Spain comes into the World championship as the favorite to win gold. The only teams with a better world ranking are Argentina (who is missing Manu Ginobili) and USA (missing virtually their entire roster from the Olympics). nba news Spain is also missing their star player, Pau Gasol, who is taking a year off from international competition after winning back to back NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite this, Spain is far from devoid of NBA level talent.
Spain’s roster is littered with current, former, and future NBA players such as Rudy Fernandez (Portland), Jose Manuel Calderon (Toronto), and Marc Gasol (Memphis). They feature Juan Carlos Navarro and Jorge Garbajosa who spent time playing for the Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors, respectively. nba news Spain boasts three 2009 draft picks as well, Ricky Rubio (#5-Minnesota), Victor Claver (#22-Portland), and Sergio Llull (#34-Denver). Add to that the 11th overall draft pick in the 2005 draft, Fran Vasquez, and it is clear that Spain is a juggernaut in the world of international basketball.
Spain came up just short of the gold medal two years ago in the Olympics, being defeated only twice in the tournament, both times by team USA. With team USA being weakened this year, Spain has to be considered one of the favorites, and they nba news enter the World Championship with the expectation of gold, anything else will be considered a failure for such a talented team.
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