Spain point guard Jose Manuel Calderon believes the absence of star player Pau Gasol will give him the chance to shine in the European Championships.

Spain begin their campaign against hosts Serbia & Montenegro on Friday, but despite over a month's preparation, Gasol, who is missing the competition to recover from a foot injury is still the name on everyone's lips.

His absence has allowed other players such as Jorge Garbajosa to shine and, while playing a different role, Calderon, who joined the Toronto Raptors during the summer, believes his game will also benefit from the enforced change in style.

"We have a different way of playing," he said.

		“	We have to look for the positive side of his absence	„
		Jose Calderon

"We have lost out best player, but we have a good enough team not to notice it. There is now no leader who can have a bad day and complicate things for everyone.

"Having a player such as Pau has a lot of advantages, but we have to look for the positive side of his absence. For example now we can run more on the transition plays.

"I don't want to say that the team played for Gasol, we played as we had to play, but now we need everyone to win."

While Garbajosa has backed away from comments making him the new leader of the team, Calderon has no problem in being a new focus of attention.

"I have no problems at all, but it is not just me, we need other players to also help pull the wagon," he added.

"I like to win all of the time, no matter what sport I am playing, I am a winner and if I can save just one ball, I won't relax because I'll be thinking about the next one."