European Champions Spain already have eyes set on gold in 2012 London Olympics – Basketball News
Spain emerged as the European Championship for the second consecutive time on Sunday in doing so; they not only stamped their dominance on the European basketball circuit, but also punched their golden tickets to the London Olympics.
The Spaniards beat France in the final of the FIBA EuroBasket 98 – 85 and now they are looking to test their mettle against the best in the world.
The Spain squad is certainly among the best in the world, considered second only to the vast riches, in terms of basketball talent, at the disposal of the United States of America. While it is hard to fathom how a committed U.S.A.
team could be denied next year at the Olympics, especially if they have players like Dwyane Wade and LeBron James of the Miami Heat, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic playing for them, yet, if there is any team in
the world that can challenge the Americans it has to be Spain.
Spain came close last time around in the Olympics, losing out to the U.S. in the Finals. Now they have a roster filled with even more talent, and more importantly, experience at the international as well as NBA level.
Spain boast of Juan Carlos Navarro, who was arguably the best player at the EuroBasket tournament, someone all the teams failed to stop from scoring abundantly. Then there is the experienced and accomplished Pau Gasol. Gasol has
developed tremendously since the last Olympics, and proved his pedigree since joining the Lakers and winning two NBA World Championships.
"Obviously, next year's Olympics is our goal," he told reporters. "We know's it's a very tough tournament to win but we have very high expectations.”
"It's very hard to beat a U.S. team, we know that for a fact, but we are going to London to compete and we will see what happens."
His younger brother, Marc Gasol, plays centre for the Memphis Grizzlies and had a breakout season in the NBA. He was especially impressive in the playoffs where his displays have popped him up as a top 5 centre in the eyes of many
analysts, and someone with a road for growth.
"Gold is the goal in next year's Olympics and it's possible if we play the same way and show the same team spirit," Marc said. "London is going to be a great challenge."
The team also has young emerging talent in the form of point guard Ricky Rubio, already a Spanish league winner at his tender age who signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves this summer. Forward Serge Ibaka is also a force to be
reckoned with. The muscular player had 5 blocks in the EuroBasket and is set to be a mainstay in his adopted Spanish team, as well as the promising Oklahoma City Thunder.
With so much going for them, it is not hard to see why Spain would be looking forward to the challenge.
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