Iceland carry dream start to Belgium

ANTWERP (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) - Iceland got a taste of the big time at last year's FIBA EuroBasket that left them wanting to come back for more.

The way their qualifying campaign has begun for the tournament in 2017, with a home triumph over Switzerland and a road win at Cyprus, Craig Pedersen's veteran-laden squad has as good a chance as any team in qualifying to make it.

"We can't complain," Pedersen said to FIBA.com. "We had kind of a dream start against Switzerland at home where the first 18 minutes was probably the best we've played both on offense and defense in the three summers that I've been here. Switzerland found a rhythm and got themselves back into the game but we were able to hold on and get the lead back up so that was good."

If Iceland go on to qualify, the players, coaching staff, federation and fans will view what took place on the 10th of September last year in Berlin as a turning point. First, they experienced a thrill by taking Turkey to overtime.

Then immediately after walking off the court following a 111-102 defeat to the Turks, Jon Stefansson - the most famous player in the team who Pedersen calls "at times a quiet leader" - spoke out.

"He said, 'We can't stop here. We have to try to get here again,' Pedersen said. "And the other guys that are the so-called older players on the team, they said we need to go for it again."

It wasn't the basketball team that took Icelandic sports on a wild, fun ride this summer but the football squad at the European Championship in France.

The team got draws with eventual tournament winners Portugal and a very good Hungarian team before beating Austria and then England to reach the Quarter-Finals. 

So both the basketball team and the football team are flying the flag high for a country that has a small population compared to those they they face in competition.

It's rubbing off on the younger generations too, this year's U20 class making history by qualifying to a Division A tournament for the first time in the country's history.

Iceland's Basketball Federation president, Hannes Jonsson says there is an innate toughness in Iceland's athletes.

"It's probably something we have learned through the decades living in harsh conditions on our island," he said. "Now, better training and structure is adding on top of the fighting spirit."

In the recent basketball game against Switzerland, Iceland looked like world beaters when they led by as many as 26 points in the first half.

Switzerland twice cut the deficit to 9 in the third quarter but Iceland held on and ended up winning by 16.

Stefansson had 11 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds against the Swiss but a knee injury kept him out of the next clash. Iceland won it anyway, 75-64, after trailing by a point at half-time.

"It was a tough game," Pedersen said. "They played physically hard. They have strong players and they run some good actions. To win on the road without not just our best player but our most experienced player, sometimes away from home that can be difficult. So we were extremely happy we were able to get a win."

If Stefansson has been a key to the program over the years, so has Hlynur Baeringsson. The 34-year-old measures 2.00m in height, which makes him undersized at center.

Baeringsson's savvy and experience are vital for Iceland

Yet he does something very well that many pivots do not. He provides offense from the perimeter. He's nailed a combined 5-of-10 shots from long range in the two wins. Baeringsson came up especially big in the win at Cyprus with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

Someone else to have made a nice impact off the bench has been 22-year-old power forward/center Kristofer Acox, a rising senior at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

He had 7 points and 7 rebounds against Switzerland and 4 points and 6 boards against Cyprus.

"He's a good back-up at center," Pedersen said. "On how much he plays, we'll go game-by-game.

"Hlynur had a great game the other day and we're going to go with him as long as possible with his experience and the way that we play.

"Acox, though, has done a great job and fits in very well. Once he found his rhythm with the other players, he's really done a good job in practice. This is his first summer with the national team and Hlynur, this is his 17th year."

On Wednesday, Iceland will look to keep the momentum going against Belgium in Antwerp. The Belgians have played at the last three EuroBaskets.

"Belgium is obviously the favorite in the group. In a warm-up game, they beat Poland in Poland and that's no easy task," Pedersen said. "They're playing at a high level. We just need to take this one game at a time."

FIBA