Eurobasket

Hannah Henderson

On the heels of guiding the Spanish National Team to a bronze medal in FIBA EuroBasket 2017, Marc Gasol now shifts his focus to preparing for his NBA job as training camp looms.

The turnaround will be quick for Gasol, whose Memphis Grizzlies gather for Media Day next Monday and are two weeks away from their Oct. 2 preseason opener against Orlando at FedExForum.

“We are very happy,” Gasol said of the finish at EuroBasket, where Spain fell short of repeating as champions of the FIBA tournament. “But we have finished and I am now thinking about a new challenge: The NBA and a new season.”

Gasol will enter camp with plenty of momentum following Spain’s run in the tournament. While the 3rd place finish fell short of the team’s ultimate goal, it was nothing short of sweet. Gasol played his best games as Spain carried an undefeated record through group play and into the medal rounds.

He scored 25 points in his final outing during Spain’s 93-85 victory Sunday against Russia. Before that, Gasol posted back-to-back double-doubles, with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the semifinals and 28 points and 10 rebounds in quarterfinals.

It was also an emotional tournament. A day before the game against Russia, Spain captain Juan Carlos Navarro announced he would be retiring from international play after EuroBasket 2017. That gave Navarro and the Gasol brothers – Marc and Pau – the opportunity to write their final chapter of a historic feat together as they would take the court as teammates for the final time.

After spending much of their early professional careers in the same jerseys, including on the gold-medal winning Spain team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, Navarro tried his hand in the NBA. Navarro made his debut with the Grizzlies during the 2007-2008 season, following Pau Gasol, the first Spanish National player that joined the Grizzlies in the previous season. Navarro returned home to FC Barcelona after one season with the Grizzlies, but remained teammates with the Gasols in FIBA tournaments.

During their eight seasons as teammates on the Spanish national team, they captured two gold medals and one silver before closing out play with bronze last weekend.

Marc Gasol hopes to follow in Navarro’s footsteps and lead younger teammates by the example.

View photos of Marc Gasol on the Spanish National Team during EuroBasket 2017.

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Gasol shifts focus to Grizzlies training camp after leading Spain to EuroBasket medal

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Marc Gasol EuroBasket 2017

Marc Gasol and the Spanish National Team have advanced to the semifinals of FIBA EuroBasket for the tenth consecutive time and will face NBA guard Goran Dragic and Slovenia on Thursday in Turkey.

A Spain victory on Thursday would secure a second straight trip to the EuroBasket finals, where Gasol and his teammates will attempt to defend their championship. Spain’s undefeated run through this year’s field continued with Tuesday’s 84-72 victory over Germany in the quarterfinals.

Gasol, a three-time All-Star center with the Grizzlies, enters Thursday’s semifinal game coming off his best performance of the tournament after posting 28 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for his first double-double in EuroBasket 2017 play.

Aggressive on both sides of the ball, Gasol took over in the pivotal third quarter of a tight game with Germany. He grabbed three rebounds in the first two minutes and scored 18 of his tournament-best 28 points in the period. The offensive barrage came midway through the third, when Gasol buried three three-pointers and chipped in a layup to push Spain to its largest lead at 65-53.

“In the NBA, I did that a couple of times,” Gasol said of taking over with a flurry of offense. “It depends on the game and how the game goes. Once you get into rhythm, the goal gets a lot bigger and you get really locked in and tunnel vision. I always wanted to play good for all of these guys. All here, we want to do great for our teammates more than ourselves. Everyone wants to do well for the guy next to him.”

Germany would cut the lead to single digits at nine with just under a minute to go, but Pau Gasol’s three-point play sealed the win for Spain. Germany’s Dennis Schroder (Atlanta Hawks) led his team with 27 pts and eight assists in the losing effort.

“At the end of the day, Marc really made some incredible shots – and what can you say,” Germany coach Chris Fleming said. “He’s a great player making great plays. We were not able to match that.”

Entering the game against Germany, Gasol said Spain needed to regain its rhythm on offense after a sluggish performance against Turkey in the opening round of the tournament’s knockout stage. Gasol also suggested he would be more assertive to help his team regain its footing. Against Germany, it was defense that sparked Spain’s faster tempo and open-court play.

“They made the game very physical and packed the paint,” Gasol said of Germany. “Defensively, we were really disciplined. And we were able to run a little bit. Once we were able to make a couple of shots in a row, we were able to build a lead and maintain a lead to the end.”

