Spain basketball coach Aito Garcia Reneses was satisfied with his side after it made it three wins out of three in its warm-up games for the Beijing Olympics, local newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Spain defeated reigning Olympic champion Argentina 90-88 in front of a packed arena in Madrid on Tuesday night. Although they led 45-30 at half time, Argentina fought back in the third and fourth quarters and the result was in doubt right until the final buzzer.
"I am pleased that we won and above all for the way in which we won the game," said Reneses in Wednesday's edition of Diario AS.
"The way the game went shows us just where we really are in our level of preparation and it shows that we still lack some continuity in some aspects of our play."
Jose Calderon was the stand out player for Spain, scoring 18 points, but he was able assisted by Felipe Reyes, while point guard Raul Lopez was also impressive in the 15 minutes he was on court as Reneses again used his full squad.
"We are using this stage of our preparation to make sure everyone gets a game, but in the Olympics there will be matches where we only use eight or nine players. However, at the moment our system of game, training and then another game is the best way for us to get into shape," said the coach.
(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2008)