MINNESOTA (NBA) - For over a decade, Spanish basketball has been one of the most successful in the world. After winning two European titles, the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and silver medals at 2008 and 2012 Olympics, Spain was expecting to make history last summer by hosting the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

But unfortunately for la Roja, the dream of winning the world crown in front of their fans reached an end after losing against France in the quarterfinals.

After last summer’s disappointment and as time goes by for the players of the Golden Generation - such as Chicago Bulls’ Pau Gasol and FC Barcelona’s Juan Carlos Navarro -, Spain’s men national team is starting to make a transition in order to continue being competitive by giving more responsibility to some younger players like Minnesota Timberwolves’ Ricky Rubio.

The talented point guard and former DKV Joventut Badalona product is expected to be one of the pillars of the national team for the years to come.

Considered as one of the most talented European prospects of the last few years, Rubio, who started his professional career at age 14, has already won a few medals with the national team, including gold at the 2009 and 2011 Eurobasket and silver at the 2008 Olympics.

Selected by former Spain’s men’s national team head coach Juan Orenga to be part of the roster that competed in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the young point guard had some good performances during the tournament, averaging 5.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.

Currently focused on his fourth NBA season with the Wolves, the Spanish playmaker was having a great start, averaging 9.4 points, 10.0 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game until he suffered an ankle injury a few days ago, which will sideline him for the next two months.

Rubio’s injury is a huge blow for the Minneapolis-based franchise, which counts on his European prodigy to be one of its leaders after the departure of Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

FIBA.com caught up with Rubio to talk about the NBA season and the last FIBA Basketball World Cup.

FIBA: You agreed on a 4-year, 55 million dollars extension with the team. How do you feel about the changes that happened in the last few weeks?
Rubio: I am very happy to have signed this new contract and excited to be part of the future of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The talks lasted long weeks and I really wanted to sign my contract before the start of the season. I don’t like to think about things other than playing basketball and I didn’t want to be disturbed by negotiations about the contract while the season was going on. Now that my new contract is signed, I am 100% focused on the court and on helping my team win games.

FIBA: Your new contract and the departure of Kevin Love to Cleveland give you more responsibility.
Rubio: Yes. The fact that Kevin Love left the franchise gives more responsibility to all the players, including myself. He did a lot of good things during his spell in Minneapolis but we still have a very competitive roster with lot of young talent. I know that, starting now, I have more responsibility, but I am ready for that. I am still a young player, but I like to give advice to the other players. I think that I am becoming a better leader day after day.

FIBA: Between the young guns that are part of Wolves’ roster are two of the most exciting Canadian prospects, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. What do you think about them?
Rubio: They are very talented players and they are working hard to be the best players they can be. They have been showing a lot of great things during practice and games this season. Both are former number one draft picks, so that speaks for itself. Both Andrew and Anthony are very young but I am sure they are going to be great and solid players in this league. With those two players, Canada has the potential to build a very competitive national team.

FIBA: Losing in the quarterfinals of the last 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was probably one of most disappointing moments of your career so far.
Rubio: It was a huge disappointment. We wanted to reach the final and win the gold medal, but I guess that we thought about the final instead of thinking about one game at a time. We played well during the first round but everything went bad during that game against France. We didn’t shoot well, and France played at an incredible level. We need to learn from Spain 2014.

FIBA: What do you think about the future of the national team?
Rubio: We failed to win the world title last summer, but we have been doing very well in the last few years. Spain is still a very competitive national team, and I am sure that we are going to win a lot of trophies in the years to come. 

FIBA