REYKJAVIK (EuroBasket) - It’s not a stretch to call Iceland the biggest surprise package ever in international basketball.

The national side qualified for next year’s EuroBasket this summer and will be, no matter what happens at the upcoming draw, among the underdogs.

Craig Pedersen, who led the team for the first time this year and just had several weeks to get them ready for qualifying games against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Great Britain, presided over a couple of wins (83-70 at home and 71-69 in London) against the Brits that got Iceland the all important second place in their group.

The team wasn’t a pushover against Bosnia and Herzegovina, either, losing away 72-62 and then at home, 78-70.

"A lot of people made us aware that we are the smallest country ever to qualify for the EuroBasket, so it’s a pretty big feat," Pedersen said to FIBA.com.

"And something that I’m happiest about is the players from Iceland. We have about half of the team that has been dedicated to the national team program for the last 14 years and that’s a long time to be with the national team program without taking any summers off and the work that we’ve put in has really paid off.

"In some ways, it hasn’t really sunk in. It’s strange to think we could get into a [EuroBasket] pool with Spain or France or something like that, which would be a pretty big challenge. 

"But it’s exciting. The country is excited about it and it’s a great accomplishment because we beat a very good British team and played in two pretty decent games against Bosnia so it was a good summer."

There have been examples in recent times of less famous international basketball nations having success.

Finland have set the standard in that department of late by not only qualifying for back-to-back EuroBaskets in 2011 and ’13, but also advancing from the opening phase.

The Finns raised even more eyebrows this summer by almost advancing to the Round of 16 at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, a tournament they played in after receiving a wild card.

"Iceland play quite often against Finland in the Nordic Championships and I know, I don’t exactly when in the last couple of years, they played a very good game in Finland and lost by one point or something, or two points and that gave them hope that they weren’t too far away," Pedersen said.

"But there is a great chemistry on the (Iceland) team that has built up over the years. The players know the game.

"Obviously, we don’t have a lot of height, but they make up with that with their fight."

A lot of the credit, Pedersen says, should go to his predecessor.

Peter Oqvist was in charge of the team and helped turn Iceland into a very competitive side.

"The coach before me put in a defensive system that has worked very well for Iceland and this summer, we managed to keep our turnovers down and managed to keep the other teams’ scorers at a relatively low level, so that helped us stay in games," Pedersen said. 

"That was a huge key.

"The fact that I picked up the team after the team had already been running the defensive system for three years, we sort of brushed up on that and had some success with that. Just basically, doubling the low post from the baseline side, trying to get around stuff.

Our starting center [Hlynur Baeringsson] is very mobile. 

"He’s only about 2m but he’s been Defensive Player of the Year the past two years in Sweden and is just very mobile. 

"He’s got very good timing with his offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding, is very strong, can switch out on guards, stuff like that."

Baeringsson, the Iceland captain, remembers not long ago that his team had to play in a ‘Group of Death’ against Serbia, Slovakia, Israel, Montenegro and Estonia in their EuroBasket 2013 qualifying campaign.

Iceland won just one game, 81-75 at Slovakia.

The squad nevertheless benefitted from the hard games and schedule. 

"That was an extremely tough experience due to the number of games, the short travel in between and the competition was unbelievable," Baeringsson said to FIBA.com. 

"We only got one win that summer, but we had a couple of other good games and we improved and got a little more self confidence that we could at least compete on a good day."

If having the 2m Baeringsson play center is deemed a disadvantage by some, there are some good things about it.

The 32-year-old is a power forward in Sweden’s top flight with Sundsvall Dragons and has other ways he can hurt opponents.

"The last couple of summers I’ve been shooting a lot of threes and mostly attacking from the outside," he said. 

"I’ve been thrown into that No. 5 position. 

"Against some of those guys that weigh a lot, I give up a lot of kilos. I weigh about 98 kilos so I have to use that to my advantage. I have to pass the ball, make the offense work and take my chances when I can from the outside." 

There is another important player in the Iceland set-up.

Jon Stefansson is the point guard who has shone for clubs in Italy and Spain and currently plays for Unicaja Malaga.

Stefansson sat out Iceland’s first game this summer when they won at home against Great Britain on 10 August because he had yet to sign a deal with Unicaja.

"He didn’t have a contract yet and didn’t want to take a chance of getting injured," Pedersen said. 

"We had some young guys step up in that game and won, and he got all excited about the possibilities and played the game in London and that was huge. 

"It’s one thing to win at home, but to win on the road in Europe is a difficult task and he definitely was a game-changer and we would have had an extremely difficult time without him in London."

Stefansson connected on four of his nine shots from long range and scored a game-high 23 points as Iceland won, 71-69, in London. 

"He was very important and even the games he didn’t participate in, he was a great leader and was there supporting the other guys," Pedersen said.

Looking back, Pedersen knows exactly what worked for Iceland and it’s should help them next year at the EuroBasket.

"I think we want to get out and run and score in transition but we want to stop other teams from running and getting easy baskets," he said.

"Looking back at the summer, one of the keys was that our turnover rate was very low. 

"It was the second lowest of the 28 teams that competed next to Italy and I feel that we didn’t give up easy transition buckets off turnovers. 

"We did give up some, but not an amount that was catastrophic so we were able to get back and set the defense and hold them a little it." 

No matter what happens, Baeringsson and his teammates are going to enjoy the experience.

The captain already is, in fact.

"In terms of the national team, this is the best experience I’ve had," he said. 

"You never expect after playing all those years that you would get to play in one of those tournaments. I thought it was almost impossible so it’s a great moment."

FIBA