FIBA: Spain steamrolls Greece to win worlds

Nicky Talent

Spain won its first world championship without its star.

With injured Pau Gasol cheering his teammates from the bench, Spain beat Greece 70-47 Sunday night in an emotional victory some thought couldn't happen and few thought would be so easy.

The 7-foot Gasol led Spain (9-0) in scoring and rebounding throughout the tournament. When he broke his foot with about a minute left in the 75-74 semifinal win over Argentina, his team's gold-medal hopes dimmed considerably.

Spain's challenge seemed even more difficult considering a near perfect performance by Greece (8-1) in a 101-95 semifinal win over the United States. The European champions put on an impressive offensive and defensive display in getting to the final for the first time.

Gasol, voted the tournament's most valuable player, stood holding his head in his hands in the final seconds, openly crying. It wasn't long before he hopped to midcourt to join his teammates in a circle, sitting on the court wearing headbands given to them at the final buzzer.

Gasol's teammates had said they would win it for him, and they did.

Felipe Reyes started in Gasol's place and he had 10 points in the first half, one less than he had in the whole tournament - he was limited to three games because of back problems.

Gasol's younger brother, Marc, gave Spain big minutes early in the middle. He had three rebounds in the game's first 17 minutes. He averaged 1.9 coming into Sunday's game.

Everything went Spain's way as it took a 43-23 halftime lead. Its other stars were playing at their normal level and the bench was playing well above its head.

Meanwhile, Greece looked nothing like the team that had received plaudits from around the world for the way it convincingly beat the United States.

Greece shot 63 percent in the semifinal win. In the first half against Spain, the percentage was less than half that (31 percent).

There was no big push from Greece in the third quarter. Gasol's teammates wouldn't allow it.

The lead was 54-34 with 10 minutes to go. It got only bigger, and Greece couldn't even score half as many points as it did against the U.S.

Gasol came out of the players' tunnel before the game on crutches, wearing his red warmup top and jeans. As he sat on the bench while the teams were warming up, Greece forward Sofoklis Schortsanitis and coach Panagiotis Yannakis came over for visits.

He was up and hopping on one foot for each huddle. Players hugged him or slapped hands with him at each timeout. They were winning this game for him.

Gasol, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, averaged 21.3 points and 9.4 rebounds. He has a partial fracture in his left foot, an injury the Grizzlies said will require surgery.

Jorge Garbajosa, who signed with the Toronto Raptors this summer, and Juan Carlos Navarro each had 20 points for Spain, which was fourth in 1982. Reyes finished with those 10 points and Marc Gasol grabbed four more rebounds, but their play off the bench was much more than numbers.

Mihalis Kakiouzis had 17 points for Greece, which finished fourth in 1994 and 1998.

It was Europe's third straight world title - Yugoslavia won in 1998 and 2002 - and it will have the home continent advantage in 2010 with the tournament in Turkey.

The United States won the bronze medal with a 96-81 victory over Argentina on Saturday.