spain For the first time in twenty years, she attends a tournament in which she does not appear among the candidates to win a medal. those of scario They have seen golden stages go by and now they face this European without the brothers Gasolremoved from the selection, without the MVP of the past worldan injured Ricky Rubio, con Llull being low last minute, and without Ibaka in their ranks. This has caused spaincurrent world champion, assumes its secondary role in this competition in which other teams such as the Slovenia of Doncicthe almighty Francethe Greece of attentiveLithuania, Serbia or Turkey.
eight rookies
Scariolo has warned that “the past is over and if you don’t move forward you stay in it”, admitting that “this is a different team, with different goals and different pressure. We are in a process of generational change in which we want to compete, but we are looking much further ”, he pointed out. The objective is to win the place for the 2024 French Olympic Games, despite accumulating up to seven injured: Ricky, Llull, Carlos Alocén, Abrines, Abalde, Claver and Aldama.
For this reason, the coach has opted for a young team in which the leaders on the field will be Rudy Fernández, who has accumulated 238 caps in 15 competitions, winning 10 medals, the brothers Hernango shirt y Usman Garuba. They must pull the bandwagon on a selection with eight rookies making their debut in a major competition. Next to them will be Lorenzo Brown, Alberto Díaz, Jaime Fernández, Darío Brizuela, Xavi López-Aróstegui, Jaime Pradilla, Joel Parra y Sebas Saiz.
at the bottom of Ricky y Llull Other notables are added, such as those of Batum, De Colo, Bogdanovic, Gallinari, Shengelia or Theodosic. However, the Eurobasket recovers the presence of the most influential European players in the NBA at the moment, such as the Slovenian point guard Luka Doncic, the greek of the Milwaukee Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Serbian and star of Denver, Nikola Jokic, the French center of Utah Jazz, Rudy Gobert, o el Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis.
For Pau Gasol, an absolute reference for the national team, Barcelona and the Lakers in the last decade: “Thinking about winning the Eurobasket is unreal. We are going to compete and we will have the same spirit as always. Spain must never be ruled out because it can never be disregarded”.
in four countries
Among the proper names of the selection stands out that of the point guard Lorenzo Brown, that they have earned the right to defend the shirt after an express nationalization, and that he is called to be one of the outstanding players in the offensive game. For Rudy, the team’s captain and benchmark, “as the only veteran I will try to instill what those who have been through the national team have taught me in recent years. We have an opportunity to grow as a team, to enjoy a tournament like this. I believe in this group and that is why I am here”.
For the third consecutive edition the European will be held in four countries, on this occasion, the first phase will be played in Tblissi (Georgia), where Spain will play all its matches, Prague (Czech Republic), Milan (Italy) and Cologne (Germany). The final phase, that is, the qualifiers, will be played in Berlin (Germany). Spain is included in group A along with Bulgaria (which will be measured this Thursday at 1:30 p.m.)Turkey, Montenegro, Belgium and Georgia. The first two go to the round of 16, where Spain hopes to be. From there the crosses will dictate the competitive capacity of the selections.
Sloveniawhich has Luka Doncic and the NBA, Goran Dragic y Vlatko Cancar, She is the current champion and favorite. Followed, in the bookmakers, by Greece, France, Slovakia or Turkey. . . . Not a trace of Spain….
