Fantastic Fran, battling Popovic and the Diamantidis legend

ISTANBUL (Eurovision) - There was the good, the bad and the sad on Saturday night at the FIBA World Championship.

In Spain’s 80-72 Eight-Final triumph over Greece, Fran Vazquez of Spain played his best game in a national team shirt since EuroBasket 2005.

In that Quarter-Final against Croatia several years ago when Pau Gasol didn't play and Marc Gasol was finding it hard to even get a game in the ACB, Vazquez came off the bench and

rescued Spain with 26 points and nine rebounds in an overtime triumph over Croatia that clinched a spot in the 2006 World Championship.

That tournament in Belgrade turned out to be the last time we'd see Vazquez turn it on for Spain because the very next year, he pulled out of the team with a back injury and was replaced by Marc Gasol.

Spain, without Vazquez, went to Japan and captured the world title.

Vazquez didn't feature in any of the teams that followed, including last year's EuroBasket gold-medal winning side, but returned this year after another solid campaign at Barcelona.

Against Greece on Saturday night, the 6ft 10in center floated in the air to get rebounds, to hit a baseline jumper and to dunk on an alley-oop.

The MVP of this year's Copa del Rey, Vazquez had finished with 15 points and eight rebounds and 19 points with five boards in Group D victories over Lebanon and Canada.

He played 16 minutes in each of those games, just as he did on Saturday.

The Greek defense gave away very little, so every one of Vazquez's six points were vital, as were his seven boards - especially when considering Spain had just 29 as a team.

"I am happy because of what we proved," Vazquez said.

"We showed a different Spain that defended with all the energy and that played on offense with joy.

"We are a family and it doesn't matter who plays well or not, but against Greece we all played well and that is why we won."

Next will be Serbia in the Quarter-Finals.

The dominant figure in last year's gold-medal game at the EuroBasket for Spain was Pau Gasol.

Vazquez knows he will have to step up big again, though success will again depend on how well Spain perform as a team.

Remembering that Felipe Reyes came off the bench for Spain against Greece and had a game-high 10 rebounds, Vazquez said: "Against Serbia we need to play with the same intensity.

"We need to try to strengthen our interior play with everyone involved.

"We need to bring out our (identity) cards of a (Spain) national team that is young, strong and with great talent."

The bad on Saturday night was the play of Greece's bench.

Greece coach Jonas Kazlauskas got zero production from his reserves and even criticized their ineffectiveness in the post-game press conference.

"It was a tough game," Kazlauskas admitted.

"We had some problems. The first was that we did not get help from players who came from the bench."

The sad involved Marko Popovic of Croatia and Dimitris Diamantidis of Greece.

Popovic had also played in that Quarter-Final for Croatia against Vazquez five years ago.

He and Roko-Leni Ukic had been Croatia's best players that night.

Croatia are trying to rely more on youth, but without the determined, 6ft 1in and 185lb Popovic against Serbia, Josip Vrankovic's side would have crashed to a heavy defeat instead of the 73-72 setback that at least gave basketball fans back in Zagreb hope for next year's EuroBasket.

He ended up with 21 points after carrying his national team on his back for the entire second half.

The truly sad was the announcement by Dimitris Diamantidis that he is retiring from the national team.

Diamantidis was sensational against Spain with 16 points and his usual incredible defending which saw him block two shots and come up with two steals.

This announcement probably hurt the Greek fans more than the defeat to Spain because there has never been a player like Diamantidis before and there will never be another one like him.

And he is still only 30 years old.

When you think of Greek basketball, you think of Diamantidis.

Remember the three-pointer with just three-second left in their EuroBasket 2005 Semi-Final against France that gave Greece a 67-66 win and propelled them to the title?

What a moment that was!

A fan expressed the feelings of most Greeks, saying: "There are no words to describe this guy. He is the best player ever. He will always be the most loved player for me and all the Greeks."

When you think about Greek basketball, you think of Diamantidis.

The only consolation for basketball fans is that he will still be playing at club level in Europe for Panathinaikos.

As for the past, thanks for the memories, Dimitris.

Jeff Taylor