GB fall to polished Czech Republic in Prague opener
The Czech Republic took the win in today’s first of two friendly fixtures for Chema Buceta’s Women’s team in Prague, with the rematch taking place tomorrow evening where Great Britain will look to respond.
The hosts are well into their preparations for Women’s EuroBasket, having played a number of friendlies already – beating Germany and Turkey in that run – whereas this was GB’s first outing as a collective, with training camp having begun in Manchester last week.
Coach Buceta’s side showed flashes of their quality throughout the game – with Savannah Wilkinson’s play a particular bright spot as she led the team in points, blocks and efficiency, and there were other signs of promise for GB, who will have an immediate opportunity to respond to this evening’s 98-44 defeat tomorrow (Friday) as they take on the Czechs again.
Following the final buzzer, Coach Buceta commented:
“This was our first preparation game, competing against a very good team. They’ve been together for a long time, they’ve played a number of games already, and you could see that on the court. It is normal that we would struggle to match that level, with this being our first game.
“The idea of coming here was to improve, and we need to take every opportunity we can to learn and get better with EuroBasket under two weeks away. As we continue through our preparations, we can increase our level.”
Full livestats for today’s game can be found here.