Sweden coach Bosnic stresses the positives of FIBA's Competition System 2017+

STOCKHOLM (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019) - Sweden coach Vedran Bosnic isn't sure yet if his team will be taking part in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers, but he does know one thing.

The change that's coming for international basketball as part of FIBA's Competition System 2017+ will surely be a good one for the players. Over a four-year cycle from 2017 through 2021, national teams will play regular home and away games to qualify for the World Cup and the FIBA Continental Cups 2021.

The players, who will already be in shape with their clubs, will have the added bonus of more time off during the summers.

"Moving the games to November and February (and other windows) is a good step," Bosnic said to FIBA.com. "I think we will avoid some injuries and avoid having many players say no to the national team because it's a lot of games. I think like this, it will be easy for them to join during the seasons from their clubs."

The 24 sides that will play at FIBA EuroBasket 2017 are already assured of places in World Cup qualifying while the Swedes must first make it through pre-qualifying this summer to be able to then take part.

Ludde Hakansson is part of a bright future for Sweden

In pre-qualifying, Sweden will go up against Bosnia and Herzegovina while also meeting the Slovak Republic and Armenia.

The Bosnians beat Sweden twice last summer by a combined five points.

"When I talked to the players after seeing the draw, we know that Bosnia is strong," Bosnic said. "We don't know which team they'll have, but we're focusing on ourselves. If we continue to be at the level of last summer and take the next step, we're confident that we'll be there, that we'll qualify for the (World Cup) qualifications by taking one of the top two spots in the group. If we have a good preparation, good team effort - we'll be at a good level and we'll have a good chance."

Sweden were on the wrong end of four results last year but there very good signs for the Scandinavians.

"That's one big thing in Sweden, that we not just raise the quality of the players and build a new national team with new names, but that we also make people believe in them." - Bosnic

"We were very satisfied with the results," Bosnic said, "especially being in a group with Russia and a strong Bosnia and Herzegovina with (Mirza) Teletovic and (Jusuf) Nurkic.

"We had a young team that we are building for the future of Swedish basketball with. We practiced well during the summer, played games. We maximized our skills that we have at this moment. We're a little disappointed that we didn't win one of these games because we came very close and winning one would have been great. But generally speaking, I was very proud of the young players.

"Many of them are coming to a higher level. They're doing well with European clubs and those in Sweden are also taking the next step. Overall, we were very, very glad and we need to continue to work with these players and continue to build up Swedish basketball for the future."

One encouraging aspect of the summer was the number of spectators at Sweden's home game against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Fans turned out in big numbers to watch Sweden in Stockholm 

"Basketball in Sweden isn't at the level of hockey or football, but last summer was really interesting," Bosnic said. "We had 7,200 for the game against Bosnia and that was something fantastic that the people see and recognize our new young team and how they work and what level they are at."

If the Swedes can claim one of the top two spots in their pre-qualification group for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers, then the fans can look forward to seeing the national team play official games on a more regular basis.

"That's one big thing in Sweden, that we not just raise the quality of the players and build a new national team with new names, but that we also make people believe in them," Bosnic said. 

FIBA