A really unpopular opinion by me but I won't be surprised if Spain wins the Eurobasket again.
Love it how during the whole tournament most of the people here are underestimating them and maybe rightfully so... yet this is freaking Spain, the best European team of the last over 15 years. They may have their least talented team in decades but the champion mentality is there.
Vamos Espana.
True. The mentality is there, and that's a big factor in elimination games. You could tell that nerves got the best of Finland once their big lead was gone. They were unable to rally and find their rhythm again. Spain didn't have a problem coming from behind. Been there, done that, supreme confidence they would find a way to claw back and retake the lead.
Before 2019 WC, I wasn't worried about the talent we were missing. We still had a couple dominant players, and I was sure we would find a way to replace the lost scoring. What some people fail to grasp is that, when playing for the NT, Spanish players almost always did what was best for the group. That meant, for most of them, taking a supporting role and sacrificing individual stats for the sake of efficiency. Many players, as Rubio demonstrated in 2019 and Willy this year, could have had a bigger scoring role. But with Pau and Navarro on the team, doing so would only reduce the chances of winning. Thus, the players, and the system, catered to two or three stars leading most of the offence.
Now those stars are gone, but the lessons remain. Scariolo always finds a way to take advantage of the pieces he has. Against Finland, instead of adapting to their 5-out offence like Croatia did with such poor results; he punished them by throwing the ball inside to Willy. That was a huge bet, because Willy is a really poor defender when he has to chase shooters outside the paint. But it worked. The system has elevated Willy as one of the best scorers in the whole tournament. Everyone did their part the best they could. And Rudy crashed against the floor in another miracle save.
Won't be easy against Germany, but we stand a chance. Not bad for a "transition year".
