Clash of TOP conductors. Satoransky versus German boss, Serbs want Czechs in Prague
Dominance against Bulgaria, turn with the Croats. The Czech basketball players came out of the Pardubice tournament undefeated last weekend, and they intend to confirm their role as the dark horses of EuroBasket in Hamburg, where the DBB Supercup or the next stage of preparation for the EC awaits. On Friday, from 8:30 p.m., they will face the home team of Germany (PP Nova Sport 2), and on Saturday, they will compete for the position with the Italians or the Serbians. “These will be matches at a higher level than in Pardubice. All the teams there are even better than the Croatians and I’m not even talking about the Bulgarians. They will arrive with complete rosters, so they will definitely take it seriously,” captain Vojtěch Hruban realizes.
Hamburg’s Barclays Arena, which can accommodate up to 14,000 spectators for basketball, will be booming. All the starting teams are in the top 12 of the FIBA world rankings – Serbia fifth, Italy tenth, Germany eleventh and the Czech Republic twelfth.
On Thursday, Ronen Ginzburg’s team traveled to the venue of the tournament by train, and the home team will play at the start. The Germans, the eighth team in last year’s Olympic Games, are among the regulars on the international stage. “They have a very good soup and a very good domestic league. They show it in every qualification, when they advance to all the championships with complete ease. But for some reason, they don’t do well in big tournaments. So they are very hungry to prove something at their home European Championship,” Hruban.
The Germans are led by point guard Dennis Schröder, a 28-year-old sharpshooter with nine seasons in the NBA, most recently a Houston player. And also the 100% owner of Braunschweig Löwens, i.e. the club whose colors were defended this year by Martin Peterka and Ondřej Sehnal. Daniel Theis reigns under the shirt, who was recently Tomáš Satoranski in Chicago for a few months last year and now wears the clothes of Indiana. And young Franz Wagner, who was voted the fifth best rookie of the last year of the NBA for his performance in Orlando, is also present. On the other hand, his older brother Moritz, also a player of the Orlando Magic, misses the representative summer due to an ankle injury.
Friday | 18:00 | Serbia – Italy | PP Nova Sport 2 |
Friday | 8:30 p.m | CZECHIA – Germany | PP Nova Sport 2 |
Saturday | 4:00 p.m | for third place | PP Nova Sport 2 |
Saturday | 6:30 p.m | final | PP Nova Sport 2 |
The Czechs last played the tournament in Hamburg in 2019 as part of the preparation for the World Cup in China. And then the Germans swept them 87:68 in the final. “They ran us over a lot back then. They were big, they played with a lot of power and we didn’t match that on the day. This will be the goal for the match – to be ready for it. Because we think we are tall, but they are half a head taller at all positions,” claims Hruban.
On Saturday, the Czechs can play against the Italians or the Serbs, led by NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who are in the basic Prague EuroBasket group. And if the Czechs could choose, they would rather not reveal their cards before the ME. “I was a little surprised that they are at the German tournament at all. Personally, I would rather have them in Europe,” Jaromír Bohačík smiled and Hruban nodded his head. “Playing with the Italians would probably be better.”
The Czech team went to Hamburg with fourteen players already without Tomáš Vyoral and “Canadian” reinforcement James Karnik. Before the start of EuroBasket, the coaching team has to narrow down the nomination by two more names.
After arriving in Prague on Sunday, Ginzburg’s team will fly to Paris on Monday, where they will play against France in the qualifying World Cup on Wednesday, August 24. Three days later, the basketball players will welcome Chomut’s Hungary, and the EC will kick off for them in Prague’s O2 Arena on Friday, September 2, with a match against Poland.
Germany will be a tough test for Czech basketball players. The second report costs the pusher of the opponent Dennis Schröder