Poland head coach Andrej Urlep

Biggest EuroBasket Success

Poland was quite successful early on in their basketball history, including a fourth place in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, another fourth place in the second EuroBasket in Riga (1937) and a bronze medal in Kaunas two years later. After World War II, Polish basketball underwent a period of rapid development. In the 1960s, the National Team was one of the best in Europe.  Led by coach Witold Zagorski, Poland won a silver medal at EuroBasket 1963 at home in Wroclaw, beating the first great Yugoslavia team in the semifinals, 83-72, before having to surrender in the final against the almost invincible Soviet Union. The best Polish players back then were Janusz Wichowski, Andrzej Pstrokonski, Mieczyslaw Lopatka, Bohdan Likszo and Wieslaw Langiewicz. The high level of Polish basketball was also exhibited on the domestic level by the club Wisla Cracow, which, during a FIBA festival in Cracow in 1965, beat Real Madrid and the a European All-Star team. The greatest sensation of all was the Polish National Team’s victory over the USA in a friendly game played in Lodz. In the years that followed, Poland won two bronze medals, one at EuroBasket 1965 in Moscow, and another at EuroBasket 1967 in Helsinki. Additionally the Polish team finished fifth at the 1967 World Championship in Montevideo and sixth in both the 1960 Olympic Games held in Rome and the 1964 games in Tokyo. In Japan, Bohdan Likszo, one of the best Polish players in history, was asked by the legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach if he would consider playing for his team but with the Cold War raging it was not to be.

Biggest EuroBasket Disaster

Following the "Great Sixties", Poland finished dead last at EuroBasket 1973 in Spain, having won just a single game in the tournament against Romania. In 1977, Poland did not qualify for the EuroBasket final round and it is still considered as the greatest failure of the best Polish coach in history, Witold Zagorski, who resigned soon after. But the greatest disappointment for Polish fans is the long "ice age" that occurred between the seventh place brought back from Barcelona in 1997 and the EuroBasket in which they are about to compete. In the interim, Poland failed to qualify for four straight EuroBaskets: 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005. It is a feat they hope will never be repeated.  

Best Individual Performance/Best Player of All-Time

It is very hard to choose the best player of all-time as there were so many great players in the 60’s and 70’s. In the opening years of the 80’s, Dariusz Zelig was the most famous Polish player, predominantly because of his “charisma”. In EuroBasket 1987, he was the only player capable of slowing down the Greek scoring machine, Nikos Galis, and was the third best scorer of the tournament in Greece averaging 26.3 points per game. The "Modern Era" of Polish basketball belongs to Adam Wojcik, who achieved successes not only in the Polish league but also in the top European leagues of Greece and Spain. He also won eight National Championships in Poland and another one in Belgium.

Scouting Report

Under current coach Andrej Urlep, the Polish National Team made a huge step towards coming back to the top of European basketball. The Slovenian who has coached in the Polish league since 1997 changed the roster and more importantly, the way players thought about the National Team. Under Urlep, Poland has a new style based on the Yugoslavian school which is rooted in great teamwork, defense and balanced offence. For the first time since 1997, Poland won qualification to EuroBasket in the first round. The Polish squad beat Ukraine, Bulgaria and Sweden twice to finish on top of Group A. Urlep selected players on the basis of technique, current shape and commitment. For these reasons, the biggest stars of the team are Adam Wojcik and Maciej Lampe, a former NBA player who is now in the Russian SuperLeague.

Prediction

Urlep is building a team not only for EuroBasket 2007, but also for the 2009 event which will be played in Poland. Therefore, the tournament in Spain will be a huge test for this young Polish roster. But, of course, for fans it is not just a test. For Poland, which like most other teams is focused on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the main goal is to qualify for the quarterfinals. This team is hungry for success after this 10-year EuroBasket break, but they might lack the necessary experience to achieve their goal.
 
Likely Squad

Coach Urlep did not want to talk about names – partly because he doesn’t like journalists - before the start of preparations for EuroBasket, but it is expected that the experienced Adam Wojcik (who returned to the National Team after sitting out five years) and Andrzej Pluta (also returning to the team, at Urlep's request, and who played in the qualifying round) will be two key Polish players in the tournament. Few players have a guaranteed spot in the roster though Filip Dylewicz, Krzysztof Roszyk, Michał Ignerski and the eccentric Radosław Hyzy (a Polish version of Dennis Rodman) seem to be likely members.

Last 10 FIBA Events

2006 - World Championship Saitama, Did not qualify
2005 - EuroBasket Belgrade, Did not qualify
2004 - Olympics Athens, Did not qualify
2003 - EuroBasket Stockholm, Did not qualify
2002 - World championship Indianapolis, Did not qualify
2001 - EuroBasket Istanbul, Did not qualify
2000 - Olympics Sydney, Did not qualify
1999 - EuroBasket Paris, Did not qualify
1998 - World Championship Athens, Did not qualify
1997 - EuroBasket Barcelona, 7th