New coach satisfied with Olympics preparations of Spanish basketball team

MADRID, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Spain's new national basketball coach Aito Garcia Reese has expressed his delight with the progress of his squad just one week after the start of preparations for this summer's Beijing Olympic Games.

"Everything is going very well," Garcia Reese, who replaced Vicente Hernandez as coach in June, told Spanish newspaper "El Mundo Deportivo" in an interview published on Sunday.

He explained the work he had carried out during his first seven days in charge of the reigning world champions.

"We have taken full advantage of our training sessions. We have worked on individual defense and attacking moves and now we are working on zonal attack and defense," he said. "The objective is to get the players in the best possible shape for the friendly games we have and that means we also have to make advances in our tactics. "

Spain won the World Championships in Japan in 2006, and took the silver medal in last year's European Championships.

Given their recent performances in international competitions, Spain will be among the favorites to win a medal in Beijing. However, Garcia Reese would not like to discuss that possibility at the moment.

"We have to always give our best and if we give our best and we end up as champions then that is very good. But if we don't win, it will also be all right," said the former Barcelona and DKV Joventut coach.

"Spain has to aspire to win gold ...but everyone has to aim for the maximum," he said.

Garcia Reese spoke highly of the current Spanish squad. "It is a good generation of players and I mean that on both and individual and collective level. That means they know how to play as a team and to be companions."

"I am very happy in that sense, because it is good to coach a side that has learned good habits," he added.