Classy Gasol gives Spain winning start
(REUTERS) – Holders 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 basketball championship 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 their unfancied rivals threatened to stun the favourites 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 winners were 2009 runners-up Serbia, who saw off former champions Italy 80-68 in the same group.
Spain seemed to be cruising after Gasol scored 11 of their 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.
DOMINANT PARKER
Parker’s 31 points and seven assists helped France beat the brave Latvians after his team trailed throughout the first half.
His lightning speed and superior ball skills put Latvia to the sword after they tormented France with a barrage of three-pointers, having made 11 of 23 shots from behind the arc.
Five of them came from point guard Janis Blums, who excelled and led all scorers with 32 points and six assists.
Forward Boris Diaw chipped in with 14 points for the French, Mickael Gelabale had 11 while centre Joachim Noah and point guard Nicolas Batum added 10 each in a balanced team effort.
Serbia failed to score in the opening four minutes against Italy and trailed 18-10 at the end of the first quarter.
A 39-14 run put the Serbs in control midway the third period and although Italy got within four points with a 19-6 rally they ran out of steam in the closing stages.
“This was a must-win match for us because it’s a tough group and we need all the points we can carry into the second group stage,” Serbia’s trophy-laden coach Dusan Ivkovic said.
“We made a nervous start and we were taken aback by their set plays but the momentum swung our way as soon as we were able to impose ourselves with a team effort and hard work,” he added.
LETHARGIC LITHUANIA
Much like Spain, hosts and 2003 winners Lithuania looked lethargic for long spells against Britain before waking up in the final quarter to win 80-69 in front of a raucous home crowd.
A valiant effort by Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng, who finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, saw Britain nose ahead 57-54 at the end of the third period but lack of depth in their roster allowed the home side to turn the tide.
“I am glad we found the strength to pull ourselves together, Deng is a good player but one player cannot win a game and I am glad that we won it as a team because they made it difficult for us,” said Lithuania guard Martynas Pocius.
In contrast, 1993 champions Germany cruised to a 91-64 rout of Israel thanks to 25 points from their talismanic forward Dirk Nowitzki, who ran the show throughout the one-sided contest.
Having led the Dallas Mavericks to their first NBA title in June, Nowitzki returned to action in grand style and gave the Israelis a roasting at both ends of the court as did his team mate Chris Kaman, who scored 18 points to go with 10 rebounds.
“I felt very well on the court and it was good to win the opening game in such emphatic fashion,” Nowitzki told Germany’s Sport 1 television.
“We expect to improve as the tournament progresses and we’ll certainly have to put in another good performance against Italy on Thursday because they are a really good team,” he added.
Montenegro, a tiny republic on the Adriatic with a population of just 650 000, enjoyed their first taste of success in a major event as an independent nation with a 70-65 overtime win over fellow former Yugoslavs Macedonia.
Forward Vladimir Dasic was instrumental in their victory with 20 points and 16 rebounds.
Greece’s Nikolaos Zisis and Nick Calathes got 13 points each to give the 2005 winners a 76-67 win over Bosnia in Group C.
Russia, who won the title in 2007, laboured to a 73-64 win over neighbours Ukraine in Group D, where Slovenia also had to dig deep to carve out a 67-59 defeat of Bulgaria.
