Belarus ready to return to European battles

MINSK (FIBA World Championship for Women/EuroBasket Women 2015) - Anatoli Buyalski has been in this position before.

There are several months to go before the EuroBasket Women and he knows getting Belarus ready for the competition is going to be anything but easy.

Players will be with their clubs during the business ends of their respective seasons and they will then have to switch gears to prepare for an event that could serve as a springboard to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The coach will also know, however, that every other team at the EuroBasket Women is in the same position so Belarus will not be at a disadvantage.

Buyalski, who guided the national team to a third-place finish at EuroBasket Women 2007 and into the Beijing Olympics the following year, was recently put in charge of the national team for the third time in his career.

He also coached the team from 1996-99.

Buyalski has taken over again after a disappointing run at the FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey for Belarus, who finished 10th out of 16 teams with just two wins in four games.

The squad did have plenty of good moments in Istanbul, however.

Just a victory away from the Quarter-Finals, Belarus imploded in the fourth quarter and fell to China, 72-67.

At the EuroBasket Women, Belarus will play in Group B, in Romania, against Italy, Turkey, Greece and Poland.

"Our goal is to qualify for the Olympic quallification tournament," said Buyalski, who travelled to Istanbul to watch Belarus play at the World Championship.

"I hope we can call all of the best players up for the EuroBasket.

"It's very hard to prepare the team in such a short period of time, but we'll do our best to succeed."

One luxury that Buyalski should have that his predecessor, Rimantas Grigas, did not is the ability to call on Anastasiya Verameyenka and Marina Kress.

Verameyenka, a sweet-shooting yet powerful inside player, and back-up center Kress both took 2014 off and had babies.

Fans are hoping they will be a part of the Belarus team but it's too early yet to know if either will return.

One player that will be involved is Tatsiana Likhtarovich, the 26-year-old shooting guard who averaged 10.8 points per game in Turkey.

Likhtarovich looked to be on her way to a game-winning effort against China when she poured in 20 points and helped the team establish a huge lead.

China outscored Belarus 25-7 in the last quarter, though, to knock them out of the tournament.

Likhtarovich is eager to put on the national team shirt again.

"I'm really happy to have a chance to play against the best European teams again," she said.

"All of us are looking forward to competing at the EuroBasket Women and challenging ourselves against the most skillful national teams on the continent.

"It seems that our group doesn't look different from the others. Every team can beat everyone and qualify for the next round.

"So, yes, it will be very difficult task to get promotion, but I do like such challenges."

The main advantage that Belarus will have against nearly all of their opponents will be the presence of Yelena Leuchanka, who showed at the World Championship she remains one of the best players in the sport.

Not only did Leuchanka average 14.5 points, 13 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, she was the vocal leader on the court both in terms of making sure teammates were in the right places at the right times and also charging up Belarus emotionally.

Leuchanka, one of the premier players in the game for the past several years and a member of the Belarus team that very nearly reached the Final of the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, quickly put the Istanbul disappointment behind her and got on with other endeavors.

She is among the many star players to have moved to China to play this season and seems to be enjoying the experience. She was only recently named as the best women's player of Belarus for 2014.

Belarus have had highs and lows the past several years.

This was a team that played in Division B of the EuroBasket Women before 2007, when it started its climb under Buyalski and with greats like Leuchanka and former point guard Natallia Marchanka.

That should tell you a lot about the players in the team like Leuchanka, Nadzeya Drozd, Verameyenka, Tatyana Troina, Nataliya Trafimava, Katsiaryna Snytsina and Kress.

They had to scratch and claw their way from obscurity to the Olympics and have been a force ever since.

If the team is at full strength, there is no reason why it should not compete for a spot on the podium this year, or at least claim a place in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women.

Last year's disappointing exit in Turkey should also help fuel the desire.

FIBA