What are they saying on the eve of the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023?

MUNICH (Germany) - Ahead of the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 curtain being raised this Thursday, coaches and players came together in Tel Aviv and Ljubljana to have their say on the flagship tournament.

You can watch the each nation's pre-event Press Conference below and we will keep you up to date with the the key comments coming out of them.

Group A - Tel Aviv, Israel

Greece 

"EuroBasket is a great event for everyone involved. As a captain, as a Greek, I feel proud and blessed to be here. For sure we are not here for holidays, we come here to try to get as many wins as possible. Our goal is to have a step forward for Greek women’s basketball with the new generation players." Greece captain, Aikaterina Sotiriou.

"It's very important for us that we are here as part of the 16 teams. For us, this is a success. It’s time now to show everyone that we can play together, to have the confidence to play aggressive. It is the first time for me at EuroBasket, there is a little bit of pressure but I am happy." Greece Head Coach, Petros Prekas

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Greece here

Latvia 

"I’m very happy that our national team has returned to EuroBasket - I think this is the place where we belong. We had a setback for the last one, but we are ready to fight for every game. Representing the national team has always been a big thing for me so I’m really happy to be back [at EuroBasket] and I’m looking forward to it." Latvia captain, Anete Steinberga

"We are happy to be here. I think we had a very good qualification to get to the European Championship, we won four games out of four and we did everything we wanted to do in preparation. It showed we are ready to start. We have a very good group of girls with strong characters and I think they believe that they can do it." Latvia Head Coach, Gundars Vetra

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Latvia here.

Montenegro 

"It’s been quite a road for us. We made it to EuroBasket when people probably didn’t expect us to do it. We are very proud of this. We have been working very hard - there’s been a lot of ups and downs and I think we’ve accomplished a good job." Montenegro captain, Milica Jovanovic

"We have made a huge amount of success. It is great to be here and is an amazing feeling. We have some young players with their first time. I think we will do fine. We are without any pressure. We know we have talent, but we also know it will take time to develop this." Montenegro Head Coach, Jelena Skerovic

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Montenegro here.

Spain 

"I think we are ready to play our best basketball. As best basketball as possible reperesnting our country and our style. We will try to be the best version of ourselves. I think everyboy is ready and we all have to approach the Championship with hope" Spain head coach, Miguel Mendez.

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Spain here.

Group B - Tel Aviv, Israel

Belgium 

"I’m just excited to start. We had a tough preparation. It was also a good preparation. I just know that we can bring beautiful basketball if we are ready to perform under pressure. I think some people have some really big expectations of us. As do we, but we go step-by-step." Belgium captain, Emma Meesseman

"It will be my first European Championship as a head coach so I’m excited. We came here with a lot of humility but also ambition. We will see game after game where we can go." Belgium head coach, Rachid Meziane

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Belgium here.

Czech Republic 

"For us it will always be about our defense. Also our aggression and how we can steal balls and run the fast breaks, going for easy baskets. We have a tough group including Belgium and Italy. The goal is to go from this group and after that, we will see." Czech Republic captain, Renata Brezinova

"As a young team we need to start rom defense. We want to play really fast, but not too fast that we make a lot of mistakes. We still need to control the ball." Czech Republic Head Coach, Romana Ptackova

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Czech Republic here.

Israel 

“It is our dream to play here and play in front of our families. We will try everything to give our best. We want to make history because everyone here in Israel is behind us.” Israel guard, Eden Rotberg

"Our goal is to show something special. We have a group of ladies that are very determined with a very big motivation. They want to play, they want to show, they want to prove. For all the fans and the young generation that will come and watch our national team, our goal is that they will see heart and see the maximum effort on the floor," Israel head coach Sharon Drucker

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Israel here.

Italy 

"We are so happy to be at this tournament. We think we are ready but we know our group is tough. We want to play a great tournament. We want to go to Slovenia, but we have to think game by game. We have to play together with strong defense and a good mentality. But it depends on our own attitude." Italy Head Coach, Lino Lardo

"We want to prove something. It's been a long time since Italy got a big result in this tournamrnt. We are trying to achieve something amazing and hopefully this is the time." Italy captain, Martina Bestagno

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Italy here.

Group C - Ljubljana, Slovenia

France 

"It's true that it has been a few years when we have not been in the first place. This time we are ready and we are focused to go until the end. We will do our best to finish where we want to. This will be an unpredictable group and there can be a surprise. Our group can be tough. It will be hard and it can be dangerous. It will be very different in each of those games." France captain, Sarah Michel

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team France here

Germany 

"It means a lot as we have not been on this stge for 12 years and none of our team have ever participated at the FIBA Women's EuroBasket. If you are a younger one or an older one like me, it is a big thing to compete on the biggest stage in Europe. I think we just have to go game by game and for us, I think it is really important to compete first up against France and see how we do." Germany captain, Svenja Brunckhorst

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Germany here

Great Britain 

“It’s a completely new team but we have the same coach and we will bring the same passion and fire. It’s going to be a fight and that is what we know to do well. We have a lot of talent on this team, a lot of young inexperienced talent and also some experienced talent. The challenge is to mesh the two together. We just need to find a way.” Great Britain captain, Temi Fagbenle

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Great Britain here

Slovenia 

 

“It’s always special, but this one is very special. Not many players have the opportunity to play in their home country, so it is a big pleasure to play in front of our fans. I am really excited and can’t wait. We have to enjoy the games and play our basketball.” Slovenia captain, Teja Oblak

“The biggest stress our players have is only coming from themselves and the pressure they put on themselves. Nothing can be more stressful than that. I just want to be satisfied that we did our best. We all have to enjoy the moment and remember to do that.” Slovenia Head Coach, Georgios Dikaioulakos

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Slovenia here

Group D - Ljubljana, Slovenia

Hungary 

"It is an honor to be here again. Last time we didn’t qualify and it was a huge disappointment. I am going to tell my teammates to be proud when they wear this jersey. We have to give everything and we have to also enjoy it - that is most important. We have a great team spirit." Hungary captain, Debora Dubei

"We have had a great preparation and we believe in the strength of the team and we want to show everyone basketball is a team game. We trust each other and believe in each other. Our goal is to take it step by step. We have inside and outside players and we can change the thinking and philosophy of the team, so I hope that it will be a good result. It is important for Hungary because we have had many great results a long time ago and we now are starting again." Hungary head coach, Norbert Szekely

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Hungary here

Serbia 

“Serbia is a country who is always going for a medal. I am expecting a beautiful FIBA Women’s EuroBasket with a lot of great basketball, just as we had recently at the EuroLeague Women Final Four.” Serbia head coach, Marina Maljkovic

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Serbia here

Slovakia  

"I hope we will play really good basketball and especially in defense and I think we can surprise people as I think nobody is counting on us, We want to be the underdog. Our group is tough and all the teams have quality. In 2019 we didn't qualify and in 2021 we did but could not make it becaue of health problems. I am really excited because it is the highest level. I am really happy I can be here. From 2017, the team has changed a lot. It is completely different, but we are all together and I hope this will be our strong point." Slovakia captain, Barbora Wrzesinski

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Slovakia here.

Turkey 

“It’s a very important tournament. We know that the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket before the Olympics is always the toughest one. Everyone comes with strong dreams. We are a young team and we will miss some big experience, but they’re all daring to dream like the slogan of the tournament.” Turkey head coach, Ekrem Memnun.

You can watch the full Pre-Event Press Conference with Team Turkey here.

FIBA