U18 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN “B” 28 JULY –
8 AUGUST 2006, SIBIU, ROMANIA.
Scotland junior men travelled to Romania to take part in the Euro B championship,
which had 19 countries participating over a two week period. This is probably the largest tournament that any Scotland team
has ever competed in and was a huge commitment for the coaching staff and players, in terms of, fund raising, training, preparation
games and the tournament itself.
We went to Romania with the objective to compete in every game and to
try and win at least one match, which we considered realistic goals, considering the strength of opposition
we were up against and the fact that we do not compete at this level on a regular basis. Scotland had the honour of opening the
tournament on Friday 28 July, against the hosts, Romania, in the excellent facilities of the Transilvania Gym, which housed
a capacity crowd for the game approx 2,500, who generated a fantastic atmosphere and one which all players should aspire to
play in. The game was also live on television.
We handled Romania as well as anyone in the tournament in the first quarter,
holding them to within 6 points. However in the second quarter we succumbed to the pressure from the home team and with the
crowd getting behind them we struggled to get into the game. In the second half we did our best to hold on as the Romanians
showed the class which highlighted the fact that they were the outstanding team of the tournament as they went on to win the
championship. Final score, 85-46 to Romania.
We could not have asked for a tougher start and the next day was a rest
day, which we spent training and looking at our next opponents in live games and dvd’s.
Sunday 30 July we played Hungary who played a very physical game sometimes
bordering on the illegal. Because it was so physical we struggled to adjust early and by the time we did the game was drifting
away from us and we lost to Hungary 76-46. This felt more disappointing than the Romanian game as we thought we could have
done more in this game.
The games were coming thick and fast now with Bosnia up next another
superb team from the ex- Yugoslavia again we competed really well in the first half but their greater depth told and they
ran out winners 81-53.
In our last group game on the Tuesday we saved our best for last against
Estonia, who had to win to win the group as they had pulled off a shock win over Romania. We were in this game all the way
through and with 3 minutes to go we were only 3 points down, we had possession but turned it over, they went up the floor
and hit a 3 pointer and we never got so close again. However an outstanding effort against the team who would go on to the
final as we only lost 76-62.
We then had two rest days which we spent training and watching our next
opponents. The first game was against Finland, who we again competed well with for most of the game before going down 85-62.Saturday 5 August saw us meet Slovakia who were a huge team in height and we found
it difficult to match up with them. However we got into our running game and made life very difficult for them in what was
one of our better performances in a game we had chances to win, but it was not to be and we lost 85-72.
Our second last game of the tourney saw us play Moldova in a game we
fancied our chances of winning. After our excellent display against Slovakia we looked really flat and lost to a team, which
we were capable of beating if we showed any form. Final score 66-50 to Moldova and it was probably the lowest point of the
tournament for everyone in the Scotland camp. Monday 7 August was a rest day again we trained hard in anticipation of our last game against Ireland
the next day and our last chance to record a win and finish 18th instead of last against an Irish team we had lost
to in Glasgow the month before.
At the start of the game Scotland looked really up for it and ran Ireland
ragged to go into an early lead, but the Irish shot themselves back into contention with some superb 3 point shooting. The
game was nip and tuck all the way in the second half until we managed to make a break and looked like we could win it. However
errors crept into our game and we allowed Ireland back in. The game was tied and looked to be heading for overtime with 6
seconds left, when disaster we fouled while in the penalty and the Irish player had two shots to probably seal the match,
he missed both. Incredibly we pushed the ball up the floor and had a lay missed right on the buzzer which would have won the
game for us. Overtime and our nerve held better than the Irish and we recorded the win our efforts so richly deserved, 80-76.
This was a fantastic experience for everyone involved and has to be the
way forward if Scottish basketball is to improve. The intensity of the game and the skill levels was a big learning curve
for our players, who do not have similar competition at home.
On reflection we feel that our objectives were met, we competed in every
game, although sometimes we had one bad quarter with lack of concentration. We also won a match and did not finish last. Our
group section produced the two finalists and the other two teams in our group finished high up in the classifications.
Most important was that the
players and coaches have learned from this experience and go on to improve their own skills and bring this back to Scottish
basketball. (Full stats can be found at www.fibaeurope.com)
Robert Taft, assistant
coach, Scotland Junior Men.
