• Injuries: Rudy and Llull are doubtful to play against Italy
  • World. Will Spain react again?

On Thursday at noon, with the face of having slept little and with the accumulated fatigue of the game the night before, Italy and Spain settled in the Wuhan Peninsula Hotel . They got up early, a lot, to fly in the same charter from Guangzhou, along with Puerto Rico and Serbia, with the bad fleas of having a key duel with just 48 hours apart and a trip in between with little explanation. It is not the only difficult thing to understand about this World Cup.

It was a rest day, especially. Siesta, a little shot late in the afternoon and contact with the new track, the Sports Arena where Spaniards and Italians will play their lives in the tournament (14.30, Four). There is hardly any mattress for both, with Serbia in another dimension. Earlier, Scariolo made the announcement that he turned on the alarms: Rudy (ankle) and Llull (wrist) will be doubt until the last minute for today.

Neither pessimistic nor optimistic, the coach is aware of equality - " Italy is a team of our level and to win you have to be 100%" - and that the details will mark the destination. And, although after the horrible game against Iran he spoke of "it is the moment of leadership", he has been concentrating for a step forward of several of his pieces. And if there are two especially under the spotlights, they are the Hernangómez brothers.

In a previous interview in Marca, the coach could not send a clearer message to the couple. " They are the needle of the balance . Those who are going to make a difference in regularity, in seriousness, in productivity and in helping us win. Those who have greater responsibility," he said. To continue, bluntly, on their importance: "I see them trained 100%. But the alarm clock is ringing for them. Every day I tell you: it's your time."

And for now, that time is still pending in part. The performance of the Hernangómez has been quite irregular. And some criticisms have stung in their surroundings. His sister Andrea, the little girl of the family -the parents, Bonnie Geuer and Guillermo Hernangómez are among the few relatives of the players who have traveled to China-, broke out on twitter on Wednesday: "How proud I am and I will always be with them. no matter how much shit is spoken, they keep giving it hard. "

Part by part. Juancho, who has just touched the knee against Iran , the undisputed holder, has shown a commendable momentum. He has never hidden and every time he is more eager to have prominence. It is the top rebounder of the team (7.7, even ahead of Marc Gasol) and the third highest scorer (10.7, with good shooting percentages), with more than 23 minutes per game. "Now the good starts and that's when you have to start squeezing all," said the forward of the Nuggets, who will have to deal with the powerful transalpine outdoor game, with Gallinari, Datome, Gentile or Brooks. A real litmus test, especially if Rudy is not 100%.

Worse, for the moment, things are going to the eldest of the saga, who has not even performed with enough ease to have given Marc more rest: he barely averages 11 minutes a night . And that was one of the most prominent during the preparation. But his defensive gaps continue to ballast him and tend to be the fruit of the fights of Scariolo, who already 'punished' him in the match against Puerto Rico, in which he did not return to the track after his appearance in the first quarter.

Before an Italy without big pivots - the highest is Tessitori (2.08), who last year played in the second Italian with Treviso, and his top rebounder the power forward Jeff Brooks -, his ease of scoring and his connection with Ricky in the pick and roll could be deadly. But if it fails again, the coach will opt for the mobility, concentration and intensity of Pierre Oriola.

Without mentioning them directly, Scariolo launched another message yesterday about that plus that should be provided by those who were never in such scenarios, at least with Spain. "I hope they can be important. It doesn't have to be with things that are beyond their means. Or inventing anything weird. They just have to be confident in making their movements, maintaining a high defensive level, which in this kind of matches is the fundamental. And raise the level of concentration, "he warned.

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  • Sergio Scariolo
  • Italy
  • Iran
  • Serbia
  • Spain
  • Rudy Fernandez
  • Puerto Rico
  • Pierre Oriola
  • Marc Gasol
  • China
  • basketball
  • ACB League
  • sports
  • Basketball World Cup 2019
  • Spanish Basketball Team

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