This is the kind of article that we would have liked to write regarding the France team. This summer, the Spanish selections – young people and adults – literally rode on the international competitions bringing back… nine medals: five silver, three gold, and one of which we will know the matter shortly. Indestructible training.
It is strange that in France, we are not yet done with “Spanish training” a maxim that expresses rigor, timelessness and efficiency. Our surplus of pride complicates the concession: beyond the Pyrenees, they have understood something that we have not yet understood. Of the nine FIBA competitions played this summer, Spain have reached the final nine times. Three gold medals at the U20 men’s and women’s European championships, as well as U18 men’s, and five silver medals at the U16 men’s and women’s European championships, U18 women’s, as well as at the U17 men’s and women’s World Championships, for end this evening with a final medal, gold or platinum money, thanks to male seniors. That’s a lot of categories and a long, unsynthetic sentence. The advantage with the different French teams is that the sentence is shorter and easier to digest. Four bronze medals at the European U16 Men’s and U18 Women’s Championships, at the U17 Men’s and Women’s World Championships, and a gold medal at the European U16 Women’s Championship. That’s all ? That’s all. Difficult to leave satisfied with a summer campaign with only five medals, when seven of the nine contested competitions are limited to the European zone. What the French pennant team has been doing since the 2019 World Cup should encourage young teams to increase their demands. Today it’s us, tomorrow maybe more.
???????? Spain have played in all the finals this summer ????
Men:
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U20Women:
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U20And now the men’s senior team will play in the #EuroBasket final. CRAZY.
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) September 16, 2022
In addition to forming great collectives and teaching their young people to play together – which some will reapply in the A team – Spain manages to draw virtuosos from this great symphony. We think directly of Be Almansa, post 5 who achieved the impossible by being voted EuroBasket U18 MVP, just one month following being voted MVP of the U20 World Cup. Typically the kind of guy who might wedge 40 points on the France team in 2032. There is also Mario Saint-Supery, the EuroBasket U16 MVP, who averaged 21.9 points, 6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.9 steals. Basketball – or magic – hands full, and an ease / serenity that earned him his direct comparison with Luka Doncic. We also remember the names of Juan Nunez (male U20) and Claudia Contell (female U20), the latter having notably been elected MVP of the EuroBasket U20 following a final victory, *coughing*, 47 to 42. No judgment, only consideration for all these names that we hope to see grow in their respective clubs, without them shining in the selection. We are waiting to see the result of tonight’s final, but the tide may finally be turning. It would be too stupid to go back for a ride.
Reading this paper, only one conclusion swims above all the others: you have to take this EuroBasket 2022. The wagons of young Spaniards arrive furiously behind and – although France also has great individuals in the making – the rivalry, on their side, is not ready to end.
