Spain Faces Mali With Less Than 12 Hours Rest: "FIBA Will Have to Rethink the Schedule"

Spain finished its debut against Germany at 7:26 p.m. on Friday. This Saturday at 11:30 a.m. it takes the court again. Sixteen hours between the end of one game and the start of the next, an unusual situation in an international tournament.

What it means in practice

The schedule leaves no room for anything. After the first game: media attention, press conference, travel to the hotel, dinner upon arrival, treatment with physiotherapists and to bed as soon as possible.

This Saturday everything is moved up. Breakfast from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., video session half an hour later and departure at 9:30 toward the Max Schmeling Halle, where the match takes place. No morning shootaround, which is the usual routine for any team on game day.

The complaint, with names attached

There is frustration in the Spanish delegation, and María Conde held nothing back: "The schedule needs to be rethought. FIBA will have to reconsider it because there's talk of prioritizing athletes, but it's not happening and we won't even have 12 hours to rest."

Head coach Miguel Méndez addressed it from a technical standpoint and his explanation is equally revealing: "It's what we had to do in terms of studying our opponents. We came with two different game plans." In other words, they prepared the first two World Cup games simultaneously before traveling, because they knew there wouldn't be time between one and the other.

The Spanish Basketball Federation, anticipating the scenario, had already scheduled two games on consecutive days in the Zaragoza warm-up tournament, though with more time between them than this.

And facing a physical opponent

The schedule is even tighter because Mali is no pushover. The recent precedent, that friendly in Zaragoza, ended 97-58, but was played without the African players from the WNBA.

Mali, ranked 18th in the FIBA rankings, stands out above all for its physical power. "It will be a very demanding game physically, but also in terms of basketball because they have players who are stars in the Liga Femenina Endesa and are very accustomed to playing in Europe," Méndez warned. Two of their key players compete in Spain: Aminata Sangaré, a 6-1 power forward for Leganés, and Sika Kone, a 6-3 center for CAB Estepona.

The Africans arrive coming off a 97-102 loss to Japan in a high-scoring game, which anticipates another fast-paced encounter. Exactly what's least convenient with sixteen hours of rest.