With Pau Gasol averaging more than 20 points per game and little brother Marc Gasol dominating the boards, Spain is the team to beat at the European Championship. The defending champions and their smooth-flowing game will next face Slovenia Wednesday in the quarterfinals, but the role of favorite is not one that Pau Gasol is relishing. “We were favorites in 2007 and could not do it,” the Los Angeles Lakers center said. As for the 2009 tournament, he said: “We went there as favorites as well but that didn't last long.” Although Spain lost group matches to Serbia and Turkey two years ago, the team went on to win the title over the Serbs in Poland. This year, Spain has already lost to Turkey but still looks like the strongest team heading into the knockout round. And first up is Slovenia, which became the last team to clinch a slot in the quarterfinals when it beat Finland Monday. “Slovenia is a tough, dangerous team,” said Pau Gasol, who has been averaging 20.4 points in Lithuania despite nursing an ankle injury. “We know them well, though, after playing twice against them in the pre-tournament warmup games. “They have a good inside game, with (center Erazem) Lorbek as their main man. But they are also dangerous from outside with Goran Dragic, who creates a lot.” Dragic is a backup guard with the Houston Rockets, while Zoran Dragic plays in the Slovenian league. “His brother Zoran is playing very well and Jaka Lakovic can hit five 3-pointers in a row,” Gasol added. With Gasol's ankle getting better but still not 100 percent, Slovenia guard Saso Ozbolt said the Spanidards will be under more pressure than Slovenia because they have won so easily so far. “It could happen that we finally explode when we really need it,” Ozbolt said. “The Gasol brothers are exceptionally dominant. If you concentrate on them, the others take over, that's why it's so tough to play against Spain. We have to step our defense and try to keep them under 60 points.” The unexpected story line of the tournament has been the success of Macedonia. The former Yugoslav republic nearly pulled off another major upset against Russia, but Sergey Monya's 3-pointer saved the Russians. Because of that, Macedonia now faces the daunting task of playing Lithuania. In Thursday's other quarterfinals, France meets Greece and Russia plays Serbia in a repeat of their showdown at the same stage two years ago that Serbia won 79-68.
