What was lost in Limassol: one last thorn in the side of Spanish basketball's great love story

It's not a question of taking out the poker either. This is sport, after all. It's worth analyzing the issue, perhaps drawing some lessons that can be useful for the future, at least extracting something positive from this negative experience. Because if you look at the FIBA ​​(European) rankings, you'll see that teams like Portugal (28th), Sweden (25th), Bosnia (20th), and Georgia (14th) have made it through. Spain is 4th in this ranking.

But Sergio Scariolo had already pointed out that the important thing was medium-term growth , that the team was very young. That better times would come. That a bandage had to be put on a wound that didn't yet exist.

And the great coach Scariolo was wrong in his prediction, without any irony, because he's a great coach, he's had a brilliant spell with Spain, and that's why Real Madrid awaits him now. He was wrong in his prediction, because youth wasn't the problem ; it was almost the solution. That said, and as he himself confessed, "every love story comes to an end," and this is the great romance of Spanish basketball. How lucky we've been.

The importance of leadership

The timing wasn't right for a number of reasons. First, the importance of leadership has become clear. Legends have been disappearing, little by little. And there were so many of them that looking back can be overcome with nostalgia. In these five years, everyone said goodbye, from Pau Gasol , aka God, to his brother Marc, to Chacho... and it's almost as if it was just yesterday that we waved a handkerchief to say goodbye to Rudy, or just the other day, to Sergio Llull .

This task fell to Santi Aldama due to his current status, to the Hernangómez brothers (already approaching, above or below, a hundred matches with the red), to other players already seasoned in international battles: Brizuela , Parra , López-Aróstegui , Pradilla . There is a core of experience in the team , but it hasn't manifested itself on the court.

Young people rising to the occasion

Scariolo's excuse—his youth and inexperience — has been the national team's best resource . Sergio De Larrea and Mario Saint-Supery have ultimately offered the best combined performance of the entire team. They have led, scored, defended, and kept the group afloat with talent and mentality . Scariolo can be credited for his role in this regard, because they played in Flow mode. In the end, it wasn't their youth that was the cause of the probable failure in the tournament; it was their contribution that gave them a chance, almost until the end.

The Void in Middle-earth

Giving the backcourt a notable, because Brizuela's effort also deserves a mention, the small forwards and center group has been a wasteland. While Yankuba Sima 's meager 24 minutes in the tournament are incomprehensible (what was that for?), the competitive performance of the small forwards and center group has been beyond disappointing.

The percentage of our compatriots in free throws was almost ridiculous, where a professional can string together hundreds of successes in a row in a training session. Spain has dropped 44 points in the tournament in the 4.60-meter throw. Against Greece , they made 16 errors, when they had up to 37 throws. It's embarrassing.

But the lack of points from outside shots is also notable. It seemed like the hoops weren't exactly friendly, but that's true for all teams. A 43% field goal percentage (2 and 3) is almost a guarantee of failure. It's quite difficult to win with that percentage these days, and while there have been teams that have qualified with a similar or even worse percentage, what we're talking about is the Spanish team's true potential .

In the other aspects to be evaluated, a good defensive attitude with not so good protection of their own rebounds. The ball circulation in static conditions improved over time. And the team was diligent in transition play , although clearly lacking confidence to consolidate their advantages.

So Spain faces its worst ever classification in the continental basketball tournament. In the end, much of the issue lies in the details. A few errors on free throws, a poorly defended rebound, an unnecessary unsportsmanlike foul. It's true. Italy could have been beaten, a superior Greece could have been competed against. It was Georgia 's bad day that doomed Spain, which is something that can happen.

It is time to think about the following tournaments, for which there is still a long way to go, but at the same time everything remains to be done : • FIBA ​​World Cup in Qatar (2027), for which the qualifying windows will begin in November 2025. • Olympic Games in Los Angeles (2028), for which teams will qualify from the 2027 World Cup or the pre-Olympic tournaments in 2028.

And that's all, folks. All that remains for fans of this beautiful sport is to enjoy the qualifying rounds and the finale of this year's Eurobasket in Riga, with Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Franz Wagner, Dennis Schroeder , Giannis Antetokounmpo , Guerschon Yabusele , Simone Fontecchio , Lauri Markkanen , and Deni Avdija . Or whoever else appears. Those who don't console themselves don't want to.