BRUSSELS (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - Belgium are doing a good job of making up for lost time after an 18-year absence from the FIBA EuroBasket.

The country will make a fourth straight appearance at the event this summer when it plays Great Britain, Russia, Serbia, Latvia and Turkey in Group D, in Istanbul. Then in November, Belgium will compete in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers. National team coach Eddy Casteels has spoken to FIBA.com.

What are your thoughts on Belgium's FIBA EuroBasket 2017 opponents?
It's a very difficult draw. We're facing Latvia. Turkey have home advantage. We play a talented Russia that is building into a new, top program with players like Alexey Shved and so on. We realize what Serbia is all about. This is a problem, but one that we created and a problem that we wanted. We've been busting our tails for so long to face them, to be part of them.

Belgium are good but most pundits do not rate your chances against some of these teams. Does that bother you?
Maybe we're not as highly thought of and I understand that, yet they should know what Belgium is all about. If they don't, they can talk a little bit to Lithuania (Belgium beat Lithuania at EuroBasket 2015).

Belgium are going to play at a fourth straight EuroBasket yet there is still a long way to go.
We are facing the Himalayas and we know that. But we realize there have been people on top of the Himalayas. We're proud to be there, proud to compete with Europe's top nations like Serbia, Turkey, Russia and all the others. We created that problem ourselves and we love that problem.

We believe in ourselves, we believe in the talent that we have and we believe in the future we have. CasteelsCasteels

The veterans that missed last summer's successful qualifying campaign will no doubt play at EuroBasket. Some youngsters did help Belgium qualify, though. Are you encouraged by what you've been seeing from the up-and-coming players?
Of course. The first item of the program that we started so many years ago that brought us into the European Championship several years ago is to have respect for everything that we do, everybody that was part of it. I'm a coach that has a lot of respect for Jonathan Tabu, Maxime De Zeeuw, Axel Hervelle, Sam Van Rossom - talents that brought us this far. We also know they want a great future for our country. But we're looking forward to introducing players on the senior scene like Hans Vanwijn, Manu Lecomte, Retin Obasohan, Ismael Bako. We have amazing talent.

So we can expect to see some youngsters at FIBA EuroBasket?
We have options for the future and it's in the back of my head to introduce these people and give them the opportunity to feel what it's all about, to recognize what the difference is to be great at a youth championship and what it takes to be great in a senior championship. We try to take into account every detail that we have into this experience.

Have you been pleased with Lecomte's development in American college basketball at Baylor University?
A talent like Manu Lecomte, no matter what his decision is, going to the States or in a different direction like a European selection, he finds his way. This type of player is very special. I like what I have seen on DVD about the kid and we know that he's one of our options for the future. Sometimes it works out (to go to America) like Manu did, and sometimes you struggle a little bit. But that's for every European player. Manu is special, he knows what this level is all about and knows that we are counting on his talent.

How do you strike a balance when it comes to giving young guys experience at a big tournament but not at the expense of winning?
No matter what a player's talent is, the approach of Belgium is not necessarily to take our best players over there but our best team. Basketball is a team game and if we want to compete with all of these countries on an individual basis, well, then you've got to be special. You've got to face someone like Latvia and Kristaps Porzingis with our identity, like we have against great teams in the past. We have to fight like a team and create these surprises whenever they come to us and try to remain there with consistency.

So heading into training camp in mid-July, you think some youngsters could be on the plane to Istanbul?
For a European Championship, the most important thing is the result. We want to aim as high as possible. We want to win. But I'm 100 percent sure in these people, and that's why so many of these young talents will get the opportunity to enjoy and get the feeling of the experience. In the back of my mind, one is the result and two, make the combination as we have done in the past, introduce and work with our young talents on the European scene for our future. That's for sure.

You have a glitzy home game for the fans to get excited about as part of the build-up to the EuroBasket.
Yes, for the first time in our history, friendly-wise, Spain is coming to Belgium and we want to treat that country with amazing respect. It's going to be a big day, the 23rd of August, in Brussels.

What do you think about the World Cup Qualifiers and playing in Group E against France, Russia and a team that comes from the Pre-Qualifiers?
We're heading into France to play a FIBA EuroBasket preparation tournament with France, Montenegro, and Italy and it's a good occasion one, to face France like we have done almost every year, and two, make an analysis of the other two teams. Now there is a big difference with France before (Tony) Parker and after Parker (Parker retired from the national team after the 2016 Olympics). I have so much respect for that player. This kid offered his career for close to 20 years to France, not only to play with France but to get them on the podium and win a gold medal (FIBA EuroBasket 2013).

The France team you see in the summer won't resemble the France team in the World Cup Qualifiers, though.
That's right, playing them in the summer is going to be totally different to playing them in the windows because their team is based on eight, nine NBA players and like we all already know, there will not be a liberation (from the NBA) to use these players (in the World Cup Qualifiers). For Russia, I always make that difference between the past and the future. I saw Shved play 10, 15 times this year with Khimki. What a talent. If everyone there is available and at his best, every time they go to a European Championship, they have a chance for the podium.

If you advance in the World Cup Qualifiers, Belgium look every bit as good as their potential Second Round opponents (Czech Republic, Iceland and Finland), if not better. Is that fair?
We're looking at our opponents, that's one. Two, we're always looking at our potential and the options that we have. Like I said in the past, one, we're happy to come there. Two, we're ready to play there. And now, I think we have the right to say we show up there to compete. We believe in ourselves, we believe in the talent that we have and we believe in the future we have. You don't show up on that scene being scared, no matter how big the name (of the opponent).

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