Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka says he is ready to help his adopted country Spain defend its European championship.

"I have to give all my energy on the court, that's my job," the 21-year-old Ibaka said. "I will do everything I can to help the team."

Ibaka, a native of the Republic of Congo, played for Spanish clubs for three years before moving to the NBA in 2009. He became a Spanish national this month.

He'll join Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol in the front court of a squad packed with NBA talent.

"I am excited to play with point guards Ricky (Rubio), (Jose) Calderon and (Barcelona's Victor) Sada because they make other players better, and also share the paint with Pau, Marc and (Madrid forward) Felipe (Reyes)," Ibaka said.

Canada got a sense of how much work they still have to do ahead of the FIBA Americas Championship as they were on the wrong end of a 106-44 rout by France on Tuesday night.

Boris Diaw had a huge night for the French with 16 points, eight assists and six rebounds, while Michael Gelabale added 15 points.

Denham Brown and Levon Kendall led Canada with eight points each.

Canada was held to just 29 percent shooting from the field and had just 17 points at half-time, with France having started the game on a 17-4 run to lead 57-17 at the break.

"Once the machine has started, it is hard to stop," is how Diaw summed up France's performance after the game.

Bulls draft pick Nikola Mirotic produced 29 points and 11 rebounds, leading Spain to an 82-70 win over Italy in the U20 European championship game.

The 6-foot-10 Mirotic was the tournament’s leading scorer. In nine games, he averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds, shot 59.5 percent from the field, 85.1 percent at the foul line and knocked down 10-of-25 attempts from 3-point range.

The Bulls traded two picks and cash to Minnesota in order to select Mirotic with the 23rd pick of this year’s draft. The Montenegro native is under contract with Spain’s Real Madrid and not expected to join the NBA for a few years.

Dirk Nowitzki will try to help his country reach the Olympics again.

The German Basketball Federation announced on Friday that both he and fellow NBA big man Chris Kaman will play for the national team at the EuroBasket in Lithuania.

Should Germany reach the Final, they will book a place in the London Games.

If they come in third, fourth, fifth or sixth, the German national team will be invited to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

"The break was very short, but I would like to help the German team be successful at the EuroBasket,” Nowitzki said to basketball-bund.de.

"I will try now to do everything to get top fitness and am looking forward to the time with my teammates."

Russia coach David Blatt confirmed to FIBA.com that NBA forward and EuroBasket 2007 MVP Andrei Kirilenko will be in Lithuania competing for the national team.

"He'll be with us 100% when we go to our first training camp outside Russia,” Blatt said, with Kirilenko having not featured for Russia since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

“In less than a week he'll be joining us.

"The insurance issue is something that I do not handle but our federation is completely on top of it and has taken care of that.

“In Andrei's case, I believe it's already done.”