The Czech Republic have beaten some of the highest-ranked teams in international basketball, en route to their first ever Olympic berth. They will face defending champions USA in a must-win game on Saturday.
Team USA comes into this tournament on the heels of a disappointing seventh-place finish at the World Cup, its worst-ever major international competition. Will superstars come to the rescue?
Jan Vesely
The Czech Republic is off to a 2-1 start in Olympic play, but it’s far from the strongest group. Team USA, on the other hand, looked much better in its second game against Iran than it did in its opening loss to France.
That could help Team USA, which is a solid team with a lot of depth, especially when it comes to its power forwards. Its 82-point differential in three games puts them likely in the top second-place group finisher and will place them in Pot D along with the three group winners.
Despite their sluggish start, Team USA has a chance to punch its ticket to the single-elimination quarterfinal round with a win over the Czech Republic on Friday. The Czechs aren’t quite as talented as Team USA, but they have former NBA players on their roster, including Chicago Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky and Denver Nuggets big man Jan Vesely.
Satoransky, a native of Pribor, Czech Republic, is a versatile guard who can play at the point and small forward positions. He’s a two-time All-EuroLeague First Team selection and is a three-time NBA All-Star.
Vesely, a former Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets star, is a versatile power forward who can also play at the center or shooting guard positions. He was a sixth-round pick of the Washington Wizards in the 2011 NBA Draft.
He’s a great scorer, averaging 20.8 points per game on 57% shooting from the floor. He’s also a good shot blocker, recording 4.3 blocks per game this season.
Tomas Satoransky
The czech republic olympic basketball team is currently in the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics, and their upcoming game against the USA will be a high-stakes one. If they win this matchup, they will be in the second place of their group, but if they lose, they could be out of the tournament altogether.
Among the key players on the czech republic olympic team is Tomas Satoransky, who is the only current NBA player on the roster. He has been in a do-it-all role with the czech republic for a while now and has played well throughout this international competition.
His ability to make plays in a variety of ways and his versatility in terms of being able to attack the basket in different ways will be key in helping them beat the Americans in this upcoming game. Satoransky is a combo guard who can play the point, play on the defensive end and shoot from the three-point line.
He also has a great deal of experience with the Czech national team and has been to some big events, like the EuroBasket this year. He is expected to lead the czech republic in their upcoming game against the United States, and he will have a lot of help from other important players on the team.
While he is a do-it-all type of player, Satoransky has been known to be more of a playmaker than a pure scorer. He is a very reliable option at the three-point line and has the ability to finish strong at the free throw line as well.
Ondrej Balvin
One of the Czech Republic’s key players at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 is Ondrej Balvin, who has a strong reputation as a rebounder. He is a 7-foot-1 center and has played very well in the first two games for the team. He has grabbed 16 rebounds across the first two games, and is leading his team in points per game at 16.
Another player who has been key for the Czechs is Blake Schilb. He is a 37-year-old veteran, and was an integral part of the team’s win against Iran. He was on top of his game in the win, bringing down a team-high 14 points and making some crucial clutch plays at the end of the game.
The Czechs will face a tougher challenge than they expected against the United States in Group A at the Olympics this summer. The USA has been one of the best basketball teams in the world for many years, and it is hard to see them being beat in this tournament.
Despite their success, the United States have only won gold medals at three of the last 18 Olympic Games. That is not going to happen in Tokyo, but it is possible that they could come away with a bronze medal this time around.
They have a lot of talent on their roster, including guards Trey Lyles and Andrew Wiggins, but they will have to show that they can handle pressure. They need to be able to manage their possessions and make it difficult for the Czechs to score.
Petr Svoboda
Svoboda played an important role in the Czech team’s victory at Nagano in 1998, scoring one of the game-winning goals in a gold-medal win over Russia. His heroics were captured in The Nagano Tapes, an Olympic Channel documentary that won the non-cinema award at the Prague Archa Theatre.
The Czech Republic has a long history of success in a variety of sports. Martina Sablikova is considered the queen of speed skating, while Katerina Neumannova is a renowned cross-country skier and Marketa Davidova is the nation’s best biathlete.
Despite this, there are still a few misconceptions that keep many people from understanding the country’s impressive achievements in sporting events. They include the myth that the country is too small to compete with the big ones.
In fact, the Czechs have won several major competitions across a variety of sports. Their most notable achievement was a silver medal at the 1976 European Championships, but they also have two World Cup and four EuroBasket medals.
At the first EuroBasket, held in 1935, Czechoslovakia finished third of eight teams to advance to the semifinal round, losing to France but winning a game against Spain. In the next tournament in 1951, they managed to defeat Hungary and Belgium to finish 2-2 in their pool. This was enough to advance them to the final round against France, who were favored for a championship.
Svoboda was born in the Czechoslovakian capital of Prague, and played his college basketball at Harvard. He then stayed on as an assistant coach for the Czech national team for many years.
A former NHL defenceman, he was drafted in 1984 by the Montreal Canadiens and spent 17 seasons with them before playing for the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers. During his time in the NHL, Svoboda was a two-time Stanley Cup winner and played on three All-Star teams.