Spain Mens Basketball Team has made it to the finals after 24 years by defeating Lithuania 91-86. Spain will face the Redeem USA Team on Sunday. The game was very tight throughout the entire game with Lithuania mostly leading until the final quarter. Pau Gasol and Rudy Fernandez were the leaders for Spain scoring 19 and 18 points.

Spain was able to make very important free throws at the end of the game to secure a place in the Olympic Basketball Finals 2008! The game will be held on Sunday August 24th, so check your local listings for time.

Box Score

SPAIN, 91 (21, 19, 22, 23): Raúl López (7), Rudy Fernández (18), Jiménez (11), Garbajosa (8), Pau Gasol (19) -STARTERS-, Rubio (4), Navarro (-), Reyes (13), Rodríguez (2), Marc Gasol (6) y Mumbrú (3).
LITHUANIA, 86 (19, 23, 24, 20): Jasikevicius (19), Kaukenas (11), Lukauskis (-), Siskauskas (7), Javtokas (15) -STARTERS-, Maciulis (-), D. Lavrinovic (-), Prekevicius (-), Jasaitis (19), Kleiza (-), K. Lavrinovic (13) y Petravicius (2).

The Spain Mens Basketball National Team have advanced to the semifinals and will face the tough Lithuania Team. It has been 24 years since Spain has advanced to the medal games and they hope to do it August 22nd. Spain started the game with tough defense and it caused a lot of trouble for Croatia. Pau Gasol played big once again for Spain with 20pts and 10 rebounds. Felipe Lopez an undersized forward has been playing well for Spain as he scored 13pts.

Spain 65 - Russia 84

The Spain Womens Basketball Team took a big lost to Russia in the quarterfinal games. Russia had not been playing well throughout the games, but today they showed up strong against the weaker Spain. Top player and scorer for Spain, Anna Montañana and Amaya Valdemoro could not do enough to come back in the end to defeat Russia. Valdemoro who has played injured throughout the Beijing Olympic Games scored a team high 16 points in the loss.

Spain lost to Russia in the Euro Championships Final in 2007 and have yet found a way to beat them.

The photo that shocked everyone. Although, I was able to ask a few Spanish friends about this photo, they defended the photo and fellow countrymen. The humor in Spain is different they said, but I think some things should be kept in private.

Spain Women were determined to win the second game of the first round of the Beijing Olympics against New Zealand. Spain came out strong and leading performer was Isabel Sanchez for Spain giving the team a spark off of the bench with 19 points. Also, Ana Montañana added the strong inside presense for Spain. New Zealand came as close as 10 points in the second half but Spain, took over in the 4th for a big win

The Spanish Mens National Team opened in their first game of the Olympic’s yesterday with a big win over Greece (81-66). Top scorers Rudy Fernandez (16) and Calderon (13) helped dominate Greece in the 3rd quarter. Pau Gasol added 11 points and 7 rebounds and rookie Ricky Rubio scored 7 points in only 13 minutes of play.

August 12, Spain will play Olympic host China.

Spain Men’s and Womens National Basketball Selection Teams are in Beijing and getting ready for the Olympic games which begin in a few days. Below is the following practice schedule for both teams.

Basketball Training Schedule Spain Basketball National Teams

• 5th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 19:00 – 21:00 Shijingshan Gymnasium
  Spain Womens Team: 13:00 – 15:00 Tsinghua University Gymnasium

  6th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 09:00 – 11:00 Beijing Language & Culture University
  Spain Womens Team: 13:00 – 14:00 Wukesong Indoor Stadium
  14:00 – 15:00 Wukesong Indoor Stadium (pista de juego)

  7th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 13:00 – 14:00 Wukesong Indoor Stadium
  14:00 – 15:00 Wukesong Indoor Stadium (pista de juego)
  Spain Womens Team: 19:00 – 21:00 Shijingshan Gymnasium

  8th of August
  Spain Womens Team: 9:00 – 11:00 Beijing Language & Culture University

  9th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 15:00 – 17:00 Shijingshan Gymnasium
  Spain Womens Team: 09:00 – 10:30 Shijingshan Gymnasium

  10th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 09:00 – 10:30 Shijingshan Gymnasium
  Spain Womens Team: 13:00 – 15:00 Beijing Language & Culture University

  11th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 15:00 – 17:00 Beijing Shougang Basketball Center
  Spain Womens Team: 19:00 – 20:30 Beijing Language & Culture University

  12th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 09:00 – 10:30 Beijing Shougang Basketball Center
  Spain Womens Team: 13:00 – 15:00 Tsinghua University Gymnasium

  13th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 13:00 – 15:00 Beijing Language & Culture University
  Spain Womens Team: 19:00 – 20:30 Tsinghua University Gymnasium

  14th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 17:00 – 19:00 Beijing Language & Culture University
  Spain Womens Team: 19:00 – 20:30 Beijing Language & Culture University

  15th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 17:00 – 19:00 Tsinghua University Gymnasium
  Spain Womens Team: 10:30 – 12:00 Beijing Language & Culture University

  16th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 10:30 – 12:00 Tsinghua University Gymnasium
  Spain Womens Team: 13:00 – 15:00 Shijingshan Gymnasium

  17th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 15:00 – 17:00 Beijing Shougang Basketball Center
  Spain Womens Team: 19:00 – 20:30 Shijingshan Gymnasium

  18th of August
  Spain Mens Team: 09:00 – 10:30 Beijing Shougang Basketball Center

Spain Olympic Basketball Television Schedule as Follows

• Spain vs China
• 09/08 08:30 hours (TVE)
• New Zealand - Spain
• 11/08 03:00 hours (TVE)
• Spain - Czech Republic
• 13/08 05:15 hours (TVE)
• USA - Spain
• 15/08 14:00 hours (TVE)
• Spain - Mali
• 17/08 03:00 hours (TVE)
• Quarterfinals: August 20th
• Semifinals: August 22nd
• Final: August 24

Ricky Rubio was presented with the Young Player of the Year Award by Fibe Europe last week before the basketball tournament in Madrid. The 18-year old professional player of top ACB and Euroleague team, DKV Joventut where he helped lead the team to a ULEB Cup Title.

Rubio has been preparing for his first Olympics in Beijing with several Pre-Olympic Tournament games.