POL – Poles set sights on FIBA U17 World Championship Men quarter-finals
HAMBURG (2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Men) – While other teams went for a more cautious ‘wait-and-see’ approach following Wednesday’s draw for the FIBA U17 World Championship for Men, Poland instead went in a different direction, laying down their cards and letting it be known that they will be a side to reckon ...
HAMBURG (2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Men) – While other teams went for a more cautious ‘wait-and-see’ approach following Wednesday’s draw for the FIBA U17 World Championship for Men, Poland instead went in a different direction, laying down their cards and letting it be known that they will be a side to reckon with.
“We have two goals,” said Poland assistant coach Tomasz Niedbalski. “First, we want to play as best as we can and second we want to advance to the quarter-finals and look from there.”
The Poles earned their berth for this summer’s tournament thanks to an impressive fourth place finish at last year’s U16 European Championship for Men in Kaunas, Lithuania.
And given that Jerzy Szambelan’s side fell just short of clinching their first-ever medal on that occasion – they lost the bronze medal game 75-69 against basketball giants Serbia – it’s by no means beyond their ability to make it to the last eight.
The chances of that happening may have increased after the Poles were drawn in what is considered to be a very open and unpredictable Group B, which also includes Australia, Canada, hosts Germany, Korea and Spain.
The USA, Argentina, Serbia and Lithuania have all been drawn in Group A along with China and Egypt.
Should Poland get through to the quarter-final stages, they would face a monumental task to go any further. But they will consider that if and when they cross that bridge.
FIBA