As Spain continues its dominance, Europe fails to seize the opportunity / News - Basketnews.com

Spain advanced to its 11th consecutive EuroBasket semifinals by beating Finland in Tuesday's quarterfinal.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Death, taxes, and Spain in the EuroBasket semifinals. A combination to describe Spanish dominance in the continental competition.

Player of the Game EFF 26 Willy Hernangomez Points 27 Accuracy 10-13 Rebounds 5 Assists 0

Sergio Scariolo navigated Spain to its 11th consecutive EuroBasket semifinals by beating Finland in Tuesday's quarterfinal.

Spain is experiencing a generational change after the retirements of previous teams' cornerstones, such as the Gasol brothers and Sergio Rodriguez. Even basketball experts wrote off the Spanish NT before EuroBasket 2022, but the European powerhouse delivered again. When it mattered the most.

Is there a plan to give a chance to other teams?

"If others don't see an opportunity this year, I don't know when they will be able to see it," Sergio Scariolo smiled after a win against Finland. "We cannot go with a younger, with a less experienced team.

I mean, we are in a different situation. Before, we had a huge amount of talent, so we had to handle it, put it together, make sure everybody was on the same page, and make sure that everybody was playing with discipline and togetherness, overcoming their limits, especially on the defensive end.

Now, it's different needs. But at the end of the day, to be in the Top 4 in a championship like this, where big teams with more talent, size, and experience are already left behind, is something great."

Spain beat Lithuania and Finland in the first two rounds of the playoffs, though both times, they were down by double digits.

"We need to give credit for these players because they are getting really close to the top of their possibilities," Scariolo stressed at the presser.

Spain is set to meet Germany or Greece in the semis, and it doesn't look mission impossible to advance to the EuroBasket final, which would be the seventh one since 1999.

Spain / Schedule

Turkey Spain69-72 Spain Lithuania102-94 Spain Finland100-90

Since the latter date, Spain has captured three EuroBasket gold, three silver, and three bronze medals. Nine medals (so far) in 23 years. An impressive result. As stated by Scariolo, it's all about the proper system and continuity.

"First of all, there is a legacy of retired players and legends. Fortunately, some of the nowadays players spent some time with them in competitions and summer camps, so they could absorb a little bit of that.

And then, of course, another big part of how our teams grow from the bottom. We have a very structured program which we started basically 6-7 years ago," Scariolo explained the main reasons behind great results.

"We started from U-14, U-15, U-16, and so on, and we established the system which is adding something different and new every year, for every generation: the way to practice, the way to play, in general, the main principles.

We have been doing a lot of stuff for many years, which is a lot of work and effort from many people. We ended up having competitive groups, and when the players finish their youth age, they get into the window team, the now-called second national team.

It happens step by step. We are extremely proud of that. This didn't happen in one night. That's the consequence of a lot of work," concluded the head coach.

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