ESP - Orenga to continue as national team coach

MADRID (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Spain have announced that Juan Antonio Orenga will remain as coach of the national team for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The decision has been made quickly, after the squad's third-place finish at EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia.

The Spaniards were taking aim at a third connective European title but fell on Friday to France in the Semi-Finals, 75-72 after overtime.

They rebounded on Sunday with a 92-66 drubbing of Croatia in the Bronze Medal Game.

"There is a very important concept which is knowledge and group stability," Spanish Basketball Federation president Jose Luis Saez said.

"Juan deserves that confidence because he has brought in more positives than negatives.

"My projects regard cycles and not yearly contracts.

"Hence for us, Juan is a person that knows the group and has done a great job, even before the preparation when he visited all the players.

"I have no doubt about continuing with him. We are on the right path and Juan Antonio Orenga will be the coach of the national team for the World Cup that we will host next year."

Even without Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, Felipe Reyes and Serge Ibaka, Spain had the look of a side at times in Slovenia that could win the championship.

While there was disappointment after the loss to France, Spain's players left the tournament on a positive note.

"We cannot convert a podium finish into a failure because this has a lot of value in view of the future," Saez said.

"This was an extremely difficult tournament for us. We have to thank the players, who gave everything."

Spain will be among the favourites to win the world title if Pau Gasol, Navarro, Reyes and Ibaka return to the fold.

Most important for Saez is that the country stage a magnificent event.

He said: "We want people to leave saying, 'This has been the best tournament' ".

FIBA