BRUSSELS (FIBA) - One major plus for FIBA's new system of competition will be more meaningful home games for national teams.

That's how Belgium coach Eddy Casteels sees it.

Over a four-year cycle from 2017 through 2021, national teams will play regular home and away games to qualify for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the 2021 FIBA Continental Cups.

"Of course that's good," Casteels said to FIBA.com.

"The way Belgian basketball developed the last seven, eight years, building up in Klaipeda (EuroBasket 2011) and getting better in Ljubljana (EuroBasket 2013) and then improvement again in Lille (EuroBasket 2015), having windows during the season when the Belgium national team shows up to play in front of the home crowd in home and away situations, I think it's even better."

The windows for the national team games will be 20-28 November in 2017, then 19-27 February, 25 June to 3 July, 10-18 September and 26 November to 4 December in 2018.

The last window will be 20-28 February in 2019.

Belgium played at EuroBasket 2015

Casteels said: "I have people around me say, 'It's been too long. We miss the national team, we're so proud of it, we're getting better. We're competitive with the better countries.'"

The way it has worked for more than a decade for Belgium and other countries is that fans of the national team have only watched them play warm-up games before big tournaments, unless a country is a host of a major event.

"We always have to work into a window of four or five or six weeks when the national team is playing," Casteels said.

"And now national teams can show up on a regular basis.

"I think that's a better impact for the national team basketball than having in August when you have three or four national team home games in preparations, four or five away, 11 or 12 overall.

"Now every game you play will be more or less official.

"It's win or lose situation.

"Sometimes in preparations games, these games are a totally different (lower) quality level of competition and I think something like Belgium is going to benefit from this."

Another aspect to the new system of competition that Casteels agrees with is the additional benefit for the players.

When they take breaks with their club sides, they will already be in good physical condition when they join up with the national teams.

"The players are going to be in shape," Casteels said.

"And if you compete at that kind of level, you are going to be smart enough.

"They have the game insight, they have the game experience and intelligence to recognize what it's all about."

Casteels has enormous respect for the players who have continually shown up to represent Belgium over the years, including those that play abroad like Axel Hervelle of Bilbao and Sam Van Rossom of Valencia Basket.

Belgium celebrate after beating Lithuania at EuroBasket 2015

The commitment has been second to none, which is one reason why the team has competed at the last three EuroBaskets.

"The way I see Axel Hervelle or Sam Van Rossom, they were the real leaders to show up and invest in the national team and they came for their country," Casteels said.

"They wanted to build up a program that brought Belgium back to the top level.

"I don't see a reason why they would not do it now.

"Their insight or approach won't change."

FIBA