2023-07-02 22:12:29
The comparisons are hateful. Despite this, it is impossible to see Izan Almansa, Baba Miller, Jordi Rodríguez and company and not think of Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro and Felipe Reyes. Not only in the success they achieved, the first ones tonight and the second ones back in 1999, but also in the future that followed that World Cup and the future that awaits the boys trained by Daniel Miret. 24 years after that gold junior final in Lisbon, the Spanish team has once again been crowned the best basketball academy in the world. In an agonizing game that went to extra time, Spain beat France (73-69) to clinch the gold medal at the U-19 World Cup.
They are young players who have just started their career, but it is impossible not to smack your lips thinking about the joy that this generation can bring to the Spanish fans, both in international championships and in the NBA. Although above all, Izan Almansa. The Murcian center was named MVP of the World Cup and adds to his showcases the third trophy as the best player in an international tournament in one year. In the ideal quintet he was accompanied by Jordi Rodríguez, who was the best Spaniard in the final.
It was the second time that Spain and France had met in this championship, having already met on the second day of the group stage, with a Spanish victory (88-69). But the Frenchmen arrived with a lesson learned, as well as the boost of spirit that came from defeating the US in the semifinals.
The team is accustomed to overwhelming their rivals before the break, this time there was a match matched up to what was at stake. The French defense drowned out the Spanish attack, which was unable to find the fluidity that has characterized it so much throughout the World Cup.
The exhausted possessions without finding solutions, the forced shots and the too many wasted free throws (7 hits out of 16) caused Spain to reach the break losing by one point (29-28). Only Jordi Rodríguez, with 10 points at halftime, was capable of finding the gaps in the French network. The offensive facet did not work, but the defense, led by Isaac Nogués, against the second best attack of the tournament kept the team in the game.
After going through the locker room, the match took the same course. Spain, visibly tired from the accumulated minutes, could not find the way to impose their game. The rebounding dominance of the French team, especially thanks to Zaccharie Perrin’s display in that section, allowed them to enjoy second and even third chances to score, in addition to denying them to Miret’s team.
Arriving at the last and decisive quarter, the biggest advantage of the game had been five points and the biggest quarter, 6-0. France gave the feeling of greater control and remained ahead, but did not take off on the scoreboard.
When time was tightest, Spain began to find a good circulation of the ball to score often and get closer to France. Baba Miller emerged as the savior the team needed, with five consecutive points. Three triples in a row from the Frenchmen complicated the Spanish aspirations. And then Jordi Rodríguez appeared. The Joventut youth squad player, after a masterful feint, scored a two-pointer from midrange that leveled the game with 18 seconds left to send it into extra time. Five more minutes of basketball for the enthusiastic fans of Debrecen (Hungary).
This team does not depend on a single player and it shows it every day. In extra time of the final, Rafa Villar took the lead and scored eight points to lead Spain back to the top of world junior basketball.
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