By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Coming out of a losing effort against Israel and with his side on the verge of elimination from EuroBasket 2025, Dario Gjergja reshared requirements to play for Belgium in FIBA tournaments.
“These guys want to be here. I already talked about this guy,” he pointed to Hans Vanwijn during the postgame press conference following Gameday 4 of Group D on Tuesday.
“We need to have these guys who want to be here, every time, and are dedicated to wearing this jersey and are proud of that. That is the kind of guys we need,” added the 50-year-old tactician, who has been in charge of the senior national team of Belgium since 2018, “It’s not about tactics or anything else, it’s about being proud to wear the jersey of your country.”
NBA players Ajay Mitchell and Toumani Camara are included in the list of players opting against suiting up for Belgium this summer.
“We have talked so many times about the guys that are not here, which is also, obviously, a lot of talented players that we missed,” said 30-year-old Vanwijn, “Right now, it’s about the 12 guys that are here.”
The experienced power forward, a regular with Belgium over recent years, posted a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double and fell one assist shy of a triple-double against Israel in Katowice’s Spodek Arena.
“It’s always nice to have a great individual performance,” he mentioned, “It shows that we were playing a lot more freely and open in the second half, a lot more fast breaks, and that’s the only way to get so many assists and rebounds also.”
After trailing by 21 points, Vanwijn fueled the unsuccessful comeback bid with his side getting within shooting distance in crunch time before settling in defeat, 92-89.
Down to 1-3, Belgium wraps up the five-game round-robin schedule against host Poland on Thursday.
Photo Credit: FIBA