This offseason, a lot of NBA players from Europe still had a chance to play competitive basketball, as they represented their respective countries in the EuroBasket competition. Among those who participated is New York Knicks center Willy Hernangomez, who suited up for his home country of Spain.

Outside of facing some of the best centers in the continent, he also had the opportunity to learn from the Gasol brothers, Pau and Marc, who are considered as two of the most successful big men their country has ever produced. He shared recently, via Al Iannazzone of News Day, the takeaways he had while playing with them. He then said there are a lot of tricks he picked up from them, which will make him a better player.

“Being in EuroBasket, being with the Gasol brothers every day, I think is something special,” said Hernangomez. “I think I’m really a more complete player right now. So I feel like Gasol brothers, helped me a lot. They gave me great advice.”

“They told me a couple tricks. How to read the defense, tricks on how to be more focused during the game, before a game, so I can be more ready.

“On offense, a couple tricks that Pau showed me. Marc, how to play more in the low post, how to read the defense. Because now everybody knows me a little bit more, so I have to do better passes. I think it’s going to be a great challenge for me and I’m ready for it.”

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Only 23 years old, Hernangomez should feel fortunate for having the chance to be taught by the two. Both Gasol brothers have won gold medals for Spain in different international competitions and were also named All-Stars in the NBA. The young Spaniard, on the other hand, is only a few years into his professional career but is looking to have the same success as what his countrymen had.

If he can apply what he learned from Pau and Marc during the summer, it will definitely benefit his game and set his future up for success. It will also be interesting to see him compete versus his childhood heroes when the Knicks play the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies and witness how he’ll try to hold his own against them. However, after learning from the Gasols, it won’t come as a complete surprise if a lot of improvement will be seen from him this season, as he certainly chose a good pair to learn a lot from.