He Malaga point guard of the Spanish team, Alberto Díazwill live the Federation Centennial Tournament that will be held since Friday as a “privilege” to play it at home, the pavilion of the Unicajaand assured this Thursday that he will fight to “win the position” in the final list of Spain for the next World Cup in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.
Alberto Díaz was already champion of the last Eurobasket with Spain and, with the losses of Lorenzo Brown and Ricky Rubio, it is taken for granted that he will enter the squad for the World Cup: “Now I have more filming, but the desire is the same as last year. I come here to fight and earn my place“, assured the journalists after another day of training.
Spain has exercised this Thursday on the track of the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace, decorated for the occasion of this weekend with the triangular that they will play against Slovenia on Friday and against the United States on Sunday, both at 9:30 p.m. ( 7:30 p.m. GMT). “Little by little the pieces are meshing, although we are already very cohesive,” said Díaz, who believes that “the team is prepared to face this tournament with great enthusiasm.”
Like Sergio Scariolo, he considers this triangular as a litmus test to know the level of demand expected in the World CupAlthough, without worrying so much about the results, Alberto Díaz said that they are “good matches to see what level” the team is at and what they should “improve”.
“Our team is a candidate for everything in the World Cup and this is a great set-up,” acknowledged the Unicaja point guard, as they will be “very tough matches both physically and tactically,” in which They must “be very aware of stars like Luka Doncic”. “I think that the one in Slovenia is going to be a match that is going to serve us a lot,” said the man from Malaga, although at this level “playing against anyone is motivating,” added Díaz, who considered it something “special” to play against someone like Doncic.
The point guard will be looking forward to wearing the Spain shirt for the first time in front of his people: “I spoke before with Carlos Cabezas and Berni Rodríguez, who have that little thorn of not having played at home with the national team. For me it is a pride and a privilege to do it in Malaga, and I will enjoy it very much“.
He also had time to assess Ricky Rubio’s decision to withdraw from the sport to take care of his mental health and stressed that “it is a hard blow” for the national team “on and off the track, but we must take a step forward, support him and get closer the shoulder,” he said.