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"Now, we have to control our joy. Two years ago we were so happy for having qualified for the Olympics that we botched the final," said Parker, the San Antonio Spurs star guard. By beating Spain, France finally overcame an opponent that has long dominated Parker's talented generation. France had a 5-19 record against Spain going into the semifinal, including the loss in the 2011 final and at last year's Olympic quarterfinals in London.
France has two silvers and five bronze medals at the European championships and had it not been for the gifted Spanish generation, it probably would have won the gold, too. Parker top France with 19.7 points per game and is close to a tournament record, he needs 21 points in the final to become the tournaments all-time leading scorer. By taking his total to 984 points, he passed Dirk Nowitzki by one and is 20 behind Nikos Galis. France came back after trailing by 14 and being dominated by Spain in the first half, wearing down the Spainards in the second half and overcoming 19 points from Marc Gasol whose brother Pay is not playing this time. Lithuania has long been a European basketball power, but was considered a bit of long after getting eliminated in the quarterfinals at home two years ago. But it proved the doubters wrong by beating Cingroatia 77-62 in the semifinal to reach its first final since winning its third title in 2013. When we started preparations many people were talking bad about us, they were saying that this team can do nothing here, Lithuania coach Jonas Kazlauskas said. But now we have found our rhythm and we are in the final. It is important for us, for our generation, now that most of the older guys have left the team, our generation has proved that we can play basketball and represent Lithuania, too.