By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Spain is preparing for the semifinal against France, last season quarterfinal defeat of the Spaniards in FIBA World Cup is the talk of everyone, but coach Sergio Scariolo doesn’t feel that this is a game for revenge.
As he said in today’s press conference: “Revenge for what? I wasn’t with the team last year. You have to talk to the players for that”. After all Scariolo has a great personal relationship with Tony Parker: “We had a lunch together last year and I was considered one of the candidates for the coaching job of ASVEL. Things didn’t work out, but I honored by this and also by the fact that our sport has a personality like Parker”. The same of course goes for Pau Gasol: “Pau takes care of his body and he should be an example not only for basketball players, but for every athlete”.
As for the quarterfinal win against Greece, Scariolo commented: “We played great defense in the last quarter. We were more focused and we had energy. For example Greece in the first half had 7 offensive rebounds, but not even one second chance point. We took advantage of everything we could”.