89-81: Spain tops the table, avoiding the Bahamas until the final

Spanish Selection He spent nearly three-quarters of his time on the wire in the Angola duel.but persevered and succeeded despite errors from the three-point line. Santi Aldama and Willy Hernangomez They unraveled the grey and ugly game (89-81) for people like: Sergio Scariolothat They would make it through the pre-Olympic semi-finals and avoid the Bahamas until the final.

Spain looked very uncomfortable throughout the match, never able to find the rhythm or the run of strikes that would separate them from the Catalan-coached African team. Pep Clarosand while he never put himself forward at any time, he did not allow the Spaniards to get their way.

Just combine Alberto Diaz, Rudy Fernandez, Santi Aldama, Jaime Pradilla The same quintet allowed Spain to gain an advantage defensively at the start of the final quarter, Dario Brizuela As an instigator, especially that shots were fired Rudyit will be easier to get there. And so you have arrivedSpain managed to extend their slim eight-point advantage to eventually win 89-81. Overcome the Angola’s ample physique.

With that formula, Scariolo unlocked the second match of the pre-Olympic group stage that left no room for upset. A loss would have seen Spain drop to second place and face the formidable Bahamas next Saturday. Nothing of the sort will happen, Spain’s semi-final opponent will be the winner of Finland vs Polandevading three NBA players (Eric Gordon, Buddy Hield and Deandre Ayton) en route to a hypothetical Finals.

But at least this serves as a lesson and some things are clear. The percentage of 3s (3 out of 15 at halftime, 8 out of 25 at the end) will continue as a pending challenge. There is still a lot of room for improvement in low-post defense, and physical teams like that will remain that way for years to come.

And without any exaggeration, Angola limited itself to doing what they know: protecting the rim and excelling in the low post with Gilson Bango, Silvio de Sousa and Bruno Fernando.It was a bad match for a team that had no way to defend against a “big” rival and was forced to play yesterday as a “4” with Santi Aldama in partnership with Fernando, due to the absence of Juancho Hernangomez.

It wasn’t bad. In fact, it was.Santi Aldama, who scored seven points in the first five minutes, set the team’s offensive trajectory, and Willy Hernangomez was also in charge.Twenty-nine of the 46 points in the first half (46-43) came from their own hands, and while nothing against Lebanon was hard, all the shortcomings of a team that was bound to struggle at some point in the group stage were on display when things got tough.

Only a defensive and physical quintet could match the level of intensity in the low post, find the transitions and chip away at an overmatched Angola side to give Scariolo’s team any breathing room. There are many things that need to be improved before you can get a ticket to Paris.but after overcoming the intensity of the African team, we learned a lot.

data sheet

89.- Spain (22+24+22+21): Brown (9), Llull (7), Lopez Arostegui (-), Aldama (24), W. Hernangomez (22) – starting five – Pradilla (7), Rudy Fernández (6), Brizuela (9), A. Díaz (-) and Garba (5).

81.- Angola (17+26+16+22): Dandão (11), Miguel (11), Macachi (2), Bango (15), Fernando (12) – starting five – Neto (-), Goncalves (7), Francisco (5), Fernandes (-), Ngakoue (3), De Sousa (12), Pereira (3).

Umpire: Vázquez (PUR), Batista (PUR), Mikheev (KAZ), who defeated the Spanish Pradilla (m.35).

Incident: The match, which represented the second day of the Valencia Pre-Olympic Tournament, took place at La Fonteta in front of a crowd of 4,581.