The new Spain suffers in its first test

The new Spain suffers in its first test

Scariolo's men clearly fall against Greece at the start of the preparation for the Eurobasket

MADRID, 9 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Spanish basketball team lost to Greece (86-70) in their first preparation match for the Eurobasket, played this Tuesday at the OAKA pavilion in Athens, after being in tow throughout the match against one of the favorites to hang continental gold from September 1.

The renewed Spanish team, for the first time without the Gasol brothers, was overwhelmed in the first few minutes. The defensive imbalances and the quintet -with the nationalized debutant Lorenzo Brown- suffered from the self-confidence of the locals, much more inspired by the zone and owners of all the rebounds.

Local idol Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had time to dish out 3 assists. Spain bled at times and was not able to contain the gale of the Hellenes. Tayler Dorsey was not far behind either (11 points) and the game was painted blue and white in a jiffy.

The defensive spaces and the lack of clarity in attack weighed down Sergio Scariolo's team, which greatly missed Usman Garuba, Sergio Llull and Alberto Abalde, important players who could not be in Greece on Tuesday. The advantage went further and 'La Familia' needed fresh air to change the dynamic.

Jaime Fernández was the first to grease his wrist from the line of three and at the break (50-35) Spain had already managed to minimize the downpour after the worrying 41-21 minutes before. The best came after passing through the locker room with a clear improvement that restored interest to the match in just three minutes.

A run of 1-10, with Darío Brizuela taking the controls, allowed Spain to believe again and forget the bad feelings at the start. Willi Hernangómez increased his figures to 15 points -the top Spanish scorer- and the crowd recovered their position in their seats, expectant of the visitor's reaction.

The 60-51 made the Greeks wake up who, in turn, increased their level of concentration again (63-57). Dimitrios Agravanis felt comfortable on the next two possessions and the score increased again. There would be no more options for Spain.

That arreón was definitive for the pupils of Dimitris Itoudis, who were in no hurry to sign up for the first friendly on the way to the Eurobasket and give a warning to Spain, which will have the possibility of revenge this Thursday at the WiZink Center (7:30 p.m.).

DATASHEET.

GREECE: Calathes (7), Papanikolaou (5), Dorsey (11), G.Antetokounmpo (31) and K.Antetokounmpo (7) -- quinteto inicial-- Agrabanis (9), Bochoridis (2), Kalaitzakis (4) , T.Antetokounmpo (3), Papapetrou (2), Larentzakis (3), Kaselakis (2).

SPAIN: Brown (7), López-Aróstegui (4), Pradilla, J. Hernangómez (4) and W. Hernagómez (15) -- starting quintet -- Pradilla (10), Rudy Fernández (3), Colom (3) , Jaime Fernández (3), Brizuela (8), Saiz (8), Parra (-), Sima (3), Yusta (2).

--ÁRBITROS: Elias Koromilas, Petros Papapetrou and George Poursanidis. Sin eliminados.

--PAVILLION: OAKA Basket.