Poland winning and having fun

TORUN (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) - One can only sit back and admire Poland's resurgence the past few summers in international basketball.

The weeping and gnashing of teeth after the country's nightmarish FIBA EuroBasket 2013 campaign in Slovenia has been replaced by tranquility, success and plenty of fun.

The players and coaches are serious about winning, yet they do not take themselves too seriously. The relaxed approach is working.

On the court, the team seems to have carried over the momentum from their impressive 2015. Remember how this team put on one captivating display after another at last year's EuroBasket in France?

The team won three of its six games and advanced to the Round of 16. Two of its three defeats came against teams that reached the podium, eventual champions Spain and third-placed France.

Even in defeat last year, Poland were exciting. They took on France and pushed the hosts to the very end.

Had a Marcin Gortat 3-pointer dropped in the waning seconds, the Poles would have celebrated the biggest shock of the tournament.

Poland are proving that last year's EuroBasket performance was not a fluke. A Group D victory over Belarus in Torun on Wednesday will push the country's record to 5-0 in this summer's qualifying campaign and seal a spot in next year's 24-team FIBA EuroBasket field.

That would make coach Mike Taylor two-for-two in the qualification department because he also steered them into EuroBasket 2015. Poland won the first meeting against Belarus in Minsk, 97-79.

Taylor has emphasized defense, and getting his players to compete as a unit, in his three summers as coach. Both aspects came to the fore in their latest victory, an 81-74 triumph at Portugal on Saturday.

Taylor has been a big hit as Poland coach

"Before the game we lost Maciej Lampe, so really the whole team had to replace him and it worked," Taylor said.

Center Lampe, back with the team after a three-year absence, had averaged 20.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in the side's first three wins.

"We played without Maciej Lampe, our best center, so it was harder," captain Adam Waczynski said. "I am proud of the team, the effort that we put into this game."

It helped Poland last year that they had excellent shooters like Waczynski and a terrific all-round player in Mateusz Ponitka. The 23-year-old Ponitka was at his high-flying, worth-the-price-of-admission best against Portugal.

How good can Poland become in the coming years? Gortat is not playing this summer and is, according to an interview he gave to a Polish sports publication last year, "90 percent retired" from international basketball. But it doesn't seem to matter.

The team will next summer get back injured Gonzaga University star Przemyslaw Karnowski. It's an exciting time in Poland basketball. 

FIBA