By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Czech Republic had an easy job against Japan and got a much needed win with 87–71 in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, Serbia. They face Serbia in the semifinals on Friday.
In the beginning of the game, the Czech faced no difficulty, with Jan Vesely soon making the score 7–0. However, the Japanese took advantage of rebounds and evened the score to 9 points at 6′. Ota took charge, though Japan was down 23–14 after 10 mins.
The Czechs built a secure 17–point lead 13 minutes in the game, as Japan’s Tsuji fought alone to keep his team close to the score. Jan Vesely dominated in the paint once again, leaving his opponents dazed. Palyza and Satoransky worked perfectly on the court and just like that Czech Republic managed to stay ahead 48–35 at halftime.
After the break, Japan tried several changes to its rotation in order to match up the Czech, though to no avail. With an emphatic dunk, Auda put Czech Republic up with 61–45 at 27′ and caused many headaches to the opposing team. Palyza finished of the third period in the best way possible for the Czechs: a long distance shot that gave them a 18–point lead, 69–51.
With the deficit reaching even 23 points, Japan had no hopes of turning back in the game in the final period and suffered another loss which practically leaves them out of the rest of the competition.
For Czech Republic, Palyza finished the game with 22 points, Satoransky with 11 and Vesely with 8.