AUS – Emus coach upbeat in spite of Norton blow

PANEVEZYS (Global Games | FIBA U19 World Championship) – The Australian coach Damian Cotter believes the preparations for the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship in Latvia couldn’t have gone better and has high expectations for the upcoming event.

With that said, Australia took a massive blow when the team’s starting point guard, Mitchell Norton, broke a bone in his foot with less than a week to go to the tournament.

The man at the helm of the Australian team took the news calmly, saying that it would be a big challenge, but not a one that could spoil his team’s chances to have a successful World Championship.

Having led the Emus to triumph in the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim, which is considered to be the unofficial World Championship for the U18 level, last year with almost the same team, coach Cotter feels confident with his team before the soon-to-start championship.

However, the he isn’t keen on glancing at the rear-view mirror and hopes that that his team can benefit from meeting strong opposition, which Australia lacks in Oceania, in the Global Games tournament.

Coach Cotter found the time to speak with us after Australia’s second game in Panevezys, which the Emus lost 70-80 to Lithuania.

FIBA: What will you take from the game against Lithuania?

Damian Cotter: We had couple of adjustments to make with our personnel and tried a few things differently. I think Lithuania did a very good job of taking us out of our rhythm.

For us it was a game we needed to have, we needed to be challenged and play good teams and that’s what we wanted to get in this tournament. Lithuania are a good team, ranked number one in Europe and my guys from the other side of the world don’t often get exposed to that as much. I think it was very good for us.

FIBA: How has the whole preparation process gone so far?

Cotter: It’s been good for us. Our federation has been very supportive – we’ve had a tour to Croatia and Russia and, being so far away, it’s important that we get exposure to these games. We’re very happy, as we’ve had a good preparation. And we’re just hopeful that we’ll have a successful time.

FIBA: How will the injury of Mitchell Norton affect your team?

Cotter: It’s always a challenge when you lose a starter. For us the only thing we really can do is look forward and not panic. I think that performance affected us tonight against Lithuania, we were a bit out of our rhythm, but nevertheless, there’s not much we can do about it. You got to deal with it.

FIBA: Can you describe how important Mitchell Creek and Hugh Greenwood are to the team?

Cotter: Mitchell and Hugh are both very important. We need them to make plays and the other blokes need to understand it and work with them. They’re two highly competitive athletes and set high standards. They’re just wonderful to coach.

FIBA: What can you say about your group?

Cotter: It’s a tough one, but I think everyone would say that their pool is tough. We expect competitive games, I don’t know much about Chinese Taipei at this point, but we think Argentina and Latvia will be tough.

We’re scouting them right now and as far as individuals go, I don’t want to give too much away, but we’re doing our homework, as, I’m sure, they are. We expect tough challenges ahead, but we feel good about our preparation.

FIBA: Does the fact that you won the Albert Schweitzer Tournament last year change anything as far as confidence goes?

Cotter: So many things have changed since Mannheim. The positive out of that is that we’ve had success in an international tournament with the majority of these kids, who are here now. Other than that it’s all in the past. What happened back then doesn’t really matter much now, right on the eve of the championship. We’ve got to focus on what we’ve got to do to be successful this time.

FIBA