It was a rough outing for Ireland as Anthony Polite of Rio Breogan showed the step up in class require-d at this level of basketball. He guided Switzerland to a comfortable win in their 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifier
Ireland came into Sunday’s 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifier against Switzerland with confidence after a solid display in confidence. By the end of it, they had learned a hard lesson. In this level of basketball, having one guy used to a higher level can make all the difference.
What’s more mannerly?
Anthony Polite got hurt in Switzerland’s game against Azerbaijan on Thursday. Still, the Rio Breogan man was able to suit up and start against Ireland. He may have been caught off guard early however by the somewhat subdued home crowd.
The design of the National Basketball Arena means that noise gets amplified more than in others. In simple terms, it’s normally very loud here no matter what. Yet for the front half of the first frame felt more like a tennis match in terms of atmosphere.
That may have gotten to Polite who needed a few minutes to truly get going. Once the crowd got into it, so did he. The Rio Breogan star drove with fury to get to the line repeatedly and put Switzerland in charge early.
A small forward in name only
Technically, Anthony Polite is listed as a small forward for Switzerland. With Rio Breogan, he’s more of a 2 or a 3 than a pure 3. For Switzerland, he is unquestionably both a 1 and the one.
Polite is small and agile enough to handle the ball handler duties without having to move away from his natural strength. The easiest comparison isn’t in basketball but to David Alaba in his prime. The Austrian footballer was a defender on paper but everything in a national team jersey ran through him.
Anthony Polite’s role for Switzerland is to be the guy. He’s the one that raises the standard of what is around him. There’s no Clint Capela to run through in the qualifying campaign. Switzerland can’t hope for an inside out game of note with this roster. It’s Polite stepping back to step up and take charge.
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Losing a step but not on the scoreboard
The drop in sharpness when Polite stepped off the floor was obvious. He and Selim Fofana are the only members of the Swiss basketball side playing in a top league in Europe. That’s still two more players than Ireland can count on but the hosts looked more at home against an all domestic line-up for the visitors.
The Swiss league is an unquestioned step up from the Irish competition. It’s not a giant leap away however and the pace and fluidity was closer to what the home squad was used to.
This enabled Ireland to run more with the visitors, although the scoreboard reflected the continued execution issues for Ireland. There’s an element of the Patrick Ewing effect here. Having Polite on the floor didn’t always lead to an improvement there and then for Switzerland in scoring. What it did was wear down the Irish.
This meant that any line-up would be sharper thanks to the battering Polite and Fofana had already given the hosts physically.
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A very different Switzerland
Polite sat most of the second quarter and came out after just a couple of minutes of the third. While the side had managed to punish Ireland’s inefficiency without him in the first half, the visitors struggled far more on D this time around.
It didn’t hurt Ireland that Sean Flood was in fine shooting form. The decision not to run the offence through him however seemed odd. Flood, a fine ball handler, was moved more off ball. That gave him some good looks and he delivered but he could have been used more to create.
Switzerland’s greatest ally proved Ireland’s shooting. Even without the nous of Anthony Polite to guide their D, it was all too easy for them. Ireland were wasteful with open looks and soft post-ups.
Mop up duty
Polite returned to the floor to start the final quarter but the job was done. His colleagues, led mostly by Selim Fofana, had stretched the advantage to 20 points entering the final frame. A simply awful offensive display by the hosts had proven decisive in this one.
The Rio Breogan man was neat and effective but seemed to stay off the ball where possible. Clearly the goal was to not needlessly aggravate any knocks he may have been dealing with. As it was, Polite need not have worried. The result was well in hand. With Azerbaijan beating Kosovo earlier in the day, the victory means Switzerland hold top spot in this 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifier group on their own.
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