transpired the previous year in Madrid, leading his team to an 80 – 75 overtime victory.
Not only did “Les Bleus” become the victims of a serious upset this time, but also watched their Spanish rivals lift the trophy in Lille.