Spain’s Preparation for Basketball World Cup: Defeat, Injuries, and Roster Decisions

“It’s been a game and a useful loss.” This is how the Spanish coach, Sergio Scariolo, described the defeat of Spain against Canada (80-85), the penultimate preparation match before the start of the Basketball World Cup on August 25. Beyond defeat Another of the negative notes was the injury of Alberto Díaz, who went to the locker room accompanied by the physios after colliding with Melwin Ejimhis partner at Unicaja.

There is only one week left and Scariolo still has to make the four discards from the list for the World Cup. It must be remembered that the Italian selected 16 players, but Ricky Rubio left of his own free will and Juan Núñez arrived. “I have decided to stop my professional activity to take care of my mental health,” argued the Catalan point guard. If an injury to Alberto Díaz is confirmed, Spain would have a new problem at the base positionwhere Núñez seems to have adapted well.

The preparation tour may have still left many doubts in Spain, especially against more physical teams. However, exactly the same thing happened last year in the games before the Eurobasket and then the performance was spectacular. Scariolo will choose according to what he needs and it is possible to think of a new bell of the Selection.

Scariolo still has to make the discards. (EFE/Rodrigo Jimenez)

Aldama’s arrival

“The players have come out to compete against one of the best teams in the world. We need these matches to know what can and cannot be done against great teams. To see which players are more or less prepared against this type of rivals”, Scariolo explained.. The Selection needs important tests to measure itself. They achieved a massive victory against Luka Doncic’s Slovenia (99-79), while they were defeated by the United States (88-98). Only against rivals of stature will it be known how far this team can go.

Spain has shown some problems in the creation of the game, where the absence of Lorenzo Brown is being noted compared to last year. And also Ricky’s was added, whose personality seemed essential to lead the orchestra perfectly. Things don’t always go as expected.

The inside game, which gave very good results in the last Eurobasket, has improved this time. The debut of Santi Aldama, to whom it has not been noticed that he is new to the National Team, It has been great news because it has further increased competition in an area already well covered. Aldama, Garuba and the Hernangómez complete a more than interesting poker game inside.

Ricky is a big casualty for this Selection. (EFE/Juan Carlos Hidalgo)

Spain’s rivals

“This match (the one in Canada) shows the difficulty we can have against such physical opponents. I’m satisfied with the effort. Not for the whole game, but for a good part of the game,” Scariolo commented.. It is common for the coach not to praise his public team to continue “deceiving the staff”, as he explained last year after getting the pass to the Eurobasket final.

The Selection, framed in group G together with the Ivory Coast, Iran and Brazil, will debut against the Ivory Coast on August 26. Then, Scariolo will already have decided who will be the 12 representatives of Spain. And surely he has elaborated some of his usual plans to enhance the Spanish virtues and hide the defects.

“It’s been a game and a useful loss.” This is how the Spanish coach, Sergio Scariolo, described the defeat of Spain against Canada (80-85), the penultimate preparation match before the start of the Basketball World Cup on August 25. Beyond defeat Another of the negative notes was the injury of Alberto Díaz, who went to the locker room accompanied by the physios after colliding with Melwin Ejimhis partner at Unicaja.

2023-08-19 21:04:19
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