BRATISLAVA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers) - Slovak Republic have announced their preliminary squad for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers to be played in August.

The team, to be coached by Ivan Rudez, will take on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden and Armenia. After the sides face each other both at home and away, the top two countries will clinch spots in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers.

Two names on the list, Kyle Kuric and Andre Jones, are Americans, but only one can make the roster as a naturalized player.

"Both Americans should come to Samorin," Rudez said to basket.zoznam.sk of the team's training camp in the small Slovak town in western Slovak Republic, southeast of Bratislava.

The coach says that Gran Canaria shooting guard Kuric, who returned to playing again this season after having a brain tumor removed, already has a Slovakian passport. Jones, whose Prievidza side lost in the Slovak Republic league's play-off semi-finals, is still waiting for his.

"Jones wants to play for Slovakia, too, I am looking forward to it," Rudez said. "He was not happy how the season ended in Prievidza. Kuric has had a Slovak passport for three years...I talked to him several times (about playing this summer). We'll see how it develops."

We'll go into every game with full strength and determination and try to achieve the best possible resultsRudezRudez

A player named in the squad that appears to have a big future is Prievidz native Vladimir Brodziansky, 6ft 11in (2.11m) power forward/center who averaged 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds this season in American college basketball with Texas Christian University.

There are also veterans like 6ft 6in (1.98m) power forward Richard Korner, a 26-year-old who averaged 10.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in last summer's qualifying campaign for FIBA EuroBasket 2017.

Rudez believes his team has the hardest group in the Pre-Qualifiers.

"The qualifying group is really tough," Rudez said in a statement. "The Swedes and the Bosnians have really strong teams.

"The quality of the Armenian squad will be based on whether they can make it work with a naturalized player from the U.S. We'll go into every game with full strength and determination and try to achieve the best possible results."

Slovakia Republic's first game is at Armenia on August 2 and three days later they play at Bosnia and Herzegovina. Slovakia then have three straight home games against Sweden (August 9), Armenia (August 12) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (August 16) before finishing at Sweden (August 19).

FIBA