Spain had finally cemented its name on the European basketball field as they won the recently concluded Eurobasket 2015 tournament beating Lithuania, at a 80-63 score. Spain despite the significant absence of some of its top players like Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Serge Ibaka, Juan Carlos Navarro and Jose Calderon had managed to outwit and outplay its rivals in the said Eurobasket 2015 tournament.
Pau Gasol having his NBA experience led the team to victory. The 35-year-old Chicago Bulls center and two time NBA champion with L.A. Lakers in record made 25 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 1 steal and without any no turnovers in the final game against Lithuania. The statistics of Gasol indeed made him worthy to be crowned as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. In an interview, Gasol said via therepublic that;
"It's of special significance to play this well at this stage of my career after all I've accomplished. It is something I will remember until the end of my life." On a separate statement he also said that "it was an incredible championship .We went through struggles early on but the team responded well and with our backs to the wall we understood that we had to play better defense."
This was the third title won by Spain in the Eurobasket 2015 tournament after falling short two years ago, achieving only bronze on the said tournament. In the final match against Lithuania, Spain was revved up especially for the reason that some Spanish personalities was in attendance during the final game of the tournament. King Felipe VI of Spain and tennis super star Rafael Nadal, to name a few, were both cheering for their country's basketball team.
The achievement of Spain's basketball team in the Eurobasket 2015 is part of their preparation for the upcoming 2016 Olympics in Rio. And during that time, other competing nations should expect a much stronger Spanish basketball team with some of the few key players like Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio,Serge Ibaka and Jose Calderon expected to be present.
