By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
SHANGHAI – Australia celebrated its first qualification to the FIBA Basketball World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night, after getting past the Czech Republic.
Joe Ingles has been the team’s leader on and off the court, with his playmaking skills, high basketball IQ, and decisions. Right after reaching the semis, he talked about his team’s chance of winning a World Cup medal for the first time in the country’s history. “You can write a cool story about it”, said Ingles. “I don’t really care about the past, we’re talking about what’s happening now”.
The 2019 semi-finals will feature four teams from three different continents: “Basketball is a wonderful game. A lot of great players, a lot of great teams. Countries are getting stronger and stronger, but to me, it’s not really a surprise. Playing in this stage for many years with the national team, you see teams grow, and I feel like we’ve been one of those teams. When I first started, we were fighting for every game. We’ve got to that point where we can be comfortable in some games, but we’re still not satisfied”.
As for the most important feature of Andrej Lemanis’ team, Ingles kept it short and to the point: “We really like each other. That’s the most important thing”.
Photo Credit: FIBA.Basketball