The Belgian Lions left the Euro de Basket with a feeling of pride but also some regrets after their defeat (88-72) against Slovenia, reigning European champions. An honorable defeat (the Slovenes only widened the gap in the last minutes), synonymous with elimination in the round of 16. Les Lions therefore have nothing to be ashamed of their career in this European championship where they honored their rank. Jacques Stasthe Manager Jock of the national team: “Lions have left their mark on this Euro, which is certainly the highest in the history of basketball. The Belgian team has never failede. We created a feat against Spain, the world champion team. We also won against Georgia, who were playing in front of their fans in Tbilisi, and we also won against Bulgaria in a knockout match. Finally, we held off for 35 minutes against Slovenia, which is one of the biggest nations in basketball and which can count on a world-class star like Luka Doncic (35 points against Belgium). We can therefore be satisfieds et irons of what the Belgian Lions have achieved dburning cetyou competition “.
This setback face to Slovenia marque so the end ofa course Belgian Lions in this Euro 2022. What arouse despite everything some regrets on the Belgian side as expressed by Maxime Of Zcenturythe captain of the Lions : ” The feeling is contrasted with on the one hand the pride of having achieved great things in this Euro and on the other the regret of having missed out on a historic qualification in the quarter-finals. I think we could have to beat Slovenia. We were equal with this team until 5 minutes from the end but then unfortunately we broke down. He really didn’t miss much. We fought like lions and we managed to make the defending champion doubt, which is still a great satisfaction even if in the end, the logic was respected and we were eliminated “.
Take a new step
With 3 wins and a contribution in the 2nd round, the objective has nevertheless been achieved for the Belgian Lions who are doing as well as in 2015. Our national team now hopes to take an additional step in order to reach these famous quarter-finals. “That is of course our wish” hammers Jacques Stas “But it doesn’t happen in a snap. We had to bridge the gap between the old and the new generation. And we can say that it went very well. Manu Lecomte successfully replaced Sam Van Ross as a leader and he was very consistent during the tournament and took on another dimension. We have seen that we can always count on the efficiency of Pierre Antoine Gillet but also Hans Van Wijn or Ismaël Bako whereas Retin Obasohan, which is one of the leaders on the offensive level, has evolved at its usual level. And then, we were also able to count on the contribution of young people like Vrenz Bleijenbergh et Harris Bratanovic, who haven’t played much, but who still responded when called upon. And then, we must continue our work of detection and training, it is essential. Finally, we know our physical limits under the ring but they can be partly compensated by our assets, namely the collective and an aggressive defensive game, advocated by the coach. Dario Gjergja. We therefore have good reason to be optimistic about the future and that in order to take a new step with why not a qualification for the quarter-finals of the next Euro.
The Belgium, a team now known and respected
While waiting for the next Euro,he Lions have positioned Belgium in useful order on the basketball map European. ” On the international level, Belgium was already known thanks to the results obtained by the Belgian Cats. Belgium occupies all the same 4th place in the world ranking of women’s basketball ” says Jacques Stas “But on the men’s side, our country is now also known and respected throughout Europe thanks to the results of the Lions. We had already shown it before the Euro by beating Lithuania and Serbia in particular. We demonstrated it again in this Championship of Europe by climbing into the Top 16. Ournational team indeed constitutes a beautiful showcase and it is gratifying for the whole of Belgian basketball “.
Next goal: the 2023 World Cup
After this 2022 European Championship, the Belgian team will not have time to rest on its laurels. The rest of the qualifying campaign for the next World Cup is already looming. Currently third in their group, the Belgian Lions still have a good card to play, as the sports manager of the Belgian Lions points out. : ” The deadlines for the World Cup arrive strides with two windows (Windows)decisive for qualification, starting with that of November with a trip to Turkey, a team that beat us at the Euro, followed bya match against Greece which will take place at the Mons Arena. I hope after the good services delivered to theEuro, the public will be present and will come to support us to, hopefully, take us to a first World Cup next year. This is in any case, in the short term, the next goal des Belgian Lions “.
