VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - There's nothing like an underdog story that captures the imagination of a sports fan.

We've experienced it of late with Matthew Dellavedova of Australia, the guard who has filled in admirably for injured Cleveland Cavaliers superstar Kyrie Irving in the NBA Finals.

I've got another one for you as it relates to the 24-team EuroBasket field.

Think Iceland.

They are the minnow of minnows.

Just look at the FIBA World Ranking Men.

It's not a low ranking that makes them the longest of shots to win.

They actually do not have ranking.

Iceland haven't had a chance to collect any ranking points because this will be their first EuroBasket.

The Netherlands, another of the sides in the field, have not played at a EuroBasket for the past quarter century so they, too, do not have a ranking.

Iceland are bigger outsiders, though.

When they qualified, people thought, "Iceland?"

What is their population?

According to countrymeters.info, just over 328,000 people live in Iceland compared to just under 17 million in the Netherlands.

I asked Iceland coach Craig Pedersen about his team's qualification for the EuroBasket.

"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," he said.

The tournament doesn't tip off for another 83 days, but Icelanders are in EuroBasket mode.

They recently got a chance to see the EuroBasket trophy and mascot.

Imagine what the EuroBasket opportunity means to the captain of the national team, Hlynur Baeringsson.

"I never thought I would play these teams at a EuroBasket so first of all, I'm just really excited," he told me.

Then there is the great Jon Stefansson, the most famous of Iceland basketball players.

He has played with Unicaja Malaga in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague this year and reached the semi-finals of the Spanish Liga Endesa.

"It's unbelievable," he said of Iceland's qualification, "but we're in the [EuroBasket] Finals."

Most pundits will dismiss Iceland's chances of winning any of their games, and especially because of their pool.

Pedersen's squad will compete in Group B, in Berlin, against Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Serbia.

Anything's possible, though, especially in sports.

There are times when David slays Goliath.

Iceland do have an advantage.

"There is a great chemistry on the team that has built up over the years," Pedersen said.

"The players know the game."

Obviously, we don't have a lot of height, but they make up with that with their fight. - Pedersen

Pedersen says the players deserve the credit, and his predecessor, Peter Oqvist, should get some, too.

They were sound defensively when Pedersen took the helm and that showed in the two 2nd Qualification Round victories over Great Britain that put Iceland into Final Round.

"The coach before me put in a defensive system that has worked very well for Iceland," Pedersen said.

"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.

"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."

It's going to be a great day for Icelandic sport when their basketball team runs onto the court to face Germany on opening day (5 September).

Remembering that Dirk Nowitzki has decided to play for the national team at the EuroBasket, the German crowd is going to be pumped up.

Next will be Italy, then Serbia and Spain and finally, Turkey.

"I don’t think we’d ever go into a tournament scared, but obviously we’ll have a great deal of respect for these teams," Baeringsson said.

"We'll just try and be as tactically well prepared as we can to be ready for those teams and we'll see."

Some of Iceland's players have already been in action.

They took part in the 16TH Games of the Small States of Europe and reached the Final on 6 June before falling to Montenegro.

This may not be a one-and-done deal for Iceland.

Once they get a taste of the EuroBasket, they'll want to make it back.

Finland and Belgium spent a long time out of the EuroBasket but will be making third straight appearances this summer.

Iceland have veterans like Baeringsson and Stefansson, but there is also talent in the pipeline.

Kristofer Acox, in fact, was injured last year and could not play for the senior team.

But after a strong season of American college basketball with Furman in Greenville, South Carolina, he has returned home and competed for the team at the 16TH Games of the Small States of Europe.

A forward whose father played professionally in Iceland, Acox was one of Iceland's top players and with his athleticism, he should bring a lot to table for the national team in Germany.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

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