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Basketball squad on championship defense

Women qualify for EuroBasket finals

By Victor Velek
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
October 3rd, 2007 issue

The women’s national basketball team has gotten off to a strong start in defense of its European championship, securing a place in the quarterfinals of the 2007 EuroBasket tournament with a 7567 win over Lithuania Sept. 30.
Returning with eight players from the 2005 squad that barnstormed to the European championship, head coach Jan Bobrovský and his team has set out to prove that this year’s squad has lost none of its star quality.
“Bringing home a medal would be nice,” Bobrovský said before leaving with the team for Italy, the host of the competition that takes place every two years. “But I would be content with finishing among the top five as well.”
There’s much at stake: Teams that earn medals at the tournament will automatically qualify for next year’s Summer Olympics in Beijing, while squads placing fourth and fifth will have to play qualifiers to join the Olympic Games.
Bobrovský expects to make it to China.
“Yes, I want to be there,” he said. “The Olympics are a great motivator for every sportsman.”
After the preliminary stage of the championship, Bobrovský had no reason to reconsider his aspirations. His team seemed ripe for a medal and maybe even for a gold repeat.
Beginning its title defense Sept. 24, the Czechs smashed Israel 7543, and then recorded large-margin wins over Turkey and Latvia.
However, in the tourney’s next round Bobrovský’s team stumbled, upset by Germany 5447. The squad was toothless against the precise German defense. “Our shooting was poor,” Bobrovský said after the match.
The reigning champs recovered, although their uninspired play during the first half of the following match against Lithuania, two nights later, was still redolent of the German defeat. The Czechs lagged behind until the end of the third quarter, when a series of baskets by captain Hana Machová spurred the players back to life, eventually leading to their hardscrabble 7567 win.
The team played one more qualifying match against Belgium Oct. 2. The quarterfinals were scheduled to begin two days later.
Although considered one of the tourney’s favorites, Bobrovský remains modest, rejecting any praise aimed at his team.
“I don’t want to see us as the favorite,” he said. “The Russians and Spanish are definitely the strongest teams and there are also dark horses in the tournament — Belarus and Serbia, for example.”
However, Bobrovský is confident in his players.
“It is a strong team, maybe more mature now than it was two years ago,” he said. “But I prefer to stay out of the limelight and aim high from the back of the crowd.”

Victor Velek can be reached at vvelek@praguepost.com


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