On July 18th, as the Tokyo Olympic Games men's basketball tournament approaches, the official website of FIBA released the latest power rankings to warm up for the upcoming basketball feast. On the list, Australia, Spain, the United States, Nigeria and Slovenia in order, in which Australia with excellent warm-up record of 3 wins and 0 losses in the first place, followed by Spain's strength is also not to be underestimated. According to a European website, Spain in the current Olympic Games to win the odds of 11.0, ranking second. In the FIBA men's basketball world ranking released earlier, Spain also ranked second.
The Spanish men's basketball team has shown a lot of strength in their warm-up performances, losing 83-76 against the U.S. on July 18th, but before that they beat France 87-79 on July 10th and thrashed Iran 96-53 in the previous game. The matchup with the United States is especially noteworthy, as France is missing a key player in Gobert for this campaign. Spain will have to give their all against a strong opponent if they want to do well in their upcoming matches.
In the group stage situation, Spain will be grouped with Slovenia, Argentina and Japan. Spain and Slovenia have obvious strengths, while Japan's performance is also worth watching.On July 18, Japan defeated France, showing the strength of East Asian basketball, and is expected to advance to the third place in the group.
Looking at the lineup, the Spanish men's basketball team that won the World Cup two years ago was not far off from what they are now, and with the constant refining of the game, their competitiveness has grown. However, with age, the Gasol brothers are not in the same shape as before. Marc Gasol, currently playing for Barcelona, contributed 9.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in the 2020-2021 regular season and 11.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game in the playoffs, but didn't fare well in the Champions League.At 41 years of age, Marc Gasol is losing his dominance in the lane. In addition, Marc Gasol, who followed the Lakers' campaign, was swept by the Sun in the first round of the playoffs, contributing only 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, a clear decline in strength. Guard Ricky Rubio seems to be performing far from his peak after returning to the Timberwolves this season. Nonetheless, he proved that he is still the team's most reliable scorer by scoring 23 points against the United States. In addition to these three players, Spain also has strong players on the team such as Willie Hernangomez, Rudy Fernandez and Abrines. Unfortunately, starting power forward Serge Ibaka is out with an injury and Juan Hernangomez, who is in his prime, dislocated his left shoulder in training and is expected to miss some time. The performance of these young players will determine how far Spain can go in this Olympics.
At this year's Olympics, the Spanish men's basketball team will once again make a run at the world title.
Here is the schedule for the group stage (Beijing moment):
Monday, July 26th 20:00-22:00 Spain vs Japan
Thursday, July 29th 20:00-22:00 Spain vs Argentina
Sunday, August 1 16:20-18:20 Spain vs Slovenia
