THE Irish men's basketball team embark on the most significant assignment in their history when they play host to a European championship semifinal round qualifying group at the National Arena in Tallaght tonight and over the weekend.
Standing between Ireland and another breakthrough are the strong, physical squads from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Belgium will start as favourites, as they are regarded by most observers to be five points better than Holland, who are in turn regarded as superior to Ireland and Norway by a similar margin.
The hope is that local support and home advantage might work in Ireland's favour and possibly cancel out the apparent technical deficit between them and the other teams in the group.
Ireland open their campaign against Belgium tonight, which is regarded as a good draw for the home team. While the Belgians will be expected to win, the possibility of Ireland pulling off a shock result is greatest on the first evening of the event given their familiarity with the home court surroundings.
The Irish squad is a mixture of National League players and young Irish Americans playing in European leagues. Much of the scoring responsibility will rest on 6 ft 10 in Alan Tomidy and 6 ft 9 in Ryder University freshman, Ken Lacey.
A lot will depend also on the playmaking of National League guards Mark Kennan (St Vincent's) and Adrian Fulton (Star of the Sea).
The Irish women, also in action in their European championship qualifying group on the Island of Madeira, lost their first match to Israel 82-69, with Jillian Hayes the top scorer on 19 points.
