Poland dream on as Cinderella of EuroBasket 2022

 BERLIN (Germany) - FIBA EuroBasket 2022 was just about to reach the two-week mark and had already provided plenty of twists and turns to captivate the imagination of fans around the world. And then came Poland to add one storyline that was missing: the event now has its Cinderella.

Mateusz Ponitka picked the perfect moment to register the first triple-double of his career and he helped engineer the biggest upset of an already exhilarating tournament with Poland eliminating the reigning champions Slovenia after a 90-87 victory in the Quarter-Finals.

"We are really happy and proud of ourselves, and we have a right to be. This is a historical success for Poland. Now I think everybody will respect us more, especially in our home country," said Ponitka, who collected 26 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for just the third triple-double in EuroBasket since FIBA started recording data for rebounds and assists in 1995.

"A week ago I said every tournament has a Cinderella. And here we are. We are the Cinderella right now."

 
Poland players afterwards stressed how much they had believed in themselves before the game and the daunting task at hand of trying to dethrone Luka Doncic and mighty Slovenia. Yet, the new Polska heroes had amazed even themselves when the final buzzer went off.

"It's unbelievable, it's above our expectations. We came here to fight, to make a surprise and surprise everybody and we actually did it. We are now in the Semi-Finals and the sky is the limit," said Michal Michalak.

"Nobody believed what was going on until the final moment. This is just amazing for Polish basketball, for the country, for us. I think we showed what we can do and now everybody will know we are a threat in this tournament," added big man Aleksander Balcerowski.

 
A.J. Slaughter talked afterwards about waking up Wednesday morning with a strong feeling that something magical would happen later on in the German capital.

"I just had a feeling that came over me this morning, something told me we were gonna win this game. I was even texting my friends. We're gonna win. We're gonna win. Nobody believed, but the guys in the locker room believed, and we came out and proved that the game has to be played between the lines."

 
Still Slaughter could hardly fathom what he and teammates had done.

"This is surreal. I still can't believe it. The last 50 seconds felt like forever. And then when the clock went off I still couldn't believe that we just won the game," he said.

Poland reaching the EuroBasket Semi-Finals for the first time since 1971 did not, however, just come out of nowhere. Six of the players on this Polish team played at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, where the team was back on the global stage for the first time since 1967 and then shocked the world by reaching the Quarter-Finals.

The Polish players in Berlin said they hope the hype back home for what they are doing is big.

"EVERY TOURNAMENT HAS A CINDERELLA. AND HERE WE ARE. WE ARE THE CINDERELLA RIGHT NOW."

"I think it's going to be crazy. I think Poland is going to go crazy. This is my opinion and I don't know what will happen. And not only Poland but all the basketball world is going crazy," said Balcerowski.

"Kids in Poland who are watching this have to get inspired. We just did something crazy. We shocked the world. This memory will last forever," added Slaughter.

Poland now find themselves just one victory from reaching the podium for just the fifth time in their history - a second place in 1963 and three third placed finishes in 1939, 1965 and 1967 - and the first time in 55 years.

When asked if Poland will finish the dream with a medal, Ponitka answered: "Why not? Every tournament has its Cinderella."

FIBA