Dream finale in the Centennial Tournament. The José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace puts an end this Sunday to a historic and unforgettable basketball party with a rivalry that has marked an era worldwide: Spain-United States. Two teams in full generational change that seek to continue the legacy that one day the best superstars of this sport left behind.
Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Felipe Reyes, José Manuel Calderón or Juan Carlos Navarro are no longer there, nor are Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul or James Harden. It’s more, Only one player remains of that generation: Rudy Fernández. He is the only one who was present at that magical final of the 2012 Olympic Games and who will wear the Spanish team shirt again -if he enters the 12 squad-.
However, it is by no means a trivial friendly. Is he return 37 years after the United States basketball team to Malaga. Precisely, that day Steve Kerr -now coach- was there as a player. Nor is it just any round, since the North Americans play this Sunday with the team that took the international throne last Novemberaccording to the FIBA ranking.
From there, it will be an absolutely desirable meeting for all basketball fans. It will be a good opportunity to test yourself in a match that could be, without any problem, the World Cup final. Meanwhile, it is a friendly, but the most difficult for both. The two placidly beat Slovenia -Spain 99-79 and the United States 92-62- and now is the time to gauge the sensations that the national team has left with the presence of Alberto Diaz against the nba.
Sergio Scariolo-Steve Kerr
However, one of the great incentives does not seem to be on the track itself, but rather on the benches. A historic FIBA like Sergio Scariolo -in front of the current world and European champion- and a historic NBA Steve Kerr – preparing his debut in a major competition as the first American coach – will be one of the best duels of the match. Two of the best coaches in the world, at the moment, hand in hand.
Now, to this duel we must put the usual unknown of each friendly. Neither of them is going to raise the area with which they will try to win the international trophy much less are they going to execute a tactical variant in each play because it is necessary to remember that The great objective that Spain has is to make the list of the 12 players who will start competing in Indonesia on August 26.
So the most important thing is to enjoy the show. Who imagined seeing in the Carpena a Spain-United States? What fan of Unicaja Did you think you were going to see Alberto Díaz defending Jalen Brunson or Tyrese Haliburton? What the result says will be another story, but the main thing will be to have a good time because the North Americans have taken 37 years to return to Malaga and we don’t know how long it will take for it to happen again.