Related News
Home » Sports » Basketball
Classy Gasol sees off Poland
September 2, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DEFENDING champion Spain managed to edge out Poland 83-78 thanks to an inspired performance from Pau Gasol in Group A on the opening day of the European championship in Lithuania on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old power forward, who steered Spain to the 2009 title in Poland, stepped up with some crucial plays in the last two minutes when its unfancied rival threatened to stun the favorites in the 24-team Eurobasket tournament.
France point guard Tony Parker was the day's other top performer after driving his team to a roller-coaster 89-78 win over Latvia in Group B.
The big winner was 2009 runner-up Serbia, which saw off former champion Italy 80-68 in the same group.
Spain seemed to be cruising after Gasol scored 11 of its opening 13 points but the stubborn Poles refused to lie down and forced a dramatic finish on the back of 19 points from point guard Lukasz Koszarek and 18 by American-born Thomas Kelati.
"We played well for three quarters and then let them back in after we relaxed a bit too much and lost some defensive rebounds," Spain's Italian coach Sergio Scariolo told a news conference. "We showed nerves and our concentration was inconsistent, which is typical when you are under all the pressure to win the opening game of the tournament and the most important thing is that we got off to a good start," he said.
Gasol finished with a game-high 29 points and seven rebounds, having received good support from his younger brother Marc, who had 16 points and seven rebounds, as well as point guard Juan Carlos Navarro who added 23 points.
The 31-year-old power forward, who steered Spain to the 2009 title in Poland, stepped up with some crucial plays in the last two minutes when its unfancied rival threatened to stun the favorites in the 24-team Eurobasket tournament.
France point guard Tony Parker was the day's other top performer after driving his team to a roller-coaster 89-78 win over Latvia in Group B.
The big winner was 2009 runner-up Serbia, which saw off former champion Italy 80-68 in the same group.
Spain seemed to be cruising after Gasol scored 11 of its opening 13 points but the stubborn Poles refused to lie down and forced a dramatic finish on the back of 19 points from point guard Lukasz Koszarek and 18 by American-born Thomas Kelati.
"We played well for three quarters and then let them back in after we relaxed a bit too much and lost some defensive rebounds," Spain's Italian coach Sergio Scariolo told a news conference. "We showed nerves and our concentration was inconsistent, which is typical when you are under all the pressure to win the opening game of the tournament and the most important thing is that we got off to a good start," he said.
Gasol finished with a game-high 29 points and seven rebounds, having received good support from his younger brother Marc, who had 16 points and seven rebounds, as well as point guard Juan Carlos Navarro who added 23 points.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
