Sergio Scariolo's Return Will Be Good for the Spanish National Team, Says Felipe Reyes

Felipe Reyes, player of Real Madrid and captain of Spain, stated at the presentation of the Spanish National Team that Sergio Scariolo's return as the coach of the team "is going to be very beneficial" for the upcoming European Championship.

The Córdoba-born center explained that, after "having paid for that inexperience from last year" with Juan Antonio Orenga at the Spanish World Cup, the arrival of "an experienced coach" like Scariolo, who knows "all" the players, "is going to be very good" for facing the European tournament.

For The Real Madrid center, Spain's objective in the continental tournament "is to qualify for the Olympic Games," for which the team trained by Scariolo must reach the final: "It's a great responsibility because Juan Carlos (Navarro) has been a great captain in previous years and it's difficult to replace him, but I'm going to do everything possible to try to do it well."

Regarding the absences of Marc Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, José Manuel Calderón, and Ricky Rubio from the Spanish team, the Andalusian player assured that they will be "important" and "difficult to replace," but he was confident that Spain has "a team capable of going far" and "having a great championship."

The Real Madrid player pointed out France as the strongest rival in the European Championship "because they play at home and have very good players" and highlighted Serbia as the runner-up of the world and the Balkan teams, who "all have a very strong level."

Rudy: "The Goal is the Pre-Olympic"

Rudy Fernández, for his part, indicated that Spain "has enough talent to compete for the gold" in the upcoming European Championship, but that "the first goal" is to qualify for the Pre-Olympic.

The Mallorcan wing and member of the Spanish National Team said that being in the Pre-Olympic for Rio 2016 is essential, especially knowing the "difficult group" in which Spain has been placed, where they will play against Serbia, the current runner-up of the world, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and Iceland.

Regarding the absences of important players from Spain's past successes such as Marc Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, José Manuel Calderón, and Ricky Rubio, Rudy stated that "replacing these players is quite impossible," but that Spain "has enough talent to compete for the gold."

"We are talking about the best center in the NBA for now. It is very respectable that he made this decision," he explained about the absence of Marc Gasol. Regarding the arrival of new and young players to the Spanish squad, he commented that they are "players with a lot of talent and determination" and that it will serve Spain to "take a leap forward in terms of competition."