FIBA World Cup 2019: 5 non-Team USA teams with a chance to win gold
By Phil Watson
Spain
While this roster doesn’t have the star power it had in the prime of future Hall of Famer Pau Gasol, Spain enters the 2019 FIBA World Cup ranked No. 2 in the FIBA World Rankings and has a pair of NBA and international veterans to lead them in Marc Gasol and Ricky Rubio.
The Spaniards are also the last team other than the U.S. to win a major world competition, taking the gold at the 2006 FIBA World Championships in Japan after Team USA went down in the semifinals to Greece.
The downside? Spain did not medal in the last two FIBA world events, including as the hosts in 2014 when they finished a disappointing fifth.
That gold medal in 2006 is the only time Spain has taken a medal at the FIBA World Cup/World Championships, despite this being the 10th straight time they’ve qualified, a streak stretching back to 1982.
But Spain has taken medals in the last three Olympic Games. That includes a bronze in Rio in 2016 and back-to-back silver medals in Beijing and London in 2008 and 2012.
The Spaniards have two other current NBA players in Willy Hernangomez of the Charlotte Hornets and Juan Hernangomez of the Denver Nuggets, with past NBA players Rudy Fernandez and Victor Claver also on the roster.
Spain is another very experienced squad, with an average age of 30 and only Juan Hernangomez under the age of 25.
The Spaniards also got what should be a cakewalk to the second round in Group C, where they are joined by Iran, Puerto Rico and Tunisia. Spain opens Saturday against the Tunisians.
The second round will present a bigger challenge with Italy and Serbia expected to emerge from Group D.