As teams gear up for the 2011 FIBA Eurobasket pre-Olympic qualifier later this month, many of them have already begun exhibition matchups in preparation for the event.
That being said, today’s matchups provided a glimpse for Spurs fans of what some future San Antonio Spurs players might give the silver and black and also allowed them watch a current Spur in action.
France, with Spurs’ Tony Parker and draftee Nando De Colo, lost 76 to 53 today at the hands of the Gasol brothers and Spain. 2011 Spurs draftee Adam Hanga and Hungary lost 71 to 66 against Portugal.
Who was the only winner? Spurs draftee Ryan Richards and Great Britain won as they defeated Nigeria 95 to 80.
Richards played first as he had a quick start with seven points in the first quarter. He got into early foul trouble with three fouls, and though I never got a clear box score on how many points he finished with, his team took care of business and got the win. One thing I saw in the first quarter was Richards’ size in the post on defense. A larger opponent with more bulk moved him two feet with pure size. Richards will need to add more muscle should he eventually come to the NBA. He’s a player that routinely hits the weights, so that won’t be an issue for long. Former Spur Ime Udoka led Nigeria with 27 points.
Parker and De Colo played next as Spain just dominated them. Parker led the French with 15 points, but he was the only French player to have a decent game. De Colo struggled only scoring two points, Charlotte’s Boris Diaw only had six points, Portland’s Nicolas Batum didn’t even score. New York’s Ronny Turiaf had 10 points and Joakim Noah came off the bench to finish with six points in his first game returning to the court.
Spain was led by Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol with 19 points, his brother Marc of the Memphis Grizzlies had seven points, Toronto’s Jose Calderon had three points, Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio had two points and was held to just one assist. New Dallas Maverick Rudy Fernandez didn’t score while Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka came off of the bench to score nine points.
Adam Hanga struggled in 33 minutes of action against Portugal. He finished with 11 points off 4/10 shooting. His defense was stellar as he had four steals in the game. Down 69 to 66 with 14 seconds remaining in the game, Hanga sped through the court, was double teamed and shot a potential game tying three pointer. The ball clanked to the left and Hungary ended up with the loss.
(Photo:FibaEurope.com)
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