The new logo for the 2014 World Basketball Cup has made its debut today. The slogan is “The Basketball Dance”.

“Two hands, symbolising the body part most directly involved in both basketball and Spanish dance, create a dynamic graphic that blends expressive gestures. The colourful design – inspired by the palette of colours found in the FIBA logo – pays tribute to Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.”

Also new, FIBA has officially changed the name of the former, World Basketball Championships to the World Basketball Cup. Since 1950, the World Championship held the name however it will change to represent the event as an International Basketball stage for the best players in the world.

Photo: ACB.com

Spain wins Eurobasket against a tough France team, with captain Juan Carlos Navarro leading the way with 27pts. Navarro named MVP of the Eurobasket Championships in Lithuania!

Tony Parker lead France with 26pts.

Spain’s tough defense and smart play on offense was key. Ibaka lead Spain with 5 block shots and the team made a total of 10 blocked shots.

Box Score

Video Recap

Spain is classified to play in the 2012 London Olympic Games next summer. Sunday Spain will face either France or Russia in the Eurobasket Final.

Box Score

Spain  92 (26-18-27-21)
Pau Gasol (22), Rudy (2), Ricky (5), Navarro (35), Calderón (3), Llull (3), Marc Gasol (11) y Ibaka (11).

Macedonia 80 (18-27-17-18)
Ilievski (15), Sokolov (0), McCalebb (25), V. Stojanovski (6), D. Stojanovski (3), Antic (17), Chekovski (2) y Samardziski (12).

Video Recap

Spain’s offensive power was something that Slovenia could not solve during the 40 minutes of the game. Although Spain overpowered Slovenia on the offensive end, they also out-rebounded by double digits.

Great performances and shooting percentages by Navarro (87.5%) specifically and the entire team who finished with over 54% from 2point field goals and 40% from 3pt range.

Notes: Jose Calderon was injured during the 3rd quarter with a sprained ankle. He should be back in time for the semifinals on Friday, September 16th.

Box Score

Spain 86 (16-19-36-15)
Pau Gasol (19), Rudy (8), Ricky (0), Navarro (26), Calderón (9), Reyes (3), Claver (0), San Emeterio (2), Llull (3), Marc Gasol (7), Ibaka (9) y Sada (0)

Slovenia 64 (26-8-14-19)
Slokar (4), Lakovic (3), Rupnik (2), Osbolt (6), Smodis (6), Udrih (0), Muric (4), G. Dragic (14), Jagodnik (6), Z. Dragic (2), Begic (2) y Lorbek (10)

Video Recap

Photo: Feb.es

Spain had a tough feat against Germany, as they did not back down during the final period. The game was close throughout, but great play by Spain’s Marc Gasol who finished with 24 points proved hard to stop in the paint. Although out-rebounded, Spain was able to create some plays down the stretch scoring 9-2 during the final minutes of the game. This was the first game of the second round for Spain who will face Serbia on Friday.

Box Score

Germany 68 (15-18-22-13)

Benzing (10), Herber (7), Hamann (7), Schultze (0), Schaffartzik (7), Ohlbrecht (0), Schwethelm (3), Pleiss (0), Kaman (15), Staiger (0) y Nowitzki (19).

Spain 77 (16-20-20-21)

Pau Gasol (19), Rudy (6), Ricky (0), Navarro (14), Calderón (2), Reyes (0), San Emeterio (12), Llull (0), Marc Gasol (24) y Ibaka (0).

Today marks the first lost by Spain against a strong Lithuania, 57-65. After being up most of the game, Turkey came back to surprise Spain during the last game in the first round of the Eurobasket Championship. During the first 35 minutes Spain controlled the tempo a play, however during the stretch in the 4th period, foul trouble and without top player Pau Gasol it did not help the matter. Marc Gasol and Ibaka picked up the slack from Gasol however, it was not enough and Navarro did not shoot well from the field.

Turkey out-rebounded Spain 37-33.

Spain however finished first in Group A

Box Score

Spain 57 (19-19-17-2)
Rudy (11), Ricky (0), Navarro (9), Calderón (5), Reyes (11), San Emeterio (0), Llull (0), Marc Gasol (12), Ibaka (9) y Sada (0).

Turkey 65 (10-25-14-16)
Guler (0), Preldzic (18), Onan (5), Ilyasova (6), Tunceri (0), Asik (12), Arslan (10), Kanter (2) y Turkoglu (12).

Huge play by Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro lead Spain to their first win over Poland during the first game of the Eurobasket Championships. During the first period Spain lead 22-15 and the second period Navarro was on fire by scoring 11 points straight and helped stretch Spain’s lead to 17 points. Poland reacted in the 3rd period and planned a zone defense on Spain who struggled. Spain played static and without much movement, however they bounced back in the final period. With big baskets by team captains Navarro and Gasol secured the win.

Box Score

Spain 83 (22-22-17-22)
Pau Gasol (29), Rudy (4), Ricky (0), Navarro (23), Calderón (0), Reyes (1), Claver (0), San Emeterio (3), Llull (0), Marc Gasol (16), Ibaka (7) y Sada (0).

Poland 78 (15-16-21-26)
Berisha (0), Lapeta (0), Skibniewski (4), Waczynski (0), Pamula (3), Leonczyk (6), Szewczyk (10), Kelati (18), Szczotka (6), Wisniewski (0), Hrycaniuk (12), Koszarek (19).

Photo: Feb.es

Spain’s National Team has arrived in Lithuania to start their road to the Gold Medal and direct Go-Pass to the 2012 Olympics in London. Spain will take on Poland at 15:15 on Wednesday, August 31st.

View the Spain’s Pre Eurobasket Guide online:

Spain’s select teams are still racking up medals as last week the u16 team won the Gold Medal in Caligari, Italy. Both women and men’s teams continue to do well and show Europe why Spain is one of the top basketball countries.