He goes to Paris via the Caribbean Sea.

The national team is just 40 minutes away from Paris. There is only one game left. A win is all that separates Spain from winning a seventh consecutive Olympic Games, dating back to Sydney 2000. There is another mountain to climb this Sunday – the Caribbean Bahamas (20:30) after beating Finland (74-81) in a fast, tense and passionate match.who met the fight the same way he had met the entire pre-Olympic game: without ceasing to believe, pushed by his fans, his susidjengia pack of wolves trying to growl. La Fonteta prevented this, creating a fantastic atmosphere, supporting Sergio Scariolo’s boys with all his might. The Italian was right when he said that this team, this national team, knows how to play these games, not for life but for death.

Spain showed it. He didn’t break down when he was close to breaking the match, and he didn’t. He didn’t get nervous when Finland threatened to take the lead on the scoreboard. And he knew how to handle the last 120 seconds of a 72-all tie. There Willy Hernangomez roared. Colossal! The center had 28 points and 5 rebounds with a PIR of 29.. It destroyed the Finnish interiors. The zone was his and the line: 12 of 15. In the second half, he scored 17 points. 4 in the last two minutes. He screamed in rage. This was his day. This was his big moment.

A resounding performance that would not have ended well if not for Lorenzo Brown’s Calm (15 points and 7 assists, again Willie’s best partner), German efficiency Santi Aldama (15 with three triples and 8 bags) and Brizuela’s fury and Alberto Diaz’s pressure when Spain was close to collapse due to poor external rhythm (8 out of 24).

Cold from the start. A classic pre-Olympic tournament for the national team. Find your place in the world to test your opponent. Try to take a defensive position and let the attack go. A few minutes of tense anticipation before the Finns, who did not waste time. Jantunen and Nkamhou felt the tickle of the Spaniards in the game and threatened to go away, making the score 9-0 in just one minute (20-15).. The Scandinavian error from the perimeter gave the hosts the advantage (1 of 7). The defeats bled the Spaniards dry: 4, which brought easy points in the open field of Finland (8 points on counterattacks; 6 after the defeat).

Scariolo got tired of waiting and took out his five rescuers: Alberto Diaz, Brizuela, Rudy, Pradilla and Garuba. And the duel resumed. Muscle, speed, intensity were left behind, and the Finns remained dry, who did not score for almost 5 minutes. The national team was not an offensive party either, but Brizuela rose step by step, staying with herself, and scored 6 goals in a row in a match 0-8, so that Spain changed the score (20-24). Once the foundations were laid, Lorenzo Brown appeared on the scene: 11 of his 13 points in the first half in 6:40. A total of 21 goals for the team in the second quarter. The national team went up 3-12 in three minutes, with Willie also doing well. 30-38 at half-time. The protection against changes worked. And Finland with a non-working hand from the three, this time its own cross: 3 of 13. Only Maxkhuni found the key (2 of 3).

But in the third quarter, their luck changed and the hoop opened up for them. For them, it was a swimming pool. Maksuni kept the game going (until Arostegui hit him), joined by Jantunen, Madsen and Little, who scored 5 of 8 from the perimeter. Only Willie, along with Brown, had success on offense, scoring 13 of the team’s 18 goals in that period. Aldama twice put +9 (41-50 and 43-52), dissolving against the Finnish zone.his superficial success and Gustavson’s ability to get to the heart of the matter. The departure of the young Muurinen, a Markkanen clone, has given more energy to Spain’s desperate opponents in attack: 3:44 unsuccessfully received a partial score of 12-0, which turned the result over (59-58).

And nerves came, of course. The match turned into a senseless madness, without control. No one gave any peace to what had happened on the field… and then it came up Alberto Diaz: Two sideways threes and an interception that allowed Brizuela to score. Spain woke up (63-64). Also La Fonteta, who survived an exchange of threes, so that with two minutes left it was a draw – 72-72. Willie increased his figure, shouting MVP. First after a brilliant pass to the hole by Aldama, and then with amazing calm from the personnel. Lorenzo also missed a free throw, making the score 72-78, and Willy finished his day with a score of 2+1 (74-80). The national team has only one step left before the Games, and it lies across the Caribbean: the Bahamas are waiting. A tall opponent, like Willy, like Spain.

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