FIBA Pre-Olympic Tournament – final – working day 1
A team called Spain will be at the Paris Olympics. A team with capital letters, united as never before to impose the tremendous strength of its group on the stream of individual talent from the Bahamas, win the final of the pre-Olympic tournament in Valencia and obtain the ticket for the great sporting event this summer. Scariolo’s team is no longer that team full of world figures and men who shone in the NBA, but it retains the same indomitable spirit as then. The Family wins or loses together. It will surely not be enough to dream of memorable medals like the silver medals of 2008 and 2012, but it will continue to be a recognizable team no matter what it does. At the helm, Rudy Fernández, who at 39 years old, before retiring, will become in Paris the only basketball player in history to play in six Olympic Games.
The first few seconds defined the battles that were expected to take place on the night. Willy Hernangómez and Deandre Ayton began their boxing match, a muscle-bound body-to-body match. The Spanish pivot moved his feet well in the area and the Bahamian came out of the dugout to score from mid-distance and threaten from the perimeter. The Caribbean team ran thanks to speedsters like Gordon, very difficult to stop when they light the fuse, and they slashed from afar with the wrist of Hield, another physical prodigy (8-11). Spain suffered when the play was decided in a one-on-one matchup and the assists could not intervene. Scariolo used Alberto Díaz, Rudy and Garuba to maintain the defensive fever while Santi Aldama asked for the floor in attack in a very even first confrontation (17-17).
The battleship Ayton allowed himself a few moments of rest. Even so, the men dressed in black attacked the Spanish basket like beasts and owned the rebound. The eternal Rudy responded with a triple to the bingo of the dribbler Gordon, one of those players who barely needs a square centimetre to arm his arm. The Spanish captain raised his arms demanding that Fonteta push with everything possible because the battle was worthy of the prize at stake. Only a ton of defensive passion and teamwork could give the Spaniards a chance (24-23). As an example, a giant block by Garuba on the jumping Edgecombe. Spain had been imbued with the tireless spirit of Rudy and Scariolo shook the bench in search of many revolutions. Everyone who came out on the court had a mission to fulfil for the group. Lorenzo Brown made overtime with three triples in 1m 34s, Llull scored a tangerineand the team reached the break a head ahead (42-34).
Spain had shown that they were a team. The Bahamas were a combination of the great talents of Gordon, Hield and Ayton, capable of making a basket out of nothing. Willy and Ayton resumed the duel that they had started on the first play. Two trains collided in Valencia. If sparks flew in the paint, on the perimeter the team had a hard time getting hold of Gordon, a pain for Llull (50-41). Lorenzo Brown returned to his role as double agent to lead the orchestra and to score, and Edgecombe was charged with his fourth personal foul. It was time for another dose of Rudy Fernández, once again on the ground to bite a ball as if he were 20 years younger. Garuba inherited Willy’s gloves to clash with Ayton, in the crosshairs of the Bahamas passers and the man who, through his individual actions, kept the result alive. Spain always grew from its collective defense, a hallmark that was more necessary than ever. A three-pointer from Smith at the buzzer tightened the score before the final quarter: 65-56.
The Spanish team did not allow a second of respite in the defense of a lead that had been collected through a lot of sweat. The lead was protected by soldiers like Alberto Díaz and López-Arostegui, people who will rarely appear in the summaries of the most stellar moments, but holy water for any team. The Bahamas were already striking with their chests exposed, with Ayton raising his arms above the rim and each star doing their own thing (74-64). In Spain, Lorenzo Brown (chosen as the best player in the final) and Aldama (the best player in the tournament) showed their stripes to add the necessary points in attack to abort any reaction from the rival. And when the moment of truth came, neither Llull nor Rudy, the guardians of style, could not be missing from the ring. The Bahamas moved their lines forward to pressure the ball’s exit and linked the triples of Munnigs and Edgecombe (83-77), but Spain was not going to let go of the prey that it had pursued so much. La Fonteta sang it: “Yes, yes, yes, we’re going to Paris!”
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