The generational change has already come, by force, to the Spanish team. The years do not forgive and the Eurobasket 2022 that starts this Thursday in Germany, Italy, Georgia and the Czech Republic will be the first in which none of the Gasol brothers will be present. The generation led by Pau has almost definitively faded – only Rudy Fernández is holding on – and the continental tournament will be the litmus test to check the health of national basketball. Without Pau, Marc, Navarro, Calderón, Sergio Rodríguez or the injured Ricky Rubio and Sergio Llull, and with the absences of Mirotic and Ibaka (it doesn’t look like they will return), doubts assail the team led by Sergio Scariolo, who has had no choice but to admit that the talent of this group is far inferior to that of the previous ones he has directed. The NBA Willy and Juancho Hernángomez are called to take an important step forward, and the nationalized – with much controversy – Lorenzo Brown must be the beacon in attack in the outside game. Rudy Fernández will bring the experience and the winning gene, and the contribution in a great tournament of the rest of the players, unknown to the general public, is unknown. Alberto Díaz, Jaime Fernández, Darío Brizuela, Xavier López-Aróstegui, Jaime Pradilla, Joel Parra, Sebas Saiz and Usman Garuba (another who has tried, without too many minutes, in the NBA), complete the coach’s list and it will be the tournament and his merits are the one that distributes the minutes and the roles of the boys from Scariolo. Spain is the great dominator of European basketball in this 21st century (three titles and a total of eight medals, it only got off the podium in the 2005 tournament), but the panorama has changed radically and La Familia, as the national team is now called, is not among the candidates for the title nor is it on the podium. Luka Doncic’s Slovenia –current champion–, Nikola Jokic’s Serbia –double NBA MVP–, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece –also twice chosen best player in the USA–, Gobert’s France or Sabonis’s Lithuania seem to be one or several steps above. Although before thinking about great feats, it’s time to focus on overcoming the group. There will be no problems qualifying for the round of 16, but the objective of Scariolo’s men is to do so as the leader to avoid a compromised crossover with Slovenia, France and Lithuania as possible rivals. Bulgaria and Belgium shouldn’t be a problem, and beating Montenegro and Georgia is a must. For the final day there will be the decisive clash a priori, the one that confronts the two favorites of the group: Turkey and Spain. Passing as first in the group guarantees La Familia a path that in theory should be easier until the semifinals, a level that It would be a great success to achieve. The debut will be this Thursday against Bulgaria (1:30 p.m.), where starting with good feelings seems of great importance in such an inexperienced group. Sasa Vezenkov (former Barça player and current Olympiacos player) and Galatasaray point guard Dee Bost will be the players to watch in the Spanish team. The post-Gasol brothers and post-Golden Generation era begins in this Eurobasket. It is time to find out if there is a relay of guarantees or it is time to face a desert crossing until the promising future generations that have given so much success this summer in the lower categories are ready to play with the older ones.