Spain’s Work Must Focus on Finding More Fluidity in Attack
Spain’s national basketball team has learned a valuable lesson from the Charleroi tournament: there is still work to be done before the Games. While the team’s performance against Canada was an improvement over the previous match against Belgium, there is still room for growth.
Mendez’s work must focus above all on finding more fluidity in attack, which will happen. In defense, the team was at a very high level against the Canadians, leaving the Americans with just 48 points in a very close game with many fouls. Spain lost the game 20-23.
The team has already faced three teams with a chance of making it to the quarterfinals at least. They beat China and Canada and lost to Belgium, and the tests against powerful rivals will continue in the Segovia tournament: Australia (day 22) and again Canada (24). By then, Spain is expected to complete its team with Megan Gustavson and in Canada they can count on Aaliyah Edwards, Bridget Carleton, and Kia Nurse, all of whom are out due to their participation in the WNBA.
Against Canada, Spain was trapped by the defense for almost three quarters of the match. The first period ended with an advantage, 13-7, and the team went into the break winning, 27-23, after losing in the second set, 14-16. They could not get away due to lack of fluidity in attack, with less than two minutes left in the third quarter, 39-35. A very low score due to a match with very intense defense.
The team led by Victor Lapeña, which lacks gunpowder, only held on somewhat with the baskets of Fields, who ended with 16, and let the game end, making the score look a little better at the end. The two teams will meet again soon in Segovia and, who knows, maybe also in Paris with much more at stake.
Canada has in its group for the Games France, Australia, and Nigeria, while Spain will face Serbia, China, and Puerto Rico. The hopes of both countries are, at the very least, to reach the quarter-finals and from there, to dream.
