Tuesday, 05.09.2006	posted by Jeff Taylor 03:02 am
Category: FIBA World Championship

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BROTHERLY LOVE FOR GASOLS

Admit it.

When you heard Marc Gasol had been given a chance to compete for a place in Spain’s team for the FIBA World Championship after the withdrawal of Fran Vazquez due to injury, you wondered if his last name had something to do with it.

But Pepu Hernandez, the Spain coach, is nobody’s fool.

And the way Marc played against Greece in Sunday’s final, a 70-47 demolition for the men in red, you knew the 21-year-old deserved that place in the side.

Marc Gasol is not his brother, Pau, an incredible player whose dominating yet flashy inside game has made him a sporting icon in Europe.

But Marc has never pretended to be Pau, either. He doesn’t hide the fact that Pau is his hero.

Pau is everyone’s hero.

That is why Marc and Pau cried together as they left the court after the 75-74 semi-final win over Argentina on Friday.

They knew that Pau’s foot injury, suffered late in that game, would keep him out of the title game.

While Pau was to be the one missing the game, it seemed to hurt Marc, the rest of their team-mates and all of Spain even more.

No one, not even Greece coach Panagiotis Yannakis, wanted the great Gasol to miss a championship game he had worked so hard to play in.

It was set up to be disappointment all over again for Pau.

He had been three wins away from an Olympic medal in 2004 when Spain lost 102-94 in the quarter-finals of the Olympics to Team USA.

I watched that Spain team play. I met the players and their fans. They were such a good team, and they truly embraced the Olympic spirt. It seemed an injustice to watch them finish first, only to play against an American side loaded with underperforming superstars like Tim Duncan and Amare Stoudemire.

Undefeated after decisive wins in the preliminary round over Argentina, Italy, China, Serbia & Montenegro and New Zealand, Spain got Marbury’d.

Stephon Marbury had the game of his life, a record-setting performance for a US player at the Olympics, scoring 31 points and making six of nine three-pointers for an American team that couldn’t shoot in other games.

Two years later it was about to be forgotten in Japan. This was to be Pau’s moment, and the great moment for Spain.

But just when Pau had carried his national team again to the verge of greatness against the Argentinians, his great moment was taken from him.

He fell awkwardly under the challenge of Fabricio Oberto and broke the fifth metatarsal on his left foot.

Pau stayed on the court to take two free throws but then went to the bench with his 19 points and 11 rebounds and started to cry.

There were tears, not because the pain was severe, but because he knew the injury was bad and he would miss the final.

The next day, once Pau had been ruled out, he announced a gold medal would take all the pain away.

From that point on, there was no doubt Spain would win the game.

Brother Marc and his team-mates made sure the pain would go away.

Marc had the game of his life.

He entered the contest in the first half, collided with Sofoklis Schortsianitis several times.

Sofo, the man mountain who had been such a revelation against Turkey, China, France and Team USA, was neutralised as Marc fought as if he was playing for his brother’s life.

Marc only scored two points, but he had seven rebounds and several bruises.

“I'm pleasantly surprised the way my brother approached the chances he got,” Pau said after the win.

“The way he played was terrific.

“I’m extremely proud of him.

“He played hard, with his heart, really tough, and it didn't matter against who.

“I'm very happy for him, because he was a big part of the gold medal. I was super happy. I held myself back from crying (watching him play).” 

It was evident on Sunday that Pau had 11 of them on the court.

Everyone wore red T-shirts which had the words `Pau tambien juega’ (Pau is also playing).

What followed was simply amazing.

A team without its best player entered the ring and after throwing a flurry of early punches as Sugar Ray Leonard used to do and knocked Greece out in the first round.

Three-pointers fell for Jorge Garbajosa and Juan Carlos Navarro – they were a combined 10 of 20 in the game.

The warrior spirit of Marc, Carlos Jimenez and Felipe Reyes under the basket and the suffocating defense on the perimeter was devastating.

They had learned from the master.

Pau averaged better than 21 points and nine rebounds in the tournament to fire Spain into the title game and win the tournament's MVP award.

“I'm so proud being part of this team,” he said.

"We're a great team with or without me.”

From Jeff Taylor in Saitama