Marc Gasol geared up for a tough Olympic journey - NBA Update
Memphis Grizzlies towering centre Marc Gasol will be playing for Spanish team in 2012 London Olympics.
Spain, after winning a gold medal in the Euro Basket 2011 is considered as favourite and they are projected to at least reach the finals, where their opponents will likely be Team USA.
Gasol however is not taking anything for granted and in an interview with FIBA.com recently, he insisted that no team can be taken lightly in the high voltage tournament.
Marc referred towards the 2010 FIBA World Championship quarterfinals, in which underdogs Serbia outplayed Spain and ousted them from the Championship.
This year the competition is even tougher, with Players like Ben Gordon and Luol Deng playing for British Team the Spanish squad will have to deal with them before entertaining any thoughts about USA.
Moreover there is Australia, Brazil and China that will do anything possible to grab the gold medal. Though Spain made into the finals of Beijing Games but Olympics is a different matter.
Gasol acknowledged the fact that reaching into the finals is a herculean task.
To reach the Olympic final takes a huge effort," he said.
"It is very complicated. I'm not going to give the usual answer of we have to go game-by-game but the truth is, you do. At the Olympics, the rival is not just Team USA."
Things will be tough for Spain as they will be fighting under the aegis of Coach Sergio Scariolo, who is completely novice to the Olympics.
The Spanish squad has its players playing all over the European leagues and the heterogeneity will bring the insight of different Euro teams. Sergio considered that as his team strength and showed his complete trust in player’s
abilities.
"It has been a complete season with good performances," Scariolo said."We've had a bit of everything, from physical problems, ups and downs, some confirmations regarding players that were already on our general list and that have
reaffirmed their level. Hence, there will not be many surprises”.
Gasol will be the ultimate strength of Spanish team he is privy of NBA experience and has established himself as a key player for Memphis. The 27-year-old averaged 14.6 points and 8.9 rebounds in the regular season. While in the
7 post season games he averaged 15.1 points and 6.7 rebounds.
He was drafted by Los Angeles Lakers in 2007 and was traded to Grizzlies in 2008. Interestingly, he was traded for Pau Gasol, his elder brother.
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