Ireland’s men begin their journey in EuroBasket 2029 qualification on Thursday away to Luxembourg. With that quickly followed by the visit of North Macedonia on Sunday, Emmet Ryan examines the outlook in Michael Bree’s debut window as head coach.
The goal ahead of these games has been made clear. Michael Bree and his players want to set the tone this week. That means going 2-0 in their opening qualifiers against a familiar Luxembourg side and a North Macedonia team wondering what it is doing down here.
Familiarity and a refresh
Matt Zona of Cheshire Phoenix is the only outright debutant in the Irish squad this week, while Max Amadasun is set to make his competitive debut having made his first appearance in a green jersey in the summer against Norway. The rest of the roster bring a blend of experience and familiarity with the progress they’ve had to grind out in recent campaigns.
The big change, of course, is on the sideline. Michael Bree’s assistants took charge of the friendlies with Norway as the man himself still had commitments as an assistant with Denmark. Bree has set out his goal to progress from this group and that’s admirable but also more realistic than it was for prior campaigns.
This combination of experience but a fresh outlook comes at a critical time for the national side. Half of the roster is signed with teams outside of Ireland and a seventh, Sean Flood, is likely to be picked up soon. Only Neal Quinn (Gravelines Dunkerque) is playing in one of Europe’s top leagues, yet it’s comfortably still the roster with the most players that have made that step up in over 15 years.
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About the opponents
This is somewhat rare for Ireland, as a second seed they actually outrank two of the three other sides in the group. Luxembourg has long been an even enough test and, like Ireland, will be seeing this as a winnable game. The bulk of the roster is locally based but, given what happened in the recent women’s international, Bree’s side won’t overlook them.
North Macedonia presents more of a conundrum. The glory days of Pero Antic and Bo McCalebb are long gone. Yet they tend to expect to not just win but dominate in this phase of a competition. In truth, they’re disappointed to even be in this level of pre-qualifying.
Whichever of their two naturalised players suits up, Jacob Wiley or Omari Moore, promises to be a handful for Ireland. Added to this is Andrej Jakimovski, who now plays regularly for Trento in Serie A and Eurocup, after five years impressing with Colorado as a canny grafter. In short, for this level it’s a very good side.
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What matters
Going 2-0 is doable but unlikely, particularly as North Macedonia will likely have a much easier time against Azerbaijan than Ireland will in Luxembourg. Going 0-2 can’t be ruled out because, again, Luxembourg and Ireland have such ridiculous familiarity. The most likely outcome, to nobody’s surprise, will be a 1-1 finish.
It’s rather important that Ireland manage no worse than that. Victory on Thursday is vital. Whatever happens on Sunday is a bonus although it could yet prove important. While failing to progress from this group wouldn’t end Ireland’s EuroBasket 2029 journey, it would make it tougher.
A win this week and a shot at the lone second-place spot (out of three) in the next round remains in Ireland’s control. Defeat in both and even going 3-1 to close out this round (entirely possible) is unlikely to be enough. It’s simple and boring maths, even if the qualification format is a tad convoluted.
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