Spain defeated France 88-76 to win EuroBasket 2022.
Champions of Europe. Of course they were.
Underdogs, under-rated, a less experienced team than their predecessors. But no matter.
For the fourth time since 2009, La Roja stood supreme, feasting on a first half blitz that stunned their old rivals – and then holding on to claim victory in Berlin.
“As a basketball coach, I feel happy, because we played great basketball,” head coach Sergio Scariolo said. “We played great defence. We played great offense.”
It overcame supposedly superior talent.
“The limits we had could have probably led to a low-scoring offence and sloppy basketball,” he added. “And we played excellent playing basketball instead, with high pace, sharing the ball, many assists, unselfish.
“Good execution. Patience when it was time to be patient. Ability to overcome come difficult moments as a team and not with individual actions.
“I mean, honestly as a basketball coach, I feel really happy.”
While Willy Hernangomez was named as the tournament MVP, his brother Juancho proved their chief assassin with the kind of fairy tale showing that his cinematic alter ego Bo Cruz could scarcely believe.
His remarkable 27 points off the bench – including 7/9 from three-point range – of which six came during a first half in which Scariolo’s men led by as much as 47-26 with 2:32 left in the second period by capitalising on a stream of turnovers from Les Bleus.
France, their offense nullified and their defence dulled, belatedly woke up, responding with 16 consecutive points either side of half-time to slash the deficit to five, and then beyond that to 49-48.
But the Spanish found a second wind just as it seemed they may be gut-punched. Jaime Fernández, who had failed to contribute a single point in the previous three knockout rounds, speedily added 13 to steady nerves.
Juancho Hernangomez drained another three-pointer and Alberto Diaz added two treys to widen the lead to 85-70 with less than two minutes left.
And with US-born point guard Lorenzo Brown becoming the first player with a double-double in a EuroBasket final, with 14 points and 11 assists, the perennial powerhouse completed its rejuvenation with a celebration, reaching a European podium for the seventh tournament in succession.
“This group was so young,” veteran captain Rudy Fernandez declared after lifting the trophy. “But they fought in every game and now this work put in the whole tournament is recognised.”
Evan Fournier led France with 23 points but – despite picking up a fourth medal in five editions of EuroBasket – they were damned by conceding 35 points off turnovers with their reserves outscored 47-29.
“They played great,” said France coach Vincent Collet. “They could do most of the things they planned to do on both sides of the floor. We knew that we would be very aggressive. Our pressure was not the same that we did on Friday. Today we have lost the gold.
“We knew that our weakness was turning the ball over. They scored 35 points from our turnovers and we only scored seven points from theirs. We survived against Turkey and Italy but Spain don’t turn it over. We shot 75 percent in the paint and 40 percent from three – we could not do more.
“The rest is enough to kill us.”
Notes
All-Tournament team: Dennis Schroder (Germany), Lorenzo Brown (Spain), Willy Hernangomez (Spain), Rudy Gobert (France), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece)
The Match Commissioner for the final was ex-England and Derby Storm forward Martin Ford.
Poland were confirmed as co-hosts for EuroBasket 2025 along side Cyprus, Finland and final stage hosts Latvia.
● Spain have won their 4th EuroBasket title (also in 2009, 2011 & 2015), third-best tally in the history of the competition (Soviet Union 14, Yugoslavia 8); they have won their last four EuroBasket finals after losing each of the previous six.
● France have lost a EuroBasket final for the second time, each time against Spain (85-98 in 2011); it’s however their 10th medal in the competition, the 6th team to reach that total (Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Spain, Czechoslovakia & Italy).
● Spain have now won 18 of their 22 meetings with France at the EuroBasket, with eight of their most recent 12 wins coming with margins greater than 10 points.
● Spain made 15 3-pointers today, the most for a team in a EuroBasket final since 1995; Juancho Hernangomez has been responsible for seven of those 3-pointers made, the most for a player in a EuroBasket final since Aleksandar Djordjevic in 1995 (9 v Lithuania).
● Juancho Hernangomez’s 27 points tonight are the second-most for a player with less than 30 minutes played in a EuroBasket final over the last 25 years, after Goran Dragic’s 35 points in 2017.
● Lorenzo Brown (14pts, 11ast) has become the first player to register a double-double with points and assists in a EuroBasket final since 1995; his 11 assists are also the best total for a player in a EuroBasket game from the semi-finals onwards.
● Rudy Fernandez has become the only Spanish player to have taken part in each of Spain’s four victorious campaigns at the EuroBasket.
● France scored 76% of their 2-pointers today (19/25), their best 2P% in a EuroBasket game since 1995.
● Thomas Heurtel made seven assists tonight, the most for a bench player in a EuroBasket final since 1995.
● Evan Fournier (23pts) became the second French player to score 20+ points in a EuroBasket final after Tony Parker in 2011 (26) – they both lost those finals.
Germans gain third
Earlier, Germany made a late push to defeat Poland 82-69 to take the bronze medal in front of their home fans in Berlin.
MVP candidate Dennis Schroder had 26 points and 6 assists – only Dirk Nowitzki, among Germans, has scored more in a single Euros (448 vs 1052).
Germany, overturning a deficit at the start of the fourth, got their third medal at a EuroBasket, after the gold in 1993 and the silver in 2005.
Images: FIBA
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