Spain vs. Egypt FIBA World Cup 2014: Game Grades, Analysis for La Roja, Pharaohs
Aug 31, 2014
Spain's Pau Gasol, left, embraces his brother Marc after beating Russia during a men's semifinals basketball game at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 10, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Coming off a dominant performance against Iran, Spain showed once again why it's a FIBA World Cup contender with a 91-54 win over Egypt on Day 2.
Not only did Spain have home-court advantage as host, it had an undeniable edge in size, quickness and just about every major statistical category.
The team jumped out to a 15-2 lead halfway through the first quarter, and while Egypt put together a much better second period, Spain was intent on dominating the entire second half.
Spain Grades
Pau Gasol: B
Marc Gasol: B+
Serge Ibaka: A
Rudy Fernandez: A-
Rest of Team: B+
Pau Gasol: B
Following Day 1 of the FIBA World Cup, Pau Gasol was the leading scorer and leading efficiency-per-game player of the entire tournament, according to FIBA.com.
Against Egypt, he wasn't able to reproduce the production that earned him those accomplishments, but he shot well when given the opportunity, which is all Spain needed.
Finishing with 12 points, the new Chicago Bulls big man knocked down 63 percent of his shots. He only managed to grab three rebounds in more than 19 minutes, however, but we'll give him a pass because his team won that category by 15.
Marc Gasol: B+
Marc Gasol entered this contest following a 15-point, 10-rebound performance against Iran. If we're holding him to that standard, he didn't have nearly as solid a showing as fans would have liked.
That said, the big man's role was slightly reduced because of Serge Ibaka's return, and quite frankly, he did what he needed to do to intimidate Egypt's interior players—something that won't go in any box score. This won't go down as a memorable performance, but there was nothing wrong with it, either.
Serge Ibaka: A
Before the contest began, NBA.com's John Schuhmann reported that Ibaka was warming up and looking OK after missing Saturday's competition against Iran.
As it turned out, we saw that for ourselves as soon as he entered the game with a putback slam and a blocked shot late in the first quarter.
Throughout the contest, Ibaka helped spread the floor with his mid-range jumper, but people will remember this one for how often he was soaring above the rim for dunks and rebounds.
In just under 21 minutes, the big man finished with 18 points on 67 percent shooting while bringing down eight boards in the process.
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 12: Serge Ibaka #14 of Spain looks on with team mate Rudy Fernandez #5 of Spain during the Men's Basketball gold medal game between the United States and Spain on Day 16 of the London 2012 Olympics Games at North Greenwich Arena o
Rudy Fernandez: A-
You could see how hard Fernandez was going to play from the opening tipoff. The ball went up, Spain masterfully tipped the ball away from the defense and Fernandez was off to the races for a quick attempt at a transition bucket.
Unfortunately for Fernandez, the rock didn't drop, as international rules allow defenses to knock the ball off the rim.
However, this was hardly a bad omen for Spain, as Fernandez used his energy to score 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting (2-of-2 from deep) and collect two steals and a block along the way.
Rest of Team: B+
When looking at the rest of the roster, there were very few actual poor performances—Jose Calderon's 0-of-4 shooting in nearly 15 minutes is the exception.
That just proves what kind of level this team is playing at, and it proves that it will contend deep into the World Cup.
During the matchup against Egypt, guys such as Sergio Llull and Sergio Rodriguez played with relentless energy and made plays on both ends that won't go down in the box score, although numerous players fit that category at different times of the contest.
Three-point shooting was a problem in this one, as the team went just 7-of-25; however, the team nailed 61 percent of its two-pointers, according to FIBA.com, and pushed the tempo to an unmatched level from the onset of the competition.
Egypt Grades
Ibrahim Elgammal: B
Amr Gendy: C-
Moustafa Elmekawi: C
Ramy Ibrahim: D-
Rest of Team: D-
Ibrahim Elgammal: B
In spite of being down 42-24 after the second period, Egypt had one bright spot at halftime: Ibrahim Elgammal.
The 6'2" perimeter player came alive in the second quarter, accumulating eight points by the half. His unwillingness to concede early is what made the second period competitive (14 points for Egypt, 16 points for Spain), and he ultimately went on to finish with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Amr Gendy: C-
Although Gendy wasn't quite the silver lining Elgammal was by the end of the first half, he was something of the sort in the first quarter.
When Egypt was struggling to put the ball in the basket early, Gendy was the only consistent option. In fact, he had half of his team's points until the 8:25 mark of the second quarter.
The only problem is that at that point he only had six points, meaning Egypt only had 12, and he wouldn't score again the rest of the way.
Moustafa Elmekawi: C
Admittedly, you have to search for small details when looking for positives from Egypt's performance. But that's what basketball is often about during learning experiences.
When it comes to Elmekawi, the 6'8" guard was aggressive at the rim in the first quarter. He wasn't able to do much against the size of Spain, but his footwork was decent, and he threatened points down low despite only scoring six on the night.
Ramy Ibrahim: D-
If you think we've been generous with Egypt's grades up to this point considering the final score, you might be right. But that's about to change as we discuss Ramy Ibrahim.
At 6'9", the power forward is tied as Egypt's tallest player, yet nearly half of his total shots were from behind the arc.
He did manage to pull down seven rebounds, but having shot 0-of-7 on the night for zero points, his size may have been better utilized if he'd been aggressive in trying to draw fouls in the paint.
Rest of Team: D-
In the first quarter alone, we saw Egypt shoot 0-of-8 from behind the arc. The team found slight success when it attacked the rim, but the problem is that it just didn't have the confidence to approach the bigs of Spain.
By the end of the game, Egypt had shot just 34 percent from the field and 16 percent from downtown.
We won't give the rest of the roster an F because there were stretches where attacking the rim seemed like an actual goal, but virtually everything else was tough for fans to swallow.
Coming Up Next
Both of these teams play again on Monday, Sept. 1. Spain will take on Brazil, while Egypt will face France.
