Biggest EuroBasket Success
June 13th 1993. Spain defeats France 63-53 in the EuroBasket final to win their first gold medal in the event. While it Spain’s first trip to EuroBasket Women since 1987, the success was far from lucky or even unexpected. That golden generation mixed with some veterans such as Monica Messa and Margarita Geuer and rising stars like Ana Álvaro, Elisabeth Cebrián or Blanca Ares. The group had worked together for the previous five years, focusing on the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. So a year later, when there was no pressure on them, everything went perfectly. In the final game, Paloma Sánchez’s three-pointers freed up Blanca Ares and Odile Santaniello in a fantastic second period for Manolo Coloma’s girls.

Biggest EuroBasket Disaster
After winning gold in 1993, the National Team was expected to achieve similar success two years later but Hungarian Judith Balogh sunk the Spanish when she went for 27 points in a double-overtime game that the Hungarians won 108-105. Spain never recovered from the

		Amaya Valdemoro was by far Spain's top scorer at EuroBasket 2005 with 21.2 points per game.

loss and dropped the following two games against Slovakia and Ukraine not even qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Best Individual Performance/Best Player of All-Time
Nuria Martínez was 19 years old and Marta Fernández was 21 when they led Spain not only to the bronze medal at EuroBasket Women 2003 but also to a spot at the 2004 Olympics. Trailing 73-56 with just nine minutes to go against Poland in the third place game, Martínez (14 points in 15 minutes) and Fernández (19 points in 20 minutes) led their side back by stealing balls, making great one-on-one plays and running the fast-break. They led their team on a 31-8 run to stun the Pols and win 87-81. In that match, Elisabeth Cebrián reached her second Olympics. This 1.96 m center is a fundamental part of Spanish basketball after playing 252 times for the National Team and becoming a solid presence in the paint. Nicknamed Betty, she has lived the rise and fall and finally the return of Spain to the top level. One gold and two bronze medals in six EuroBaskets, three World Championships played and two Olympic participations make up a pretty impressive resume.

Scouting report
As has usually been the case with Spain, they struggle to field post-players that can compete at the highest level which puts a lot of pressure on their perimeter players to carry the load. It remains to be seen how new coach Evaristo Pérez will handle that problem. Qualifying to the Olympics is all that’s demanded of this team and Beijing (or Italy if they fail to make it to the Olympics) will probably be the end for the successful generation of players born in 1976.  So it’s time for players like Núria Martínez, Marta Fernández or Anna Montañana to take on more of a leadership role while new rising stars like Domínguez and Pina take on the challenge of leading the team into the future. Spain’s trademark intensity, known as the “Spanish Fury”, is sometimes enough to mask physical deficiencies which means they may be capable of competing for another bronze. But when they face teams like the Czech Republic and Russia their weaknesses will show.

Likely Squad
The question of the summer is if Evaristo Pérez will break with the recent past and make any surprise additions to the National Team. His contract ends with this EuroBasket which can be extended if Spain achieves a place for the Olympics, which is why it seems fair to think that he won’t make a lot of changes. Amaya Valdemoro will of course be there to lead the Spaniards once again, but the National Team is much more than her. For example, Elisa Aguilar adds bits of intelligence to the game and can shoot the three as well. She will share the playmaking role with Dynamo Moscow’s Núria Martínez, who compliments Aguilar with her energy on defense. High intensity is also what Palau brings to the game on both sides of the court, but even though she’s a very fast shooting guard she can’t equal the speed of Marta Fernández. Around these untouchable playera, the frontcourt will probably be filled in with a defensive forward (Camps or the younger Pina), a shooting guard (Anna Cruz or Isa Sánchez) and the apple of the National Team’s eye, Silvia Dominguez, who will be given the chance to learn and improve.

Things are less clear in the paint where Anna Montañana seems to be the players to build around.  Eva Montesdeoca will rebound and work hard but she won’t shoot unless you give her the ball under the rim. The race for the other positions includes new faces like Zurro, Lima or Llamas. All of them had great performances last season with their clubs, but considering Evaristo Pérez knows Zurro from their time at Burgos she is a likely selection and we cannot forget Paula Seguí’s contribution to the National Team in the last years.

Prediction
As not much has changed in Spain since last their bronze medal in Turkey, another solid performance in Italy is to be expected.   A spot in the Olympics is the main goal at this EuroBasket Women so Spain must make it to at least the quarter-finals. The Spaniards have proven their ability to beat just about anyone but the Czech Republic and Russia so reaching the semifinals is very possible.

Last 10 FIBA events
Year Event Place Achievement
2006 World Championship Sao Paolo 8th
2005 EuroBasket Ankara Bronze medal
2004 Olympics Athens 6th
2003 EuroBasket Patras Bronze medal
2002 World Championship Nanjing 5th
2001 EuroBasket Le Mans Bronze medal
2000 Olympics Sydney Did not qualify
1999 EuroBasket Katowice Did not qualify
1998 World Championship Berlin 5th
1997 EuroBasket Budapest 5th

How did they qualify?
EuroBasket 2005
Bronze Medal (6 W – 2 L)
Results
1st Round
Date Game Result
Sept-2nd 2005 Lithuania b. Spain 74-69
Sept-3rd 2005 Spain b. Romania 98-53
Sept-4th 2005 Spain b. Russia 83-77
Sept-6th 2005 Poland b. Spain 69-52
Sept-7th 2005 Spain b. Turkey 78-64
Quarter-finals
Sept-9th 2005 Spain b. Latvia 69-50
Semi-finals
Sept-10th 2005 Czech Republic b. Spain 76-66
3rd place final
Sept-11th 2005 Spain b. Lithuania 83-65