Spain strike late to take down the Germans 77-68 in the second round of 2011 FIBA EuroBasket
Chris Kaman, the German centre, had proclaimed on the eve of the game against the defending champions Spain, that he and his team will not be intimidated by the might and the depth of the Spaniards.
He proved himself true on the night. The Los Angeles Clippers big, who is pacing the tournament in rebounds, racked up 15 points and clutched 12 rebounds as the spirited German side took the Spaniard right to the brink and it took a 9-3 run in the last three minutes of the game to seal a 77-68 win for Spain.
"At the beginning we didn't play very smart, shooting too much from outside and not finding our rhythm. We got ahead a couple of times, but we weren't able to pull away," said Pau Gasol, the Los Angeles Lakers power forward after the game.
As expected, Spain were lead by the Gasol brothers. Marc Gasol was the leading contributor on the night. The Memphis Grizzlies centre was a continuous threat in the low post and finished the game with 24 points and 5 boards. Pau, who had missed the last game against the Turkey due to a sore ankle, had a slow start and was not able to score even a single basket in the first half. However, all that changed in the second half as the Lakers star erupted with 19 points to lead the way.
Juan Carlos Navarro finished the game with 14 points while Fernando San Emeterio chipped in with 12 for Spain, who are now 2-1 in the second group stage, courtesy, the first round carry overs.
The Germans (0-3) however find themselves in a very precarious position and they need to score big wins in their remaining games against Turkey and Lithuania to book a place in the quarter finals and keep their hopes alive of an Olympic berth.
The German hopes relied heavily on the Dallas Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki. Although he struggled with his shooting on the night, but made some important buckets late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to bring the Germans back in contention. He finished off with 19 points.
In an extremely physical game, the Germans kept Spain honest throughout the first half and were with within a striking distance at 36-33, when the team headed for the interval.
Spain however pulled away with a 10-4 run early in the third and opened up a 53-42 lead with 5:29 to go in the frame.
Germany retaliated.
They countered with a 12-3 spurt of their own, capped by a jumper from Nowitzki to make it 55-56 at the end of the quarter.
It was Nowitzki again right at the start of the fourth quarter, who gave the German a 57-56 lead with a fade away jumper. However, Spain found help from San Emeterio, who slipped in a two and followed with two from charity stripe. Rudy Fernandez then knocked down a jumper to give Spain a 62-57 lead. Germany kept on hanging, but a 9-3 spurt at the end ultimately knocked them down.
Their coach Dirk Bauermann was satisfied with the performance.
"We did everything that we could to make life as difficult for Spain," Germany coach said. "We are satisfied with our performance."
Spain will now take on Serbia, while the German will face the Turkish side in the next game.
Tags: