Assistant Satoransky and Czech Republic happy to embrace the underdog role

CLUJ-NAPOCA (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - One of the Cinderella stories of 2015 was the rise of Czech Republic. Led by Tomas Satoransky, Jan Vesely and Blake Schilb, the Czechs destroyed Croatia in the Round of 16 and finished FIBA EuroBasket 2015 in seventh spot.

But this time around, Satoransky will have to carry the team by himself. His lobs to Vesely and kick-outs to Schilb resulted in 7.3 assists per game, trailing only Mantas Kalnietis in the run for the best distributor award. With no Vesely under the basket, Czech Republic will have to change their style a bit.

Satoransky and Jan Vesely were the perfect one-two punch in 2015

"I have already had summers when I played without him, usually in the FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers, so it's not that strange. Obviously, on this kind of a stage, the FIBA EuroBasket, it is strange not to have the best player and his abilities in our team," said Satoransky, who is appearing in his third straight FIBA EuroBasket.

"Vesely is a freak of nature, very athletic, he gave us different ways to play. We could play fast with him giving us so many rebounds and the protection under the basket. But it's not only him, we're missing Blake Shilb, who gave us points, so I would say we are outsiders. Underdogs. But being in this kind of spot sometimes helps you in a big tournament, nobody is expecting anything from you. We just want to play hard and enjoy every moment," added the 25-year-old point guard.

Yes. Point guard. We can call him that again. Having drawn oohs and ahhs as a playmaker in Europe, he struggled to find minutes at the position with the Washington Wizards. He was used as a shooting guard, even as a small forward, but barely got any playing time as a backup to John Wall. Once he takes the ball into his hands on Friday night with hosts Romania at the other end of the court, Satoransky will be the one feeling at home.

"I am trying to do whatever it takes for this team. Not only at point guard, I have to play off the ball sometimes, but obviously after playing the point guard position for most of my career, I'm glad to be back at the position, running the team I know already."

Romania will be the first team to come up against Satoransky's new playing style. Due to his move to the other backcourt position with the Wizards, the 6ft 7in (2.01m) guard spent his summer working on his release with a shooting specialist Stefan Weissenbock.

"Usually for NBA players the offseason is really long compared to Europe, you finish the season earlier, and I had some time to work on my shot. I met a shooting coach in Germany, I tried to go there and focus on one particular thing, shooting. Hopefully, it will help me. I saw some progress in the practices, now it's up to me to transform it to the games, which is always more difficult," Satoransky explained.

He will see a lot of familiar faces once he takes to the court against Spain, Hungary and Montenegro. But he is especially looking forward to a rendezvous with Bojan Bogdanovic, his former Wizards teammate.

"We had a great relationship. He came during the season and we spoke to each other in Spanish, because he used to play in Madrid. We kind of practiced together, I'm really sad he had to leave (to Indiana Pacers), but that's how it is in the NBA. You have to go to wherever the best position is for you. I am looking forward to seeing him, we spent a lot of time of the court together, he's a great guy."

Maybe the two of them could share a meal together, but contrary to popular social media posts, Satoransky will not be the one doing all the cooking.

"Well, to be honest, I don't cook at all. I don't know why they always put me in that spot, maybe it's because I like a lot of good food, good cuisine. But trust me, you don't want me to cook for you," he said with a smile.

With his cooking out of the way, our planned headlines, such as "Chef Satoransky serves up his teammates," or "Another glorious dish by Chef Satoransky" are going to waste...

"Nah, don't call me like that. Just call me Assistant Satoransky."

FIBA