Tomas Satoransky reveals his injury status for game against Poland / News - Basketnews.com

Tomas Satoransky will be a game-time decision for the match against Poland.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

One of the biggest questions at the beginning of EuroBasket 2022 was whether the Czech Republic national team's leader Tomas Satoransky was able to participate in the tournament.

Czech Republic / Schedule

Poland Czech RepublicFri15:30 Czech Republic SerbiaSat15:30 Czech Republic NetherlandsMon15:30 Finland Czech RepublicTue15:30 Czech Republic Israel09-0815:30

The new FC Barcelona guard has been included in the final 12-man roster, bringing joy to the Czech fans following the team. Yesterday, the roster held an official EuroBasket practice for the first time.

After the training session, head coach Romen Ginzburg and Satoransky himself sat down to talk with the media in a press conference. One of the very first questions asked was about the issue everyone cares about.

"Since the sprained ankle happened, I've been recovering basically all day long every day always doing more and more. I think feels better every day," Satoransky said. "We've already discussed it with the coach, it's going to be a game-time decision."

"We have to be smart about it but I'm very happy and I really trust the work that I did in a couple of weeks," the player continued. "It's basically a day-to-day decision."

Immediately after Satoransky finished, coach Ginzburg wanted to address an important thing he dedicated to the Czech media and the Czech people.

"First of all, I want to say something to the Czech media about Tomas," the coach started. "I don't care if he plays just one minute in all the games or he doesn't play at all, the effort that this guy took to play for the national team, and I currently cannot say everything that he did, but it's amazing."

"A lot of players in his position would have said thank you and would have quit and gone to their team," Ginzburg explained. "We're blessed to have him whether he plays or not."

Without Satoransky, the Czech Republic lost a friendly game against Italy and against France in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers but finished the preparatory cycle with a win against Hungary.

Tomas Satoransky

Team:FC BarcelonaPosition:SGAge:30Height:200 cmWeight:93 kgBirth place:Prague, Czech RepublicProfileNewsStatistics

"For sure, we have more problems without him," the coach continued. "We don't have players on his level but we try to do our best, and if he doesn't play tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, the other players will try to do their best. It wasn't great without him but the players need some time to adjust to playing without Tomas."

Talking about the recovery process with the Czech media, Satoransky was able to provide more detail.

"I have no experience with such an injury yet, always had minor sprains at the most that allowed me to play the next match or in two days at the latest. It was the first serious injury of this type, and maybe that helped me be a little more open to it," the player told.

"I don't know whether to take it as a miracle," he said when asked whether recovering in two weeks is a miracle. "I believe that if you say you can do it, it will eventually happen. I am a person who does not give up before a fight and in any situation. I believed this from the beginning and tried to surround myself only with positive people."

The Czech national team will open the tournament with a match against Poland today in Prague at 17:30 CET. Both teams are placed in Group D together with Serbia, the Netherlands, Israel, and Finland.

Full press conference:

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