Unpolished Spain suffer scare in Eurobasket 2011 debut

It was Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro who came out the real winners on Wednesday at Spain's opening match against Poland at Eurobasket 2011 in Panevezys, Lithuania. Despite a weak showing by most of the team, Spain narrowly beat the Poles 83-78, with Gasol and Navarro scoring the most points.

The Polish team held the Spaniards tight during the fourth quarter, with tremendous court-play defense by Thomas Kelati, a Washington state native who is Polish-American by marriage.

Gasol, the only real source for baskets, was the highest scorer with 29 points with Navarro pitching in an additional 26. But it wasn't the best showing at a tournament debut for the defending champion. The second and third quarters were filled with fouls and Poland got a chance to score a generous round of free throws.

Poland was very much alive. Kelati, the Pole's strong shooting guard, was able to swing past the tight defense of Sergio Llull, Fernando San Emeterio and Navarro to score 11 points in the first half.

José Manuel Calderón dismissed the slim win over Poland, saying what was "important was the victory."

"The first games are always complicated. We have experience, and the important thing is that it is over and we won, which we set out to do. You can't win by 20 points every day. Poland played well and made their points, and made us suffer more than what we expected."

Spain's next Group A game is against Portugal, at 2.15pm on Thursday (La Sexta).