Who is on the Czech Republic Men's Olympic Basketball team? Looking at their key players making a difference at 2021 Olympics
The Czech Republic men's basketball team made history this year by qualifying for their first-ever Olympic campaign.
The Czech Republic haven't been known as one of the dominant teams on the international stage. They have qualified for six EuroBasket tournaments since the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The 2022 co-hosts' best achievement in the tournament is a seventh-place finish in 2015.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic have made just one appearance in the FIBA World Cup, finishing sixth in the 2019 edition of the competition. They have entered the Tokyo Olympics 2020 as the 12th-ranked team in the FIBA world rankings.
Czech Republic Olympic men's basketball team’s roster: Who are the key players leading the charge for the team?
Check out: Czech Republic Men's Olympic Basketball Team 2021
The Czech Republic beat supposedly superior teams like Greece and Canada en route to their maiden appearance at the Olympics this year. They got off to a great start against Iran in their opening game, defeating the Asian nation 84-78.
They expectedly stumbled against a dominant French team, though, enduring a disappointing 77-97 loss. They now face another powerhouse, the USA, in a do-or-die contest on Saturday.
The Czech Republic have only one player who is currently playing in the NBA - Tomas Satoransky. He plays for the Chicago Bulls and is one of their key rotation players in the backcourt.
The point guard is also the leader of the Czech Republic team. He has captained them in their last four major tournament appearances since 2015. Satoransky has had a mixed Tokyo Olympics 2020 campaign, though, scoring 20 points and providing a team-high 18 assists across two games.
He has compensated for his shooting woes with his playmaking, though, which has been crucial for the Czechs. His teammates will be hoping he can find his shooting touch in the next game, as the USA boast one of the best offensive units in the competition.
Apart from Tomas Satoransky, the Czech Republic also rely on four other key players - Jan Vesely, Ondrej Balvin, Patrik Auda and Blake Schilb. Vesely is a former No. 6 pick from the 2011 NBA draft. He played for the Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets during his time in the NBA till 2014.
Vesely had a slow start against Iran in the ongoing Olympics, scoring 11 points. However, he came back strong against France, scoring a team-high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
Also Check out: Olympic Basketball teams and Players
He will be a key player for the Czech Republic against the USA because of his size. The USA tend to struggle against teams with multiple bigs due to their lack of size. France took advantage of that in their win against Kevin Durant and co.
Meanwhile, Patrik Auda has been tremendous off the bench for the Czech Republic, tallying 30 points so far. Ondrej Balvin is another big that the Czechs have. The 7' 1" center is a rebounding machine and has grabbed 16 boards across two games. He also has 27 points to his name on 70.6% field-goal shooting.
The Czech Republic's fifth most important player is Blake Schilb. The small forward is the oldest player in their roster, aged 37. Having veterans like Schilb in a team is always a positive, as he helped the side immensely in their first game against Iran.
Despite leading by 22 points, the Czech Republic almost squandered that advantage as they saw their lead get whittled down to four with only a minute to go. Schilb, though, made sure his team got over the line, scoring14 points in the game, four of them coming in the clutch period.
The quintet will have to be on top of their games to give the Czech Republic a decent chance of causing an upset against the mighty USA.