Now two wins from repeating as EuroBasket champions, Spain knows the challenges only grow tougher the rest of the way after relatively cruising through double-digit victories so far in the tournament.

“The structure is what it is,” Gasol said. “In every game, you can learn a lot of things regardless of score. Every game has its positives and negatives. So I don’t see the scoreboard as something you can analyze. It’s a result. Even when you win by a lot, you can still learn a lot. When you win by a little, you can still learn. You have to humble yourself and understand that this is for a European championship, and every game means a lot to every country. People play with a lot of pride.”

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Gasol’s groove fuels Spain’s 10th straight appearance in Eurobasket semis

After sputtering through a sluggish performance over the weekend to reach the quarterfinals at FIBA Eurobasket 2017, Marc Gasol insists his Spanish National Team must regain its rhythm on offense to survive Tuesday’s showdown against Germany.

“It’s just (about) watching the film, seeing what teams do to you, seeing where the gaps are and practicing,” Gasol said. “That’s the only way I know how to get the rhythm back besides shooting more.”

Spain remains undefeated after eliminating Turkey with a 73-56 victory on Sunday, but was held 16.8 points below its scoring average of 89.8 points per game throughout the tournament. Gasol, a three-time NBA All-Star center with the Memphis Grizzlies, finished Spain’s first knockout round game with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Despite being slowed a bit offensively, Spain’s defense was dominant yet again and held Turkey to just 37.9 percent shooting from the field and only 3-of-20 from three-point range. However, Spain also struggled to connect from beyond the arc, shooting 8-of-24, well below their tournament average of 44.7 percent entering the game.

Spain was ahead by only three points late in the third quarter and didn’t stretch its lead to double digits until midway through the final period. Ricky Rubio’s three-pointer with 5:19 left in the game ignited a 14-4 run and pushed Spain comfortably ahead 70-54 to secure the win.

Rubio scored 12 of his team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter for Spain, which has only a short turnaround to get prepared for Germany on Tuesday.

“We’ll start studying them (immediately),” Gasol said Sunday. “Now, it’s time to rehab, recover and get ready for the next game.”

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Gasol, Spain seek to regain rhythm for EuroBasket quarterfinal clash with Germany

Grizzlies center Marc Gasol wasted little time making highlight plays, including a dynamic assist from halfcourt four seconds into Thursday’s game, as his Spanish National Team defeated the Hungarian National Team 87-64 to remain unbeaten in FIBA EuroBasket 2017.

Gasol finished with 10 points, six rebounds and two assists to help clinch Spain’s first-place standing in the final game of group play at Polyvalent Hall in Romania.

Spain took control early, dominating every facet of the game en route to a 22-10 lead after the first period and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the first half. Ahead 45-33 with 5:17 remaining in the third quarter, Spain then went on a 12-2 run to increase its lead to as much as 22 points.

Hungary responded with a 20-3 spurt to keep the game within reach early into the fourth quarter. But Spain would then go on another run late in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Spain has been dominant for much of the tournament, but Gasol said there’s still room to grow entering the knockout stage heading into the weekend.

“Yes, especially because we have to be more disciplined,” Gasol told reporters Thursday. “For everyone, it’s easy to make baskets, but it’s important to work as a team, to help us with each other and to better communicate with teammates. If we do not do these things, we’ll go in a circle and we won’t grow.”

Spain continued their efficient shooting from beyond the arc, knocking down 11-of-26 (.423) three-point attempts. Entering the game, Spain was leading EuroBasket by shooting 45.5 percent on threes. Over the course of group play, Gasol averaged 9.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 blocks in 21.4 minutes per game. He’s made 22 of 26 free throws, including all eight attempts against Hungary.

Marc’s brother and former Grizzlies center Pau Gasol (1,111 points) became FIBA EuroBasket’s all-time leading scorer, passing Tony Parker (1,104 points), on a three-pointer Thursday in the second quarter.

The Gasols and Spain advance to the Round of 16 and return to action on Sunday in Turkey to face the fourth-place finisher from Group D. A tipoff time has yet to be determined.

“Whoever it will be – now, we can’t lose any match,” Marc Gasol said. “We’re in the elimination round, and we don’t have margin for error.”

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Gasol brothers lead unbeaten Spain to EuroBasket round of 16

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