ESP - Pau Gasol is back !

SINGAPORE (FIBA World Championship) - Spanish basketball icon Pau Gasol is back with his national side, and that's bad news for the other teams in Group B at the FIBA World Championship.

His country's talisman in its silver medal win at EuroBasket 2003, and top player at the Athens Olympics one year later, Gasol had to skip last year's European Championship in Serbia & Montenegro after being told by doctors to rest in the hope of getting over a recurring foot injury.

Gasol missed the EuroBasket, but did work as a guest commentator for Spanish television and saw his team-mates go an improbable run to the semi-finals before losing to Germany on a late Dirk Nowitzki jump shot. Gasol then watched painfully as Spain put forth one of their worst efforts in recent memory in a blowout loss to France in the bronze medal game.

The power forward made it through an entire NBA campaign playing for the Memphis Grizzlies without hitting the sidelines through injury and is , once again, the focal point of Spain who are looking to capture a world title in Japan.

He answered these questions on the eve of the Philips Singapore Cup 2006 - a warm-up event for the FIBA World Championship.

Paul, how difficult was it to sit out last year's EuroBasket and what does it mean about this year's big event in Japan? Are you fresher?

GASOL: "It's been a tough and long year for me as it is for anybody who plays in the NBA, where you play a lot of games. It was good to get some rest last year before the season began but that was a year ago, so right now it doesn't seem to make that much of a difference.

Obviously, I feel pressure as far as I didn't play [at the European Championship] and that I wasn't with my team-mates and with my country last year.
I really want to play well this year and to give my best so that we can make a lot of people happy back in my country."

How important is this tournament (the Singapore Cup), an event which also includes Slovenia, Serbia & Montenegro and Argentina?

GASOL: "It's very important because it's very close to the World Championship and we're playing against really good teams here [in Singapore]. That's why it's important for us to be ready and to take this tournament really seriously. Our team is doing well.Our chemistry is good, our talent is good, our potential is good and we have a very competitive team."

Who do you feel will be your toughest opponents at the FIBA World Championship?

GASOL: "Obviously there are some teams that are stronger than others but anyone can give you a surprise because there are a lot of talented teams there and you have to compete really hard and play really hard and concentrate to beat them. You have to earn a seat and you can only do it at the end of the championship when you see where you end up as a team. Even if you're one of the top favourites, you still have to beat other teams and get to the fight for the medals. That's where we want to get and obviously we have to play against some tough teams before we get there and that's why we have to take it one game at a time, be patient and take it seriously."

Can you talk about the pressure that you and Spain are under to win a medal this summer?

GASOL: "At the last few championships we've played in, people have talked about Spain being among the favourites. Whether it's the European or World Championships, or the Olympics, we've been considered as one of three or four favourites to win it. However, all of that means nothing until we get the gold medal like Argentina did at the Olympics or Serbia did at the World Championship. It doesn't matter what people say before the championship; wherever you finish, that's where you are. It doesn't matter how good you are before the championship, it's how well you play or how many games you win to get the furthest. That's the bottom line."

Your team's form has been very good this summer. You've already beaten Olympic champions Argentina. How important was that triumph in the Madrid Tournament?

GASOL: "We played an exhibition game against them in Spain when they had arrived from Argentina after a long flight. We played them in front of a home crowd with 12,000 people cheering for us - which is so different from playing them here [in Singapore] or at the World Championship in Japan. They have a really good team and we respect them a lot. Right now, they're Olympic champions and silver-medalists at the last World Championship so they're a better team than we are because they have the medals and we don't. Until we get a gold medal, we're just another team that's fighting for it, we're not a favourite."

The United States ended what had been an otherwise terrific tournament for Spain two years ago at Athens Olympics, beating your 102-94 in that unforgettable quarter-final in which Stephon Marbury made six three-pointers for the Americans. They lost to the Argentinians in the next round but, once again, people are talking about them being among the favourites this year. Do you have any thoughts on that?

GASOL: You always have to respect the US because or their talent and athleticism. They have a very young team but they're very talented, they're playing well, they're balanced and they're well coached. They're going to be one of the top favourites at this year's championship. They're going to be tough but my team is not scared of anybody and we're going to play the same way against whoever we meet whether it's the United States or Argentina.

By PA Sport
Exclusively for FIBA