Jayco Opals head to Europe
Following a few weeks of training in camp at the AIS in Canberra, the Jayco Australian Opals are departing Australia and heading to Europe where a series of key international match-ups awaits them.
The tour continues their extended preparation period, as they look to regain the form that has seen the team adorn the podium in their last four Olympic campaigns.
Joining the team for the first time will be star point guard and 2008 Olympian Erin Phillips from the WNBA, bringing the squad up to a total of 15 athletes, with 12 spots up for grabs ahead of London.
Following the current tour, the team will return to Australia in time for the three-game Farewell Series: Basketball's Road to London, with the team taking to the court against Brazil at Hisense Arena, in what will be a double-header event with the Boomers on June 24. Game two of the Farewell Series will be held in Bendigo on June 26, with the series concluding at the newly completed State Basketball Centre in Knox on June 28.
Head coach of the Jayco Opals Carrie Graf said that the group's time together in Canberra has been successful at achieving a number key strategic objectives and that the upcoming tour now gives the team the opportunity to put these things to the test in game situations against some quality opposition.
"You can assess things any number of times on the training court, but there's no substitute to real game-play to seeing where the group is at in terms of some of the things we've been working on over these past few weeks in camp," she said.
"We are just under eight weeks away from our first game in London, and although you'd always love more time, to get these kinds of hit-outs now as opposed to in the week or two prior to the Games is beneficial and is a testament to Basketball Australia and the preparation schedule they have been able to put in place," she said.
The Jayco Opals have match-ups scheduled against Turkey, Hungary and the Czech Republic, ending the tour with two games against equal number two in the world, Russia.
Jayco Opals European Tour Game Day Schedule
June 8: Jayco Opals vs Turkey, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, 7pm local time (June 9, 3am AEST)
June 9: Jayco Opals vs Hungary, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, 4.30pm local time (June 10, 12.30am AEST)
June 10: Jayco Opals vs Czech Republic, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, 4.30pm local time (June 11, 12.30am AEST)
June 16: Jayco Opals vs Russia, Varese, Italy, 5pm local time (June 17, 1am AEST)
June 17: Jayco Opals vs Russia, Varese, Italy, 7pm local time (June 18, Italy, 3am AEST)
Tickets for The Farewell Series: Basketball’s Road to London are now on sale for all games with adults starting from just $25 and children/concession from $15.
For more information on The Farewell Series visit: www.thefarewellseries.com.au.
