Spanish center Pau Gasol (rear left) celebrates with his teammates after their quarter-final win over Greece at the EuroBasket 2015 in Lille on Tuesday. (AFP)
Agencies/Lille, France
Spain continued their recent supremacy over Greece to reach the EuroBasket 2015 semi-finals, where they will renew their rivalry against hosts and reigning champions France for a spot at the 2016 Olympics.
Pau Gasol collected 27 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks while Nikola Mirotic poured in 18 points in Spain’s 73-71 win over Greece.
The 2009 and 2011 champions Spain return to the final four
for the ninth consecutive tournament.
“We played against a really tough team, full of talent, full of great players with a solid organisation. We managed the tempo of the match for most of the game,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. “Overall I believe that it was a really smart play by my boys.”
Spain also beat the Greeks once again in a big game, following their wins in the 2006 FIBA Basketball World Cup final and the EuroBasket semi-finals in 2007 and 2009.
Greece were considered the slight favourites in the quarter-final but came up short in another important contest against the Iberians despite 12 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks from their young NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“It really hurts, we really believed we could win and go to the semis,” said Greek coach Fotis Katsikaris, whose team still has something to play for as the third to seventh placed teams qualify for the Olympic qualifying tournament ahead of the 2016 Rio Summer Games.
While Spain once again got the best of Greece, the Iberians will be looking to buck a trend of losing big games to their semi-final opponents France.
The host side France booked their ticket for the semis with an 84-70 victory over upset-minded Latvia thanks to a strong third quarter as they gave up just seven points.
Tony Parker paced the French with 18 points and six assists while Boris Diaw had 14 points and Rudy Gobert chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
“It was a tough start as we were expecting. They are a great team which is why they were in the quarter-finals,” French captain Boris Diaw said.
France will come into the semi-final against Spain as favourites and have current history in the match-up on their side, beating Spain in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup quarter-finals and the EuroBasket 2013 semi-finals in overtime.
The 2013 win was a crucial moment for Les Bleus, who had lost to Spain in the 2012 Olympic quarters, EuroBasket 2011 final and EuroBasket 2009 quarters before that.
Latvia, who were paced by 16 points from Kristaps Janicenoks, will face off against Greece in the placement games for fifth to eighth place.
One more win in Lille will give Latvia their best showing since taking second in 1939.
Holders France, roared on by a passionate home crowd in Lille’s soccer stadium adapted for the 24-nation tournament, owed their thumping win over Latvia to an inspired performance from their San Antonio Spurs guard Parker.
The winner of today's mouthwatering semi-final will secure a berth at the next Olympics. The top two qualify automatically for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro while the next five enter three intercontinental qualifying tournaments for an extra three spots.
Unheralded Latvia held their own until the closing stages of the first half, when France’s quadruple NBA champion Parker showed his class by scoring nine points in a row. Taunting his markers with dazzling ball control, he poured in four successive jump-shots to wipe out Latvia’s slender lead.
France never looked back after the break and pulled away midway through the third quarter as Parker racked up 18 points and six assists.
“The way Latvia play with lots of moving caught us off balance, but we tried to switch and it worked for us,” forward Diaw told the official tournament website (www.eurobasket2015.org).
Gasol continued to pull the brunt of the weight for the Spaniards after he scored 30 points in the round of 16 elimination of Poland. The former double NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers kept Spain afloat throughout three patchy quarters before their ironclad defence forced the final twist in the last 10 minutes.
A lone pillar in the paint, after his brother Marc and towering Spurs forward Serge Ibaka pulled out of the tournament, Gasol dominated at both ends.
Blocking his rivals in defence, the 35-year old from Barcelona often beat two markers at a time in attack to paper over long spells of poor lone-range shooting by his team mates.
With influential guards Jose Calderon and Juan Carlos Navarro also absent, Spain coach Scariolo praised his team for overcoming the setbacks.
“With so many of our great players out, reaching the semi-finals is a great, great accomplishment,” said Scariolo.
Unbeaten Serbia take on Czech Republic and Lithuania play Italy in the other two quarter-finals.
