The Selection is walled in the Eurobasket

“The defense? I love it. I have a great time doing it: if you can take the ball away from the rival point guard or forward and see her face… it makes me”. Queralt Casas (Bescanó, Girona, 1992) responds with a broad smile when asked about one of the great pillars on which the recovery of the National Team has been based in this Eurobasket, in which it went from hell to heaven, from doubts to the first place in group A (with a direct pass to the quarterfinals as a prize).

Since the insult of the 67 points that Latvia scored in the defeat on the opening day, Spain stood firm: Montenegro only reached 57 and Greece, in the key duel, 60 to close the group stage as the fourth team with fewer goals received with an average of 61.3. Only Belgium (54.7), France (58.3) and Germany (60.3) finished above a National Team that is pure energy when the rival prepares its attack. There is faith and struggle, non-negotiable aspects for Miguel Méndez’s girls. “They are our hallmarks. We are warriors. It is a pleasure”, the escort continues.

In front of the Hellenes, two of the outstanding ones were Raquel Carrera and Laura Gil, the two warriors from the Spanish zone, who without Astou Ndour have taken a million steps forward. “I flip with them. When you see Fasoula, who is a great player, and Spanou crazy, and not because they miss, but because they don’t touch the ball… They are amazing!“, says Casas about the two leaders (albeit unbelievable) in steals in the team: Gil is the 15th in the championship with 1.7 per duel in the group stage and Carrera… the 4th, with 2.7 per duel. The data from the Galician from Valencia Basket does not surprise Maite Cazorla: “Normal. It’s that he does it very well. He has an ability to jump on contact and touch balls. They may not steal the ball, but just touch it and someone else has the option to catch it. Has a lot of talent”.

Although the two big ones are not the only ones who know how to put on the white glove. Casas is also unleashed in every match. He is in the Top-30 of the tournament with 1.3 (3rd in the squad). Pure nuisance that makes the National Team the fourth in that aspect in the championship with 9.7 per game. And the first in the robbery/loss ratio with 1.2 with 29/25 (the least in the championship), respectively. No one else reaches 1. “In Spain we love defense: defending, stealing balls, running… When we do it well, the attack is more fluid. And it is our strong point ”, underlines the Catalan, who praises another of the ‘nuisances’ of the National Team, her teammate at Valencia Basket Cristina Ouviña: “She is the same as me. It’s a pleasure to be with her. She (bothering) the point guards and I, the outsiders… When you see her there, touching balls… We motivate each other.”

“We have many profiles of great defenders,” says Ouviña about a team in which there is no lack of intelligence behind. Although there are more things as Cazorla acknowledges: “There has to be everything. Intelligence to know your defensive capacity, if you have more legs to press depending on the player in front of you. This is very important. And, from there, it is the desire that we have to fight, to go for everything, to go for the rebound, to help ”. Word of the builders of the Spanish wall.