Coach hopes Ireland can end on a high note
Home games in Dublin have left fans clamouring for more of the same and Cork fans next week won’t be disappointed with what they see.
“This is a game everyone wants to win,” Coach Gerry Fitzpatrick said. “This is a patriotic thing with the players. I mean they are probably the only team in the competition who don’t get paid for playing for their country. I’d hate to tell you what the German’s get paid.”
And he promises another show that will compare favourably with the games against Germany and Macedonia.
“We have competed very well against everybody including Germany and Macedonia and they are good teams with good players,” he said. “Hopefully we will be in decent shape and that everybody has come through the weekend games injury free. But we are due a change of luck in that regard.”
He will be missing both Tim Kennedy and Dan Callahan. In Kennedy’s case, the 6’6” small forward who hails from California has been plagued by an injury that cannot be sorted out until the season is over.
Callahan, a 6’8” centre/power forward, has been a tremendous servant to Ireland and has announced his retirement from the game for family reasons.
“That is not to say he won’t be making a comeback,” said Coach Fitzpatrick who paid tribute to the Boston man for his service to the national team since joining the side in 1966. He was International Player of the Year in 1999 and played in the Italian league for a few seasons before signing a big contract with the top Greek club, PAOK, last summer.
The absence of Tim Kennedy has made room for Michael Bree from Sligo who played collegiate basketball in the US before returning to play in Europe.
In recent games the Coach had to play without the services of Mike Mitchel and Jimmy Moran for various reasons and he is hoping for a full squad when the players begin to arrive in Cork on Sunday.
Star attraction will be Cal Bowdler who was drafted in by GerryFitzpatrick in September and he responded with a game high of 26 points against Germany at the ESB Arena and when he went to Zagreb the following week he again topped the scoresheet with 25 points.
In the friendly against England in October he had highlighted his debut with 20 points to help Ireland to a sensational 10 point victory.
“We played very well in that game against England,” Coach Fitzpatrick recalled. “It was nice to see that we could actually beat them. They have been in five European championships and they were well ahead of us all along. I would see this performance as a yardstick in terms of how far we have actually come.”
He said that what impressed everyone is how far those players are prepared to push themselves for the country.
“Like I said there are very few national teams in Europe doing it for nothing and this is very much an Irish thing with them. They have been very positive and they have played hard throughout the campaign.
“In situations like this where players have to turn out for their clubs the following week they might be excused for watching themselves but those guys gave it everything and particularly in the game against Macedonia. “I feel we can expect more of the same in Cork next Wednesday night. I know they want to win this game very much. Cyprus have a very strong national league and they have three teams in European club competition so they will be a difficult team to beat.”
Michael Bree joins Adrian Fulton and Damian Sealy in the squad that also includes Cal Bowdler, Marty Conlon, John O’Connell from London Towers, Jay Laranga, Mike Mitchel, Jim Moran and Glen Sekunda.
“A win would be very important in terms of consolidating our position at this level,” Gerry Fitzpatrick said. “We have proved that we can compete at this level and now it is a matter of making sure we continue to do so.”
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