Van Rossom dreams of maiden World Cup berth for Belgium

VALENCIA (Spain) - Sam Van Rossom has experienced the intense emotion and highs that exist in basketball during his career, like playing in the white-hot, rowdy atmospheres of Italy and Spain, and winning championships and cups at club level.

He's fought with Belgium in highly competitive games at the last four FIBA EuroBasket tournaments. But what he hasn't done is play at the FIBA Basketball World Cup and that's something he wants to change.

"You can say maybe it's a personal goal to get that qualification done and try to go to the World Cup," Van Rossom said. "But we have to be realistic and know that we're in a tough group."

Van Rossom played for Belgium in the European Qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup 

The Lions open their European Qualifiers campaign on November 25 at Slovakia and then on November 28 host Serbia. Latvia are also a First Round opponent in Group A, one that Belgium will meet in the February window.

No one predicted that Poland and the Czech Republic would make it to the World Cup in China in 2019 yet both did, and then reached the Quarter-Finals. Maybe Belgium will be the team that surprises everyone by qualifying for the event to be played in 2023.

"The whole window system is unpredictable and maybe that can be to our advantage," Van Rossom said.

With Belgium's national team, there has already been success for Van Rossom, though it's not measured by podium finishes or trophies.

The native of Ghent has been a member of a Belgian generation that has solidified the country's position in the top flight of European basketball nations. Belgium have competed at every FIBA EuroBasket since 2011, a significant achievement.

Van Rossom, 35, appeared in two of the European Qualifiers games last time but Belgium didn't get out of the First Round, finishing fourth behind France, Russia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

If they finish in the top three in the current campaign, Belgium will advance to the Second Round and take on the top three teams from Group B, which consists of Belarus, Great Britain, Greece and Turkey.

"DARIO TALKS TO HIS PLAYERS A LOT AND WHEN HE SHOWS THEM MISTAKES, HE DOES IT IN A GOOD WAY TO HELP THEM BECOME BETTER."

For Belgium to have a legitimate chance of reaching the World Cup, they'll need wins not only against Slovakia but also Serbia and Latvia, with all results carrying over to the Second Round, where qualification for Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines will ultimately be decided.

Not many would have envisioned Belgium even thinking about a World Cup berth when Van Rossom first made the senior team a decade and a half ago. He made his debut in 2005 against Finland in Tampere and has since earned 119 caps.

"When I got in the first couple of times, they had a hard time finding 12 guys," he said. "The first time they called me up, I was still in the (Belgian) second division and was kind of surprised that guys didn't want to play for the national team anymore.

"That was a real struggle when there was still Division A, B, C. We were really on the edge of going down to a Division B country. So in the Division A with the senior national team, the goal was to stay. That was a time when Jacques Ledure and Eddy Casteels came in. Ledure became GM (of the national team) in 2003 and Casteels became coach in 2005.

Belgium's Van Rossom guarded France legend Tony Parker in EuroBasket 2009 qualifying games

"They started a project for the longer term and we grew over the years. We also had a good mix, young talent like Axel Hervelle in the prime of their career, and older guys like Christophe Beghin and Roel Moors who had a lot of experience.

"By 2011 and 2013, that project really came to the top. That was the best period for the project. Once the generation of Beghin, Moors and even Hervelle, Guy Muya quit the national team, it was a little struggle to find the same balance in the team.

"But now, there's a bigger pond to fish in. There is more quality in the length of the roster. Now they can pick out easily 15 to 20 guys to make a roster of 12. So now maybe it's harder to make the Belgium national team but that's good because that means there is more quality.

"Step by step, there is this new generation coming up like Ismael Bako, Hans Vanwijn, Retin Obasohan, Manu Lecomte, guys evolving well in their teams and becoming more solid every year and that's good because they're young and can go for many years."

Van Rossom envisions Obasohan being an important player for Belgium now and in the years ahead

Bako is emerging as a key man for Belgium. He is in his first season in Spain's top flight at Baxi Manresa and is being coached by Pedro Martinez, Van Rossom's former coach at Valencia who led the team to the Liga Endesa crown four years ago.

"Bako, he played the last two years with ASVEL in the EuroLeague but obviously his playing time was more limited," Van Rossom said. "Now he's getting more playing time and is more important for the team and he's responding well. 

"He will never be a low post player but he's the typical guy who will do pick-and-rolls, continuations, alley-oop plays and stuff like that but you also see that physically, he's getting better. And he's young, 25. And with big guys, it might take a little longer. Right now he's getting more and more complete every year. And for Belgium, it's great news because it's a key position, the five. If he gets better and more dominant, it helps the national team."

After FIBA EuroBasket 2017, Croatian specialist Dario Gjergja replaced Casteels at the helm of Belgium.

Van Rossom got to know Gjergja four years ago,  training at Oostende before Valencia offered him a new deal to keep him in Spain. He also played for Gjergja when Belgium participated in the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Pre-Qualifiers.

"He's a very passionate guy about basketball," Van Rossom said. "He's Croatian, he breathes basketball, like a lot of people that come from the Balkan countries."

Gjergja steered the Lions to a successful FIBA EuroBasket 2022 qualification and now, he'll try to get Belgium to the World Cup.

Van Rossom calls Oostende coach Dario Gjergja "a good fit" for Belgium

"Dario knows Belgian basketball very well because he's been there 10 to 12 years or more and working at Oostende, he sees a lot of young guys who play in the national team," Van Rossom said. "They played for him at Oostende and he helped them develop.

"It's not a coach from abroad who doesn't follow the Belgian league. He follows players and I think is a good fit for the team. He's definitely to me a players' coach. Dario talks to his players a lot and when he shows them mistakes, he does it in a good way to help them become better. He understands the players, too. He tries to help players out in every single way and the players appreciate him a lot."

Van Rossom hopes Gjergja pulls the right strings and gets Belgium to the World Cup.

"I would love to be one time at the World Cup," he said. "It's something we haven't done yet, we never qualified for it, so for me, it's more or less the last opportunity right now to do it."

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