Spain captures gold
SAITAMA, Japan — Pau Gasol’s teammates kept their word, and he had a trophy for each crutch supporting him.
Spain won its first basketball world championship without its star in a performance worthy of a Hollywood script.
With the injured Gasol cheering from the bench, Spain beat Greece 70-47 Sunday night in an emotional victory some thought couldn’t happen and few thought would be so easy.
Gasol led Spain (9-0) in scoring and rebounding throughout the tournament. When the 7-footer broke his foot with about a minute left in the 75-74 semifinal win over Argentina, his team’s gold-medal hopes dimmed considerably.
“Against Argentina that was a night of pain and happiness, and it has become happiness,” said Gasol, the world championship trophy on one side and the MVP award on the other. “It couldn’t be any better today. It’s hard to describe with words.”
“My teammates today played an amazing game,” he added. “They played with their hearts and together as a unit. It’s no fun to watch. I thought I would suffer some more, but I am so happy to see the way they responded without me being there.”
Spain’s challenge seemed even more difficult considering a near perfect performance by Greece (8-1) in a 101-95 semifinal win over the United States. The European champions put on an impressive offensive and defensive display in getting to the final for the first time.
“Greece got to the final and played excellent,” Gasol said. “I was a little afraid after the way they played together and on defense.”
There was no reason to worry. Spain limited Greece to less than half the points it scored against the U.S. and kept its shooting percentage to about half (33 percent vs. 63 percent).
Gasol averaged 21.3 points and 9.4 rebounds during the worlds. He has a partial fracture in his left foot, and the Grizzlies say he will need surgery.
Felipe Reyes started in Gasol’s place and he had 10 points in the first half, one less than he had in the whole tournament – he was limited to three games because of back problems.
Gasol’s younger brother, Marc, gave Spain big minutes early in the middle. He had three rebounds in the game’s first 17 minutes. He averaged 1.9 coming into Sunday’s game.
“I was happily surprised by the way my brother grabbed the opportunity he got,” Pau Gasol said. “I was very happy for him because he was a big part of the gold medal.”
Everything went Spain’s way without its star as it took a 43-23 halftime lead and never looked back.