Have a nice trip, Rudy – AS.com

The final point. The national team completed its preparation for the Olympic Games on Tuesday in Madrid with a match against Puerto Rico.. 43 days of concentration that the national team finished with a 7-1 record in eight games. Friendlies against Italy (their only defeat) and the Dominican Republic, and then to win a ticket to Paris in Valencia by beating Lebanon, Angola, Finland and the Bahamas in succession. Then Argentina would come and finally the Caribbean team that lost badly (107-84) in Rudy Fernandez’s last dance on Spanish soil.

The captain of the national team will retire from basketball after the Games. The sixth of his career: no one else in men’s basketball has achieved this. He will no longer step on the court as a professional after 22 years of a colossal career in which he won 11 medals in 18 of 19 possible summers with Spain. And 29 club titles, 26 of them with Madrid (3 with Joventut), served as inspiration for this. WiZink Center, who could not resist accompanying him in his last boats in the elite on the territory of the country. There was a huge applause at the presentation. When it first came out, there was a lot of excitement. A magical noise, created by Rudy’s contribution, which caught fire.

What an 8 minutes! He stole the ball with his hands as soon as he stepped onto the court. Then he shot himself in the wrist and hit two threes. the second, when the first quarter was dying down and from the center of the field so that the palace collapsedor, while the player with the most caps for Spain (263) was hugged by Brizuela, Diaz and Juancho as he laughed. Rudy, Rudy It was echoed in his final appearance, his final three, in the minute and a half of applause as he returned to the bench. He responded to the crowd, made a heart gesture with his fingers. It was his day, and FEB wanted to end it with a tribute as soon as he finished the meeting in front of his teammates: a video of his career with the national team on the 20th anniversary of his debut. His wife, two children, sister (Marta, with whom he was in Athens in 2004), mother and grandmother came out to the court to give him a shirt with the number 20 on the back.

“I just want to thank you for all the support from this Family. It has been a great honor to represent this shirt over the years.“I stayed with my teammates who helped me become the player I was and with the fans. Now I have to become another fan, but first we have the challenge of Paris, the Games,” he said in the center of the Palace, his permanent home since 2012.

His teammates also wanted his day to end with a victory. They did not give any chance to the Puerto Rican, who is heading to Paris with doubts. Because the team beat him in the first half. The Caribbean lasted 5:41 against the NBA Sparks Alvarado from the three. But from 9-12 they disappeared. They died because of losses (11 in the first quarter, which brought the team 12 points), because of the movement of the Spanish ball (17 assists at halftime) and the success of the three, which was absent all summer: 11 of 22 in the first 20 minutes with Juancho is huge with 13 points and 3 of 4 from three (great news for Scariolo after injury) and Aldama is unstoppable (13 points and 3 of 6). Between these two they started a game that ended with a score of 21-4 to 30-16, which ended the first quarter. In the second, the team continued to beat some unknown Puerto Ricans, far from those who beat Lithuania and got to Paris.

Five goals from Juancho to open the fighting (35-16) and a trio from Aldama and Llull to overcome the 20-point deficit (50-27). The rest of the game was a simulated war that allowed Spain to break 100, spin, rest and try new things. To further strengthen before the big moment comes, Australia, on Saturday at the Paris Open (11:00 a.m.) for the seventh consecutive Games.

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