Ireland coach knows Swiss are no pushovers

THE Irish men’s basketball team arrived in Geneva yesterday for their European championship clash with Switzerland, and while they were boosted by their big win over Malta in Dublin on Saturday, team manager Sean O’Reilly stressed that this was a whole new ball game against much stronger opposition.

The build-up to the game took on a new dimension at the weekend for as Ireland's giants were dissecting Malta at the National Basketball Arena, the Swiss were executing a shock win over Slovakia, who must come to Dublin next Saturday.

Slovakia may have been without their star player, who has just recovered from illness understood to be a heart problem and was being rested for the Ireland game.

However, O'Reilly insisted that it was a huge win for the Swiss.

"They will want to build on that and we can expect to find them in a pretty positive frame of mind tomorrow night," he said.

"We were never going to take this game lightly."

Coach Gerry Fitzpatrick rested Cal Bowdler on Saturday, after he picked up a niggling back injury, but press officer Mags Moroney said he travelled fully fit yesterday and ready to play his part tomorrow night.

"We need to win both games," she said.

"But we don't have to win them by three points any more. One point will do. We are now at the top of the table. Switzerland will have to beat us by more than 20 points to stay in and that will put them under a bit of pressure. We beat them 76-68 in the first leg last year in Dublin."

Ireland lost to Slovakia by just three points in the first leg when they enjoyed home advantage. This time Ireland will have the backing of a full house for the return game which will be televised live on RTÉ.

But O'Reilly said they were focused on tomorrow night's clash with Switzerland.

"I was not really surprised they beat Slovakia, but the fact they did it away from home was a bit surprising.

"Regardless of that, we were always expecting a big game from Switzerland. They have to beat us to stay up so they will be under pressure.

"We had the perfect preparation against Malta when we were able to give the younger fellows in the squad a chance. It is nice to know we have options and the fact that everyone came through without any injuries was a relief."