Spain announce their 12-player roster for title defense

MALAGA (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - The defending FIBA EuroBasket champions Spain have announced their final roster traditionally early, with head coach Sergio Scariolo trimming his squad to 12 players before heading out to Brussels and Vilnius for the final stages of preparations.

Xavi Rabaseda and Sebas Saiz were the last players to be cut from the star-studded lineup, headlined by Marc and Pau Gasol and featuring enough top-level talent to make them one of the favorites to lift the Nikolai Semashko Trophy in Istanbul.

"I want to emphasize the excellent level of work, commitment, and dedication of Xavi and Sebas. They had a real chance of making EuroBasket, but we can only take 12 players at the end of the day," said the 56-year-old head coach of the national team, Scariolo.

After being on the cusp of making the national team, both of the players, Scariolo stressed, are in his plans for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers.

"It has been a very positive experience for me. It is a shame I could not get on the final roster, but I knew that was within the realm of possibilities," said the 28-year-old swingman Rabaseda. "I want to wish this team all the best luck in EuroBasket and I think they will have a great tournament."

The final roster includes three players, Juancho Hernangomez, Pierre Oriola and Joan Sastre, who are set to make international debuts for Spain in an official championship setting.

Spain will play two more friendly games before the start of the FIBA EuroBasket 2017, taking on Belgium in Brussels on Wednesday before squaring off against Lithuania in Vilnius a couple of days later.

They will play their Group Phase in Cluj-Napoca, forming Group C with Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro and the tournament hosts Romania.

FIBA