WARSAW (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) – Poland head coach Mike Taylor has announced a 17-strong list replete of experienced players, including Adam Waczynski and Maciej Lampe, who will report on 23 July at the start of training camp for the upcoming FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers.

Coach Taylor meanwhile has decided that five aspiring senior national team debutants who were included on the initial 22-strong preliminary squad in June, Pawel Kikowski, Adam Lapeta, Pawel Leonczyk, Lukasz Wisniewski and Jaroslaw Zyskowski, will not take part in preparations this summer.

The 26-year-old Waczynski led Poland in scoring at FIBA EuroBasket 2015 last September and went on to have an excellent season with Natura Monbus Obradoiro in the Spanish Liga Endesa, averaging 15 points per contest. An injury kept him out of action during the last couple months of the competition but the sharp-shooting winger has recovered full fitness since.

Lampe meanwhile has not pulled on the national team jersey since FIBA EuroBasket 2013, where he had formed a powerful frontcourt duo with Polish superstar Marcin Gortat. The 31-year-old forward/center is coming off a very solid year with Besiktas Istanbul, contributing 12 points and seven rebounds per game in the Turkish Sportoto league.

Poland captain Lukasz Koszarek, who is the active player with most international caps, fellow veteran Adam Hrycaniuk, power forward Aaron Cel, up-and-coming winger Mateusz Ponitka and naturalised guard AJ Slaughter are also included on the squad and expected to play big roles in Poland's qualifying bid this summer.

"It's a group of very good players, who will do everything so that we become a good team," said Taylor. "I am glad that we have so many experienced players who for several years have constituted the strength of the Polish national team. I am very excited, I believe in our players. We want to continue our work and to qualify for next year's EuroBasket."

Poland will conduct the first stage of training camp in Walbrzych until 5 August and will then play their first two back-to-back warm-up games against Netherlands on 6 and 7 August. The Poles were drawn in Group D of the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers, together with Belarus, Estonia and Portugal.

FIBA