ESP/SER – Pesic expects big things again from Team USA, Spain

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The man who led the former Yugoslavia to glory at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, Svetislav Pesic, sees the United States claiming the world title later this year in Turkey.
 
And if not the men wearing red, white and blue?
 
Pesic says Spain, the side the United States beat in a memorable 2008 Olympic Final, could repeat as champions.
 
"The favorites, as always, are the United States," Pesic said.
 
"Spain (chances) will depend on whether it goes with the entire team with Pau Gasol and its other big players with experience.
 
"But Spain is Spain and has the capacity to win the gold medal.
 
"In a tournament like this, there will always be a surprise, but I think the big favorites are Spain and the United States."
 
Pesic is one of the great coaches in international basketball, a man who led Germany to a EuroBasket gold in 1993.
 
However, it was the more recent success he had with Yugoslavia, and a treble-winning Barcelona in 2002-03, that most people remember.
 
Indianapolis marked the first time a USA team of NBA players failed to win the gold medal at an Olympics or a FIBA World Championship.
 
Yugoslavia won that year after beating the United States 81-78 in the Quarter-Finals, New Zealand 89-78 in the Semi-Finals and Argentina 84-77 in the Final after overtime.
 
Pesic, who was doing a basketball clinic in Tenerife, Spain, at CB La Matanza, could not be any more complimentary of Gasol – a teammate of Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant.
 
"Pau is as always," he said in remarks published on the ACB website.
 
"Right now, he is for sure, the most important player of the (Los Angeles) Lakers.
 
"Without Pau, the Lakers are a different team.
 
"With him, they are a team that can win the ring again.
 
"He is not just one of the best European players to have played in the NBA, but also in his position in all-time history."
 
FIBA