MADRID, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Spanish national team coach, Juan Antonio Orenga says that his side have nobody to beat other than themselves in forthcoming FIBA World Cup, which the Spanish are hosting.
Speaking after watching his side defeat Canada 82-70 and Angola 79-70 in their first two preparation games for the tournament which starts on August 30 and 24 hours ahead of their game against Turkey in Istanbul, Orenga said Spain' s next rivals were "one of the most competitive sides that is going to play the World Cup," adding the Turks should at least reach the quarter or semi-finals of the competition.
"It will be a difficult game, they have very well elaborated attacking movements, quality in the guards, tall power forwards and shooting guards who can open the court and complicate things for you," he said.
Spain' s performances so far have seen powerful displays from NBA stars, Pau Gasol and Serge Ibaka and Orenga believes Spain' s strength under the basket will be decisive in the coming weeks.
"Our inside play is one of the best in the world, it is luxury to have the forwards that we have. We have already seen that they have a huge influence," he said, while demanding a greater contribution from Spain' s guards such as Ricky Rubio, Sergio Rodriguez and Jose Antonio Calderon.
"I like balance between inside and outside play. Teams are going to try and combat us with closed defenses and that is where our outside play has to come into its own, especially as we have some of the best European forwards and NBA guards," he said.
Spain' s chances of winning the World Cup took a turn for the better last week when it was announced USA point-guard Kevin Durant would miss the competition for fitness reasons.
"It' s like we lost Pau Gasol," said Orenga:"he is one of the key players in the NBA and his loss changes the team," he said, although the Spain coach added that the USA had: "top level outside play...They are going to be just as competitive as if everyone was here. They may have lost on individual level, but not as a team," he concluded.