Gasol helps Spain to Euro title

Pau Gasol starred again as world champions Spain added the Eurobasket title to their collection, defeating Serbia 85-63 in Katowice.After helping the LA Lakers to the NBA crown Gasol produced a succession of stunning performances in Poland, despite a slow start to the tournament.
Final rivals Serbia were simply no match as Spain – who won the Olympic silver medal in Beijing last year – dominated from the first quarter.
Star centre Gasol was unstoppable, banking 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
In the first quarter he alone out-rebounded Serbia and it was no surprise when he was mobbed by his team-mates on the final whistle.
“I’m so proud of my team-mates and grateful to all the coaching staff that got us to this point,” said Gasol, whose team were almost dumped out in the group stages by Great Britain.
“I’m so happy to help Spain win this title for the first time. We started the tournament slowly and we were not playing collectively.
“But the last five and a half games we have played amazingly well. We came together when it mattered at the end of the championships.”
Greece – winners four years ago – claimed bronze with a 57-56 victory over Slovenia.
Sofoklis Schortsanitis produced a stand-out hardworking performance, banking a 23-point haul.
“I’m very proud of my players,” said Greece coach Jonas Kazlauskas.
“In this short time we did a great job with a new team that had only three players with experience at such a level.”