ESP – Marc Gasol fired up about the possibilities in Turkey

BARCELONA (2010 FIBA World Championship) – These are incredibly exciting times for Spanish basketball.

Gold-medal winners at the 2006 FIBA World Championship and silver-medalists at EuroBasket 2007 and at the Beijing Olympics, the Spanish captured their first-ever European gold in Poland last summer.

Now the country is turning its attention to Turkey and the FIBA World Championship.

One of the players who was just cutting his teeth with the national side in 2006, Marc Gasol, is on the verge of superstardom and looking to help Spain stay on top.

"Our aim is to compete,” said Gasol, who had a very impressive second NBA campaign with the Memphis Grizzlies.

"We want to go as far as possible and see where that takes us.

"No one would like to trip up and our desire is to compete from the first day and work in July.

"I am looking forward to being with my teammates at the World Championship.”

Spain will go up against France, Lithuania, Lebanon, New Zealand and Canada in Group D.

Gasol was bothered by a neck injury at the end of the season but has plenty of time to get better before he links up with the national team.

"The injury is there, but in three months time if all goes well, I will have recovered," he said.

Gasol had wanted to make the NBA post-season but the Grizzlies, despite a very impressive campaign, missed out on a top-eight finish.

His brother, Pau Gasol, is still competing with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Defending champions LA are having the fight of their lives against Oklahoma City, who battled back from a 2-0 deficit to knot the first-round play-off series at 2-2 over the weekend.

Spain fans should not think that an early exit from the play-offs, however, would increase the likelihood of Pau playing this summer.

"I have no doubts that Pau will not be there, regardless of the play-offs,” Marc said.

“It has been 12 or 13 consecutive years with the national team and without any stop, with the exception of the EuroBasket in Belgrade.”

Pau, who turns 30 in July, is not done with Spain’s national team.

He has indicated all season long that maybe it’s best to take a breather in 2010.

"I think the time has come for Pau to regain his energy,” Marc said.

"Now he is not just playing the regular-season games as he did in Memphis, but more than 100 games and you feel that a lot.

"People have to accept it and I think they will because the fans love Pau and understand that he needs to rest.

“We will have to do the best thing possible without him and it will be a beautiful and new experience, a new challenge for this team.”

FIBA