KATOWICE (EuroBasket Women 2011) - It hasn't been an easy week for Poland coach Dariusz Maciejewski.

As the host nation of the EuroBasket Women, the Poles are supposed to have the added advantage of raucous home support in Katowice but the team may as well have played somewhere else because despite the cheers and applause, Maciejewski's group has suffered three defeats in four games.

They are on the brink of elimination after Wednesday's 62-53 Round 2 defeat to Latvia.

Twelve years on from Poland's most famous moment in the sport, when the women's team led by Margo Dydek captured European Championship gold in front of their own fans, the latest edition of the national team has failed in one important category.

Maciejewski's team hasn't been able to put the ball in the basket.

The latest team the Polish attack faltered against was Latvia.

Poland had a 33-29 lead at half-time but their offense simply ground to a halt after the interval.

They made just seven of their 37 shots from the floor in the second half.

Maciejewski received a couple of significant blows long before the start of the EuroBasket Women when two key players were ruled out.

Poland's best player, Agnieszka Bibrzycka, the 28-year-old scoring machine who is expecting a baby, couldn't play and neither could injured 24-year-old power forward Magdalena Leciejewska. Maciejewski has been deprived of two weapons that might have made a significant difference.

Opposing defenses are taking them completely out of their game.

This summer might have seen the crowning achievement for Maciejewski as a coach.

Opportunities to lead a host nation at a EuroBasket Women don't come around often.

"I am devastated that my team cannot play the tactics when placed under pressure by our opponents," the coach said after the loss to Latvia.

"We don´t have individual quality to solve our games so we depend on team work.

"But I am sad because we have worked hard yet we are still lacking certain elements that are needed to win games.

"We need every player to be in the right position, to time the passes better.

"Everything has to work like a clock and it is not.

"I need every player to contribute, to help the team.

"We seem to be out of position and that forces errors and helps the opponents."

Poland did not do a bad job on Wednesday against Latvia.

Defensively, they were solid, save one very important sequence of the game.

Had Kristine Karklina not hit a three-pointer from the left corner midway through the fourth quarter just as the shot-clock expired, and had Gunta Basko not followed immediately with a three from the wing to allow Latvia to stretch an advantage of three points to nine, Poland might have been able to grind out a victory.

Karklina was left open, though, and Basko, who had already hit a couple of three-pointers, was given enough space to successfully launch another three-ball.

It was at the other end of the floor where Poland really had their problems.

"We lacked discipline," a crestfallen Maciejewski said.

"Fighting is just simply not enough to win a game.

"We lacked discipline on offense."

FIBA