Miguel Méndez: “We are happy with how things are going but we have to keep working”

Miguel MendezSpanish women’s basketball coach, was “happy” after his team’s victory against Germany (60-65) in the first friendly in preparation for the World Cup in Berlin, although he thought that “we will have to continue working” from now on in Tenerife to arrive in the best conditions for the tournament.

“I think that every step we take is very important, we were already looking forward to playing, we have made an important effort coming here, it is not an easy journey but we need games“he said in statements provided by the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB).

In his opinion, within the “thickness” of the Spanish attack and the “very bad” percentages of “many” of their players, today there were better moments in defense than in the match played behind closed doors the day before against the same rival.

“And offensively we have found players who did not appear yesterday and we are living and adding with all the losses that there are, maintaining a distribution of minutes and trying to ensure that everyone has opportunities“concluded the coach.

Iyana Martín: “It will help us a lot”

The base of the Spanish team Iyana Martin He assured after Spain’s victory against Germany, in the first warm-up friendly (60-65), that the match will “help a lot to improve” for the World Cup and that he feels “very prepared to play”, in statements released by the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB).

The new SPAR Girona point guard led the Spanish attack, with 19 points and 4 assists in 22 minutes on the court, in a match in which both teams lacked fluidity, success and rhythm. In this regard, he said that “It is the first game and it is normal that we have these errors. “It helps us learn and there is still a lot to train.”

According to the Spanish international, the narrow victory will “help them a lot to improve” and that the match “was important” because Spain will debut precisely against the Germans in the World Cup and, despite the fact that Spain is missing 5 players who are playing in the WNBA, “it has been a good letter of introduction.”

“We have to connect more at a defensive and communication level.“, he said in order to improve in the next commitments and that they must better understand “the timing of the game.”

Iyana added 5/6 in field goals and 100% success in free throws, also being the Spaniard who received the most fouls from the Germans (7 in total), who could not find a way to stop the Asturian. In this regard, he insisted that the differentiating factor for Spain is that “any person can stand out every day.” That is what makes this team “special” and what will make them “compete in the World Cup.”

The player, barely 20 years old, is called to be one of the references of Miguel Méndez’s team in the next World Cup (September 4-13). ““I’m ready to play, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Etxarri: “We have been improving during the game”

For his part, Movistar Estudiantes forward Irati Etxarri, who scored 10 points and was the top Spanish rebounder, with 5 rebounds, declared that The team was “from less to more.”

“We have been improving during the match,” commented Etxarri, who believes that the entire team finished “with better feelings” than at the beginning of the match against a “very tough” opponent.

The match, played in the city of Ludwigsburg (Germany), was the first in the preparation of ‘La Familia’, whose next matches will be against Nigeria and Belgium (August 21 and 23 respectively) in Tenerife.