Despite its mandatory renewal, Spain aspires to clear up doubts and continue to enhance its record in the World Cup in China, which is presented as the most open in recent times, without forgetting that the first two European teams will win their ticket to the Olympic Games from Tokyo.
For the first time in many years there will be none of the “golden juniors” in a national team that was soon left without its leader, Pau Gasol, due to an inopportune injury, and from which the NBA Nikola Mirotic and Serge Ibaka or Sergio Rodríguez.
Five players remain from the World Cup held in Spain in 2014 – Sergio Llull, Rudy Fernández, Ricky Rubio, Víctor Claver and Marc Gasol – and the rest are made up of men who actively collaborated in the FIBA qualifying windows.
On this occasion, there will be four NBA representatives in Sergio Scariolo’s selection: Ricky Rubio (Phoenix Suns), Marc Gasol (Toronto Raptors), Willy Hernangómez (Charlotte Hornets) and his brother Juancho (Denver Nuggets).
From a first selection of sixteen players, the Italian initially ruled out Pablo Aguilar and Joan Sastre and on August 21 he informed Jaime Fernández and Ilimane Diop that he did not have them and announced the final list with the twelve who will play the World Cup. .
“Our greatest pressure is to live up to our history. All of us here have had the luck to do great things with the national team and the first thing is to live up to what we have contributed to create, “said the coach during the presentation of the preparation tour.
The Spanish team has been included in Group C, based in the city of Guangzhou. It will debut against Tunisia on August 31, it will face Puerto Rico on September 2 and will close the first phase against Iran two days later.
The two best teams will qualify for the second phase, where predictably the rivals would be the powerful Serbia or the unpredictable selection of Italy and for which the qualifiers will drag the results of the first three games.
Asked about the objectives with which he travels to China, Sergio Scariolo said in an interview with Agencia Efe that his goal was to “compete” and return home with the feeling of having reached the limit of possibilities.
Spain arrives in China after five preparation games in which it has added four victories and only one defeat, against the United States in California in a match in which it stood up to the reigning champions. EFE