VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - It's not a game that people in Spain will want to remember, the national team's 65-52 drubbing at the hands of France at last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The outcome ended the hosts' bid for a podium finish.

The sooner every Spaniard forgets that setback, the better.

The only problem is, no one is ever going to forget.

It's the biggest upset in the national team's history.

It's not even like it was a tough pill to swallow because those will eventually go down.

It was like a three-day old, rock-hard French baguette.

You know that's never going to go down.

The one thing that I cannot digest from that defeat to France is the fact that Felipe Reyes did not play a single second of that game.

At 35 years of age, no one would have expected Reyes to play 25 minutes, 20 or even 15.

But to not even get off the bench?

Coach Juan Antonio Orenga has already been pilloried for Spain's early exit from the World Cup, so there's no need to rake him over the coals again.

But since we will never forget that defeat, it's worth remembering that Reyes did not play.

Orenga didn't get his veterans like Reyes the amount of playing time they needed in the tournament and it eventually cost him because when push came to shove in that pivotal game against France, Reyes was a player that would have fought to the death.

On the bright side for Reyes, he has responded with arguably his best-ever season at Real Madrid.

He became the Turkish Airlines Euroleague's all-time leader in total rebounds midway through this season.

Some say statistics cannot measure a player's worth, yet for Reyes, they illustrate how terrific and utterly important he was for Real Madrid in the 2014-15 Euroleague.

He ranked first in offensive rebounds per 40 minutes (5.4), third in index rating (29.9) and fouls drawn (8.6), fifth in scoring (23.4), sixth in two-pointers made (7.8) and 10th in rebounds (11.2).

While averaging under 20 minutes per game, Reyes flat-out dominated when he was the court.

As a consequence, he is deservedly a member of the All-Euroleague First Team.

Vassilis Spanoulis, Milos Teodosic, Boban Marjanovic and Euroleague MVP Nemanja Bjelica are also on the First Team.

So from zero minutes against France at the World Cup to All-Euroleague, Reyes has let his play do the talking.

Reyes, Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro were members of the title-winning side at the 1999 World Championship for Junior Men in Portugal.

Reyes is a member of Spain's golden generation and just as his 2014-15 campaign has shown, he's not ready to be put out to pasture.

Not by a long way.

I can't think of another player that I would want to be in the team this summer more than Reyes when the national team tries to rebound from last year's disappointment.

Reyes has never been about grace, or about NBA stardom.

He's one of those players that is all about heart, grit and intestinal fortitude.

Reyes crashes the boards. He plays defense.

Reyes is the player that you want your kid to play like.

The good news when it comes to Reyes and Spain is that he wants to play.

Felipe, see you in Berlin.

Sergio Scariolo, over to you.

FIBA

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