FIBA
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Could Spain Pull Off An Unprecedented FIFA-FIBA
Double?
July 21, 2010
Believe
it or not, the FIBA world championship in Turkey is
just over a month away. In the United States, to say
that there isn’t much of a buzz for the event would
be an understatement. Not one player from the
celebrated “Redeem Team” of the 2008 Olympics will
participate in the event, yet the expectation from
the blasé public is most assuredly for a
tournament-long coronation for the American squad.
In fact, the only news-worthy item that could
possibly emerge from Turkey would be if the US were
in a tight game – or unthinkably – were to suffer a
loss.
But is this not the very same hubris that existed
among US fans until 2000? Perhaps we have already
forgotten that the United States is in fact not
FIBA’s defending champion. That would be Spain,
fresh off a victory in arguably the planet’s most
high-profile sporting event, the World Cup.
The crop of players trying out for the next National
Team is full of rising talents and future stars:
Durant, Rose, Curry to name a few. It is short,
however, on NBA or NCAA championships, and
completely lacking in experience as a unit. If the
Redeem Team could only achieve a third place finish
in 2006, with the likes of Carmelo, Lebron, Wade,
and Howard, do we dare hold the eventual 2010 group
to a higher standard?
The truth is no one knows what to expect from these
players, and while they might flourish, they are
more likely to be severely tested. The location –
Turkey – virtually guarantees the US will be cheered
against heartily in just about every game. While the
Chinese might have viewed the Redeem Team (featuring
cross-culture icon Kobe Bryant) as beloved fan
favorites, there will be no such affection from the
European crowds. And though no nation can produce a
12-player group to rival the US in talent, we’ve
seen enough times now that an 8 or 9-deep
international roster of seasoned veterans can more
than hold its own against any group the US puts
together.
And so we come to Spain - defending FIBA world
champion, Olympic Silver medalist, still floating on
cloud nine off a World Cup high. Could the Spaniards
really do the unthinkable? Could a nation whose
population is under 50 million, whose 2nd most
popular sport is arguably cycling, actually repeat
as the FIBA world champion, thereby achieving a
thoroughly improbable FIFA-FIBA double? To do so,
Spain might yet have to accomplish something
heretofore missing from its impressive international
basketball resume: a victory over a US national team
of NBA stars. Mighty as they may be, the Spanish
players have yet to join the likes of Argentina,
Greece, Lithuania, and even Puerto Rico in
vanquishing an NBA-stocked US team.
If only to make the task more daunting, Spanish star
Pau Gasol will join Laker teammate Bryant on the
sidelines this time around, preferring to rest after
another extended playoff run. But Spain, much like
the US, is hardly a one-man show, and in fact rolled
over Greece in the 2006 title game without an
injured Gasol. And for those who forgot, la Roja
went toe-to-toe with the Redeem Team in Beijing,
trailing by only 4 late in the game, without the
services of starting pg Jose Calderon the entire
game. Spain’s coach in that game, Aíto García
Reneses, no longer paces the sidelines, replaced by
Italian Sergio Scariolo.
However, Scariolo is a rising star in Europe and
cannot be considered a come-down from the venerable
Reneses. In leading Spain to its first Eurobasket
title in 2009, thereby qualifying the team
automatically for the 2010 FIBA championship,
Scariolo served notice that the ascent of Spanish
basketball is ongoing.
While recent US dominance may preclude the Spaniards
from claiming the existence of a true rivalry, other
FIBA 2010 participants have tasted victory over a US
team, and will be eager to flex their muscles again.
Here’s hoping Coach K, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose
and company continue the businesslike 2008 approach
of focus, teamwork, and respect for their opponents.
Anything less, and the US team – that amazingly,
hasn’t claimed the FIBA title since 1994 – might end
up as the biggest turkey in Turkey.
Ehud Knoll is a sfaff writer for collegeinsider.com.
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