The European Championship of basketball players begins, after 41 years the championship will also be hosted by Prague
Update: 31/08/2022 16:10
Issued by: 31/08/2022, 16:10
Prague – The European Basketball Championship will start on Thursday, and after 41 years, Prague will also be its venue. In the O2 arena, the program, including the Czech national team’s duel with Poland, will not begin until Friday. One day earlier, games A and B will be played in Tbilisi and Cologne, while Milan (group C) will be played simultaneously with all Ds in the Czech capital. The Slovenians are defending the title from 2017.
The tournament was originally supposed to take place last year, but after the coronavirus pandemic and the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to last summer, it was postponed by a year. The EC was held in Prague twice during the former Czechoslovakia, and both times the home team won a medal. In 1947, in the hall of Sokol Královská Vinohrady in Prague, the Czechoslovak representatives won silver. In 1981, after the basic groups held in Bratislava and Havířov, they won bronze in the Sports Hall in Prague. The World Cup has never been played in the country.
“It is basketball of the highest international level, which we were able to bring to us in the Czech Republic. I am glad that we are playing it perhaps in one of the nicest halls in Europe, in the O2 arena. Everything will depend on the output. For me, the team is not the result, but emotions. What not only adults, but also children will take away from the O2 arena and say to themselves: ‘Basketball is a pretty cool sport. I’d like to continue to be a part of it,'” Jiří said about the premier organization of the men’s championship during the time of the independent Czech Republic Welsch, one of five Czech players who played in the NBA.
One of the main favorites of the championship, Serbia, will present itself in Prague. Its driving force is the pivot Nikola Jokic from Denver, the most valuable player of the NBA for the last two seasons. The Serbians, on the other hand, have to cope with the absence of Bogdan Bogdanović from Atlanta. “For me, he is the biggest favorite of our group and one of the biggest favorites of EuroBasket,” said the 22-year-old Welsch, a former player of Golden State, Boston, Cleveland and Milwaukee, who said goodbye to the national team after the last EC. The Czechs finished in 20th place.
“I consider France and Germany to be next. Of course it could be anyone else. Even if France lost the match (World Cup qualification) in Bosnia, it is a team that is absolutely top for a long time,” said Welsch about the silver team from the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The French also have in their ranks three-time best NBA defender Rudy Gobert, Minnesota’s June signing from Utah.
“The Germans have a very good team and they will still miss Moritz Wagner. They can be very good at home. Let’s not forget that the Germans won the European Championship at home in 1993,” added Welsch. The Germans play on point guard Dennis Schröder, who last played in the NBA for Houston, or winger Franz Wagner from Orlando.
Slovenes with Dallas star Luka Dončič lead the defense of former Nymburk coach Aleksander Sekulić, who left the Czech champion for the Russian club Kuban Krasnodar in the summer. He took over the team from Rado Trifunovič the year before last and finished fourth behind the USA, France and Australia under the five rings in Tokyo.
There are also other personalities from the NBA in the lineups – Janis Adetokunbo from Milwaukee in the Greece team or Jonas Valanciunas from New Orleans with Domantas Sabonis from Sacramento from Lithuania. The 2019 world champions Spain have the mainstays of New Orleans’ Willy Hernangómez and his brother Juancho Hernangómez, a new acquisition from Toronto, available from the world’s best league.
Coach Ronen Ginzburg’s team will fight for a place in the playoffs alongside Poland and Serbia (September 3), as well as the Netherlands (September 5), Finland (September 6) and Israel (September 8). “We should forget about Serbia a little bit, and there are probably no other good teams here in Europe that we also have to beat. Too many weak teams. The Hungarians showed it to us on Saturday in Chomutov, and if anyone thinks that Finland, Holland and Poland will come here to sit on our ass, so that’s not the case,” added Welsch.
Four teams from the six-member basic groups will advance to the round of 16, and the play-off will take place in Berlin. The best teams play cross-over with the fourth team from the secondary group and the second teams with the third. The round of 16 will be followed by the quarter-finals, six finals with no further matches for the final position. Only the bronze will be played. The new champion will be crowned on September 18.