Mike Taylor’s Team Poland Goes 3-0 In Group A, Now Moves On To Second Round In FIBA World Cup (09/04/19)

(Photo courtesy of Coach Taylor and Team Poland) Poland National Team celebrating big win.

The Polish National Basketball Team, guided by head coach and former Clarion Area athlete Mike Taylor and his staff, finished the 2019 FIBA World Cup Group A Opening Round a perfect 3-0, after downing Ivory Coast 80-63, this morning (Wednesday, September 4th), at Wukesong Sports Center in Beijing.

Team Poland now moves on to the Second Round where they will face Russia and Argentina, in Foshan, looking to advance to the quarterfinals.

The game was fairly close through the first three periods. Ivory Coast held a 24-20 lead after one. With a 16-8 second period edge, Poland went in at halftime with a four point lead, 36-32.

The third stanza saw Poland ahead by as many as eight points, at 53-45 following an 8-2 run. With Poland having a 19-17 edge, in the period, they carried a six point, 55-49 lead into the fourth.

Poland outscored Ivory Coast 25-14 in the final period, as they broke the game open for the 80-63 final.

Adam Waczynski led Poland with 16 points. Damian Kulig and Mateusz Pontika added 14 and eight points respectively.

Ivory Coast’s Charles Abouo had 23 points to lead all scorers, with Deon Thompson adding 18 points.

Quoted in an article, on the official FIBA World Cup website, Coach Taylor said, “I love our team. This is such a team to root for because of the personalities and characters involved. They are a selfless team and give up so much for each other, they play for each other and they make each other better. I’m really proud of them taking the challenges we’ve faced here.”

In the same article, Waczynski is quoted, “We are extremely happy after the Group Phase that we are 3-0. We said before (the tournament) we are going to fight in every game and give 100 percent and it will give us the win. We are extremely proud of all the guys who stepped on the court and they gave 100 percent, even more. The most important thing, I was talking to the guys earlier, we still make mistakes; we still don’t play offensively and defensively perfectly; but it’s our mentality that gives us the opportunity to win in the end.”

(Gongratulations, Coach Taylor and Team Poland!!!!)