Spanish basketball coach Aito Garcia Reneses promised on Friday that his steam will be the great entertainers when they travel to the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Speaking in el Mundo Deportivo after watching his side win their fourth preparation match for the Games against a powerful Lithuanian side in Ourense, Garcia Reneses was pleased with the way his players had picked up the pace after a relatively slow start.
Spain led Lithuania by just two points after the opening 10 minutes (22-20), but then Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio picked up the pace. At halftime the score was 51-43 in their favor and the Spaniards continued pulling ahead until the match ended with a conclusive 91-66.
"We were a bit slow in defense in the first quarter. But from that moment we knew how to react," said Garcia Reneses.
This was Spain's fourth straight win in the run up to Beijing and the Spanish coach was pleased to see that the fitness of his players in improving all of the time.
"We were able to maintain our rhythm for longer that in our earlier matches. Now what we have to do is consolidate ourselves," added the coach, who believed that players such as Pau Gasol, Jorge Garbajosa, Jose Calderon and Juan Carlos Navarro would make Spain one of the sides to watch at the Games.
"I am very satisfied with my players. If you add the work we are doing to the talent that they have got, then people are going to be able to enjoy the spectacle that we were able to see in this match, " explained Garcia Reneses.
(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2008)