Next man up works like a charm for unbeaten Czechs

PRAGUE (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - The Czech Republic players and coaches heard the doomsayers.

Without Tomas Satoransky and Jan Vesely, some believed the Czechs would win neither of their World Cup Qualifiers against against Iceland or Finland. Yet the Czechs got not just one victory but two.

They first won at home over Iceland, 89-69, on November 24 and then, three days later, pulled away from Finland the fourth quarter for a 64-56 triumph in Helsinki.

So how did they do it? For starters, with no Satoransky and no Vesely, players had to step up and they did. Jaromir Bohacik, who averaged just 2.6 points per game in his first EuroBasket appearance this summer, exploded for 20 points against Iceland.

"We were a little bit nervous at the beginning but in the second half, we started hitting some outside shots and sealed a home win," Bohacik said, looking back.

Ginzburg had been disappointed that Bohacik had not had a good EuroBasket yet he remained hopeful that he'd become a big contributor. One of the coach's priorities in the summer had been to bring Bohacik to CEZ Nymburk, the club he held the reins for before deciding to step down from the position in October so he could devote all of his attention to the national team.

"I took him to Nymburk at the beginning of the season," Ginzburg said. "He struggled at the EuroBasket, even though he had a good preparation for the EuroBasket. Then he came to Nymburk and it took him some time. He just needed to understand that he could be a hell of a player if he just continued to work and believed in himself.

"He did well at Nymburk and continued with the national team. He can play three positions. He was the main reason for our win (over Iceland)."

I am not dreaming about the World Cup yet. I'm only dealing with February games, now.GinzburgGinzburg

Bohacik was an efficient 7 of 9 from the floor overall and 2 of 3 from 3-point range. He also played well on defense, coming up with 3 of the Czechs' 8 steals.

Then against the Finns, someone else turned on the style, although he'd been pretty good in the first game, too. Blake Schilb followed up his 15-point contribution in the home win over Iceland with a 17-point effort on the road.

The 33-year-old was 7 of 11 from 3-point range over the two games. In Helsinki, he was a Susijengi killer, drilling his first five 3-balls.

The Czech offense was not in the sort of rhythm that Ginzburg had wanted, yet the team nevertheless did well enough to get a substantial margin of victory over Finland.

"We had some bad turnovers at times," Schilb said, but "I think in the end, we got the shots we wanted, the defensive stops we needed."

Ginzburg could not be any happier with how things went for his team away from home.  

"It is was a great win for us in Finland and we are now in a great position in the group," he said.

"We can already slowly begin to think about what will follow in another group yet we must not look too far ahead. We still need to address this group."

The Czechs will need to finish in the top three of their First Round group or else they will be eliminated.

"I believe we'll move on from here and then we will see," Ginzburg said. "But I am not dreaming about the World Cup, yet. I'm only dealing with February games, now."

FIBA