Many numbers and many doubts. This is what comes out of the list of 22 players summoned by Sergio Scariolo to play the next Eurobasket. Only twelve of them, just over half, will be in the championship that will begin on September 1 and that will mark the beginning of a new era in national basketball. The first major tournament without the Gasol brothers and without any of the gold juniors who had the best time in the Spanish basket.
Pau's retirement last summer marked the beginning of a new stage in the national team and, although Scariolo has been working on the relief for years, the long list of those called up for the Eurobasket shows that the coach still harbors many doubts. Starting with the base position, where the injuries of Ricky Rubio and Alocén forced the Federation (FEB) to urgently nationalize a player, Lorenzo Brown, without any relationship with the country and whose presence in the call had raised thorns in the clothes . Rudy Fernández, the first to criticize the express nationalization of the American, did not hesitate to squid then encourage them and welcome the base, called to be one of the important pieces in the European. The captain has already blessed Brown, who seems to have a secure job as conductor. It will be necessary to see who accompanies him there, because Scariolo has only called three other pure guards and one of them, the Madrid player Juan Núñez, is a debutant in the absolute. Both he and Colom and Alberto Díaz will have to fight to gain a foothold as second baseman, a role that could also be played by players like Llull, Abalde or Jaime Fernández.
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Guards Lorenzo Brown (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Quino Colom (Girona), Alberto Díaz (Unicaja) and Juan Núñez (Real Madrid)
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Outside Abalde (Real Madrid), Alderete (Students), Brizuela (Unicaja), Jaime Fernández (Unicaja), Rudy Fernández (Real Madrid), Juancho Hernangómez (Toronto Raptors), Llull (Real Madrid), López-Aróstegui (Valencia), Parra (Joventut) and Yusta (Zaragoza)
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Pivots Barreiro (Unicaja), Garuba (Houston Rockets), Guerra (Tenerife), Pradilla (Valencia) Willy Hernangómez (New Orleans Pelicans), Saiz (Alvark Tokio, Salvó (Gran Canaria) and Sima (Reyer Venezia)
“The generational change in which we are immersed supposes a great challenge. We are very clear that the values of the national team do not vary, but the level of talent does. The generosity, cohesion, camaraderie and effort that make the fans proud are elements that have made us famous and admired throughout the world. Values in which we so carefully raise the young players who come up from the academy teams and who are very well prepared by the clubs”, reflected Scariolo just three days after the start of the training camp.
without azulgranas
Among those selected, a number from the 2019 World Cup, with captain Rudy Fernández at the helm, in addition to the Hernangómez brothers, Llull and Colom, and Usman Garuba, who returns after playing in the Games and his first season in the NBA. Both he and Abalde are in the process of recovering from several injuries and their final presence in the team depends on their evolution.
The puzzle at the point guard position is no less complicated near the basket, where the makeover is nearly complete. Willy Hernangómez and Usman Garuba repeat alone from the Tokyo Games last summer, although the final presence of the Rockets player will depend on the evolution of the ankle injury he suffers. The mayor of the Hernangómez family will finally have to assume a leading role for Spain. His will be the team's five starter and a good part of the team's future in the championship will pass through his hands. A mature test for which Willy is prepared after many summers learning from the Gasols or Felipe Reyes. Along with Willy, he appears as other applicants, and has a place in the zone, two of those who have shrilled the most in the qualifying windows and who have not yet had a place in a major championship with Spain. It is the opportunity for Sebas Saiz and Sima, whose recent growth makes them part of that future of the team.
The return of Juancho after the Games is the great foreign novel of Spain. The youngest of the Hernangómez brothers was left without playing the Olympic event because the Timberwolves prevented him from doing so. Now, recently signed by the Raptors, he will be able to wear the national team jersey without any problems. Next to him there will be heavyweights from the locker room like the aforementioned Rudy Fernández, Sergio Llull or Abalde, who due to injury makes him doubtful like Garuba. It will not be, for sure, Nikola Mirotic, who resigns from the national team again, with which he has been since Rio 2016 and leaves, for the first time in years, the national dressing room of Barcelona players.
