Last Monday we faced Belgium
(72460). The match can be summarized as "close, yet far". Belgium proved to be a stronger opponent, and even our efforts with higher attitude were not enough.
We started the last week with somewhat mediocre game shape, especially our big men had noticeable problems. Still, our starting lineup remained almost the same, with
Lundell, Giltorp, Fyhrhult, Börjesson and
Dallius on the starting five. Despite our higher attitude, Belgians quickly took control of the game. After five minutes,
Rodolphe Cox throwed down a "powerful two-handed dunk in the crowd", and the score was already 11-3. We couldn't turn the tie of the game, and the difference between the two teams increased slowly but steadily. The maximum was reached right at the end of the quarter, when the score was 28-15.
We demonstrated a better performance in the second quarter, although never managed to get particularly close.
Tobias Bokholt brought us back within 10 points (48-39), but a strong finish of Belgians distanced them even two points further at the half-time (58-43).
It seemed that the match was decided soon after the start of the second half. After two minutes,
Chris Desmet scored for +20 (66-46), and soon afterwards, the difference was already +25 for Belgians. Their superiority ended a few minutes before the end of the quarter, but it seemed, that they just stepped off the gas, and steadily controlled the game.
However, soon after the beginning of the last quarter, the Belgian coach started calling timeouts in panic, although the match seemed to be over. Always a good sign for the opponent (us). Indeed, our attack started performing much better, first
Giltorp scored for 103-84, a few minutes later
Fyrhult made a three pointer for 109-95 with five minutes remaining. A minute later Bokholt scored another one for 109-98, and another minute later,
Lundell got us back in the game (111-102). Although time was running out, our hopes were still high when
Markus Andersson scored a three pointer for 113-107 90 seconds to go. Unfortunately, Belgians managed to get back to +8, and even if Lundell once again got us closer, we didn't really manage to break the barrier. A few desperate three point attempts were succesfull, but Belgian players reliably scored their free throws.
At the end, the final result 127-119 gives a much more optimistic image of the game than some in-between scores. In any case, we have to admit that we are quite far from the level of Belgian NT - at the moment. But the goal is to come closer.
Today we face Poland, a game, where our hopes of victory are minimal. Later comes dangerous Scotland - they beat Switzerland in the last round quite surprisingly with lesser attitude, and finally Portugal, which still remains in the competition for 2nd place after their win against Russia. However, Poland and Belgium seem to have the best cards at the moment.