In an exclusive Flashscore interview, head coach Ronen Ginzburg and assistant coach Lubos Barton sat down to discuss their round of 16 tie as well as their journey to the play-offs.
On Sunday, the Czech squad face up against one of the leading lights in the world of basketball - Antetokounmpo - and keeping him quiet will be key to progressing into the last eight.
“You can't eliminate him, you can only slow him down," explains assistant coach Barton.
"But it's not just about him," adds Ginzburg at the Sheraton Hotel in Berlin, where the Czech national team is currently based along with the other teams that have advanced to the final stage of the tournament.
"We hope to force him to do things he's not the best at. It won't be about one person, it will be about the whole team. It will be about all five players on the board," believes Barton, who is also the current coach of Spanish side Girona.
"I'm sure he will have his moments, he always has them, even against the best. He scored 41 points in the game against Ukraine, which I consider an excellent team at EuroBasket.
"Giannis alone will not win the game, they have three or four other great players - Dorsey, Sloukas, Calathes. It's not just about Giannis, but as Lubos said, we have to play really well," Ginzburg added.
ON THE RISE
The position of Czech basketball in the world has changed significantly after the success at the 2019 World Championships, where Tomas Satoransky and co. sensationally, but deservedly, slipped through to the quarter-finals, putting the Czech national team in a completely different mentality.
After the successes, the Czech team began to be perceived differently by the general public, who gradually expected more from players like Jan Vesely or Vojtech Hruban.
Speaking of that pressure and expectation, Ginzburg added: "I don't think that more pressure would affect us in any way.
"You usually feel the pressure offensively and we play offensively every time, we score a lot of points, so I don't think we would be under any pressure."
Assistant Barton, however, sees a difference from previous tournaments: "We had to deal with a tough summer schedule, there was the preparation for EuroBasket, and then there was the FIBA window with the two qualifying matches for the 2023 World Championship... But everyone was struggling."
The biggest problem, however, according to him, was the injury to Satoransky. "We never had to deal with that before. It showed us how much he means to us," Barton points to the importance of Barcelona's new acquisition.
The Czech team has a relatively good relatively recent record over Greece, having won the Olympic qualifying final 97-72 in Victoria, Canada, last July and playing under five rings for the first time since the days of Czechoslovakia. However, the biggest Greek star from the Milwaukee Bucks did not play in that encounter.
EUROBASKET FAVOURITES
Sunday night will tell whether the Czech national team will be able to stop the Greeks led by the 211cm star Antetokounmpo. But who else is a contender for the overall title?
"For me, there are three favourites for the title: Greece with Giannis, Serbia with Jokic and Slovenia with Doncic. I'm not saying they are the best, but they have dominant players," Barton adds.
"Germany can achieve something nice, probably not a medal, but something. They have Wagner, Schroder, they can surprise," adds the Israeli coach of the Czech team.
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This article has been translated from Czech. Read the original piece here.
