The Italian coach Sergio Scariolo, Spanish basketball coach, will give this Saturday the list of preparation of the men’s team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and will begin to resolve doubts, starting with the confirmation of whether Pau Gasol will be eligible for his fourth medal.
The presence of the oldest of the Gasol, who managed to recover from two years of injury successfully to return to Barça and contribute an average of 15 minutes of play, 10.4 points and 5 rebounds in the 16 games of the Endesa League that ended with him lifting the trophy alongside Pierre Oriola will be the first focus of Scariolo’s list, but not the only one.
Another of the permanent players of the last years of the selection, the point guard of the Minnesota Timberwolves Ricky RubioHe acknowledged to EFE in an interview this week that he has “many doubts” about his presence at the Games, although he did not reveal what his final decision will be.
Barça’s Spanish-Montenegrin power forward Nikola Mirotic could have decided to resign from the national team for the Olympic event, according to various media, and the recent back operation of the Hispanic-Congolese center of Los Angeles Clippers Serge Ibaka also makes it difficult for him to participate.
The rest of the players who were world champions in China 2019 have already finished the season, and they could be joined by the Italian Armani Milan base Sergio Rodriguez, which decided to stop in the summer of the World Cup, but could be available for the Olympic adventure.
The call that Sergio Scariolo will announce this Saturday – who confirmed his return to European basketball yesterday after three years in the Toronto Raptors of the NBA – will be a wide list to see all the candidates to be part of the group that will finally travel to Japan, but also to have options before the possibility of contagion, although the players will all arrive vaccinated, according to federative sources explained to EFE.
The group of players summoned to prepare for the Games is expected to meet on the weekend of June 26 and 27 to begin with the advertising commitments and start the work from the following Monday.