ESP – Pau Gasol takes a breather, looks ahead to Beijing

BARCELONA (Olympics) – Pau Gasol’s NBA campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t end in the way he had hoped but he can still win a title with Spain when they travel to China for the Beijing Games.

The Spanish are hoping to follow up their gold medal victory at the 2006 FIBA World Championship with an Olympic crown but Gasol, who is resting after the Lakers’ 4-2 defeat to Boston in the NBA Finals, knows they will have a tremendous fight on their hands.

"Team USA are clear favorites but that is something they have to prove on the court,” he said.

"They are a very strong team with almost all the best players in the NBA.

“A different matter is whether things will go their way and whether the team finds synergy, something that is not easy when you have so many stars."

Among those Team USA stars is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this season, Kobe Bryant, Gasol’s Laker teammate.

"I already told Kobe that we would make life difficult for them,” Gasol said.

“At least now we will face the USA in our group stages which guarantees us that we will not meet them in the quarter-final as we did in Athens."

Indeed, Gasol and Spain cut down the opposition in Athens in the preliminary round, winning all five games, but then ran into a hot Stephon Marbury and lost to the United States 102-94 in the last eight.

Marbury drilled several shots from long range and finished with 31 points – the most ever by a Team USA player at an Olympics – in that win over Spain.

The Americans are not the only threat to Spain, however.

"But there are other teams, like Greece (if they qualify), Argentina and Russia - the European Champions - that are also strong," Gasol said.

There will be one big difference in the team that won the world title in Japan and silver at last year’s EuroBasket, however.

Aito Garcia Reneses will coach the Spain side after the basketball federation sacked Pepu Hernandez.

Gasol played for Aito when he was a youngster at Barcelona, but also achieved his great moment as a player – MVP of the FIBA World Championship – under Hernandez.

"I was very happy with Pepu and now Aito has taken over the national team and I welcome him," Gasol said.

How much time will Gasol need before he’s ready to return to the court following a hard season in the NBA?

"I am recovering slowly from the season because I still feel the tiredness,” he said.

“I have asked the national team to join them later."

FIBA