Arriving to Turkey as European and World Champions gives wings or a heavy weight to carry?

It is a positive factor because it makes us more self-confident and also encourages the outside world to place a little more trust on this team.

But rivals will be wanting to slaughter Spain.

In the Eurobasket, Spain was everyone’s target. In the World Championship it is different, because traditionally everyone is going after the United States, but I'm sure every opponent will have extra motivations also to play against us.

The goal of any team is always to be competitive, but with the record that Spain has acquired in recent years, it almost seems a modest target.

Realistically, we must set ourselves the goal of fighting for a medal. If we will avoid injuries, competing for medals is within reach.

Keep being realistic and tell us: is it possible to win the gold without Pau Gasol?

We must learn from last year’s mistake, when we started thinking too early in what we would do on Monday before it was even Saturday and Sunday. Although it sounds a cliché, you have to go game by game and focus on day by day’s work. Now it is not the right time to look too far.

Who is losing more chances, Spain without Pau or the United States without the vast majority of Beijing Olympic champions?

Personally I would have felt more comfortable if both teams will play with full rosters. They numerically lose more players with the highest skills, but the issue is not about numbers, what counts is the chemistry. The actual US team may even beat their predecessors in hunger and motivation.

What is left to a coach when his best player officially confirms that he will not take part to the World Championship?

Pau and I had spoken before he made the official announcement and I wasn’t surprised because he had kept me updated with understandable motivations.

Marc and Fran Vazquez will have to take a step forward to fill that huge cavern left by the absence of Pau.

The role of 5 belongs to them, with the concrete backup of Felipe, we cannot hide this. They are compatible players, different, in an excellent stage of maturity and with my full trust. Thinking that one of them could be an acting Pau is stupid and ungenerous from a sport perspective. It would be like saying I should be Phil Jackson, and I'm not. I will try to be myself as best as I can, and not someone else.

It's not all tears. Spain gets Calderon back, who missed the European Championship because of an injury. What does bring you a playmaker with his experience?

José is the reason why we have decided to call two playmakers plus Llull. Along with Ricky he can cover that position excellently. He is a playmaker we can trust, experienced, respected by his teammates, who plays well under pressure.

Are you worried that the uncertain future of Calderon and Rudy could affect their concentration?

I trust in their effort to stay focused, I think they have more experience than Ricky, who was in a similar situation last year. I think it will affect them because it is human, but I'm sure their level of concentration will be well above the level of concentration required to work well.

Rafa Martínez, San Emeterio, Suarez and Claver are going to compete for two slots in the team?

There are players who are more likely to be in the team than others, but honestly it wouldn’t be wise or proper for me to make predictions before I see them on the court. Let's see their approach and performance. Last year not everybody understood how someone could play in a power forward position and then proved he could do it well. The value is shown on the court.

Llull’s great season didn’t take you by surprise.

It has been no surprise to me. On the third day of our preparation training camp last year I already realised that this guy has that little bit extra and that playing together with a playmaker could make him extremely dangerous and effective while also being able to play as a playmaker effectively. Not having to think too much on making others play and using all his energy is a huge player.

Will affect him missing the first days of training?

Not really, because he is a player who has been already with the national team last year and has some great athletic ability that will help him to recover quickly. He already knows what I want from him, but I will ask for more, as with all of them. We are not going to force him, but all medical forecasts are extremely positive.

Is having a player like Navarro in the team a joy for any coach?

Yes, he is one of the players that have given me most, of all I have coached in my life, because his level of commitment and professionalism, together with the joy of his game, is very rewarding. Coaching people like Navarro is one of those things that motivate you as a coach.

Coaches always say that a European Championship is more difficult than a World Cup because there are more competitive teams and fewer underdogs. Do you agree?

In a World Championship there are always some teams that, unless you play really really bad, it is difficult to lose with, such as Lebanon i.e., but on the other hand there is a higher number of teams playing for medals, because in addition to the good European teams there also are Argentina, Brazil and the United States, the referents of world basketball.

France, Canada, Lithuania, New Zealand and Lebanon. Are you worried about any of your opponents in particular?

I prefer not making comments until I see some of their friendlies, but better for us to focus on France, which in the group seems to be the team that will compete against us for the first place.

The first of your group will not play for five days before starting the second phase. Can it be a dangerous break?

That happened to FC Barcelona in the ACB League’s final vs Caja Laboral and can be very dangerous. It must also be considered if the opponent in this 2^nd phase game is actually tougher or easier: not always ending up first means an easier life, as it happened to Spain at the Athens Games, having to face the United States. Anyway, the debate about wanting or not to be first to prevent meeting an opponent or another is out of my philosophy. All I know is working to win games and that is what we are trying to do.