In one week, the 39th European Championship for women’s basketball will begin in Ljubljana and Tel Aviv. A lot happened in the Slovenian camp during the preparations, but the Greek coach on the Slovenian bench, Georgios Dikeulakos, still remains optimistic.
When the Basketball Federation of Slovenia (KZS) won the organization of the European Women’s Championship two years ago, the predictions about the goals were significantly more high-flying than they were just a week before the start of the competition. There is no long-term captain in the national team due to a dispute with the selector Nike Baricand KZS also failed to attract an American basketball player who would help the team under the hoops.
Enough quality in the outside positionsSelector Georgios Dikeulakos had to adapt the system to the players he has available. “The team is missing quite a few players due to injuries and other reasons, so Slovenia will play slightly different basketball at EuroBasket than in previous years. Without a doubt, the height under the hoops would be very useful for us, but we have enough weapons in the outside positions to compete equally with our rivals,” says the 54-year-old strategist, who was voted the best coach of the Women’s Euroleague this year.
Young people have the opportunity to progressDikeulakos emphasizes that in The Slovenian national team has an excellent atmosphere and that especially the young players are very motivated in training: “The combination of experienced and young actresses proved to be very fruitful. Young people girls they realize that they have a unique opportunity to progress, and the seniors know that one of the most important competitions is ahead of them in their careers and want the help of young actresses. They work well together, as they all know they will in in the eyes of the Slovenian public in the coming weeks.”
Three games to startIn the preliminary competition, Slovenia will play in group C together with Germany, Great Britain and France. The opening match awaits her on June 15 against the British women, followed by the German women the next day, and the French women on June 18.
He doesn’t want to talk about goalsThe first team will qualify directly in the quarter-finals, and the second and third-placed teams will play a repechage. Group C crosses with Group D, in which are Turkey, Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia. A Greek expert who is the Italian team this year Family Schio led to third place in Euroleague, does not want to talk about goals in the European Championship. As he says, each match is important to him and that he does not think beyond the next test on the court: “I can assure you that the players will do their best and that the professional staff will do everything to win. We will see what this will bring at the European Championship.“
Source: Rtvslo
