Spain recovers the tone against Czech Republic | Basketball | Sports

Spain started at Martín Carpena, perhaps Renkeeper after the unexpected back of last Tuesday against the weak Portugal, a combined that, oblivious to European elites, fell this Thursday before. It took a room despite the first team, the same one that will defend title in the next Eurobasket (from August 27 to September 14), to sing, the times against the Czech Republic, a selection that, as Portugal, had also fallen this week against New Spain B directed by Jaume Ponsarnau.

To this contributed the outer success of Josep Puerto, unpublished before the Plusters, and of course, a collective intensity that has become the great common denominator of all the successes of Sergio Scariolo as coach of The family, Among them, a World Cup, a silver and an Olympic bronze and the four continental golds that Spain has to its credit. “We have to play together and hard,” the Italian repeats to the satiety, which from September, just when the Eurobasket, a bench that already directed between 1999 and 2002.

Garding the machinery little by little, Spain took cruise speed in Malaga from the second quarter to, constant and methodical, without losing order, to reduce the attempts of Jaromir Bohacik and Vojtech Hruban, main offensive threats of the Czech team in the absence of its great star, the Barca Tomas Satoransky. However, the Spanish advantage did not reach the double digits until the final stretch of the third quarter, when a less noisy carpena that usual stood after the triple that will leave the Unicaja and will fly to the United States to continue his career at the University of Gonzaga.

and sealed his first victory in the second preparation game for the Eurobasket (87-73). The absences of Alberto Abalde and Santi Aldama were not accused, both for physical discomfort. They worry something else, yes, those of the latter, because their team, the Memphis Grizzlies, could demand their return to the United States in case the situation worsened, something that would leave Scariolo without his only player with a contract in the NBA for the Eurobasket.

Before, in any case, and trusting in the full recovery of the Canary, Spain must face two other friendly preparation for the great continental event. First, next Thursday in the Olympic of Badalona, where the national team will see the faces against France, silver in the Olympic Games in Paris and, as in each edition, one of the main favorites to conquer the Eurobasket. A week later, on August 21, they will travel to Madrid to measure another hard bone of Roer, Germany, current world champion.