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08 - 16
August 2014
Zoran-Zupcevic-30-05-2014
30/05/2014
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UAE - Zupcevic looking forward to hosts taking on world's best at U17 Men

DUBAI (FIBA U17 World Championship) - Zoran Zupcevic, the national team coordinator for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), insists the host nation at the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship will have no unrealistic goals come this summer and want to use the tournament to increase awareness of the game in the country.

"(The players) are going to face reality," Zupcevic said about the UAE taking on basketball powers Spain, Italy and Puerto Rico in Group C at the tourney from 8-16 August in Dubai.

"Reality is going to be playing against kids who are the same age but not necessarily in relation regarding physical ability, individual skills, commitment to the sport and all those things that go with that level and those kids."

Zupcevic expects the majority of the UAE players to be 1998-born, a year younger than the rest of the competition. And the Sarajevo native thinks it will be great exposure for the youngsters.

"They will be able to compare themselves bone-to-bone with the top players in the world. It’s one thing to watch those players on TV and it's another to play next to them," said the UAE's senior national team coach and supervisor of the youth program.

"You can compare yourself and see how hard you need to work to try to reach their level and try to compete with them in the future. And I believe if we are able to do that we can gain a lot from this tournament."

The country hasn't had much success at the youth level, having only played at one Asia youth championship since 2000 - the 2008 U18 FIBA Asia Championship. And expectations must be kept in check at the U17 Worlds.

"We have to be realistic with our kids and we have to set realistic goals because sometimes if you don't set realistic goals and the quality difference is too high then suddenly you can lose some of those kids. And that's not what we want," said Zupcevic.

Besides not having much experience, UAE will also have a drastic size disadvantage with no player taller than 1.82m.

"That's our reality. We are aware of what we have. We want to give something to these kids that would never happen to them otherwise. That means exposing them to top level players from all over the world."

And it's not just exposure to the players but also to the rest of the country and immediate surrounding area.

"We wanted to bring the focus to the sport in the country, expose the top young players from all over the world to the domestic population. And we can use this world championship to attract more kids into the sport.

"We have been losing the numbers. That's the facts. And it's not exclusively basketball, but all sports. Dubai is such a great city and there are so many things kids can do these days. They are focusing more on school and other activities. This competition could help us get back on track."

The UAE team will not likely come together until early July due to testing in private and governmental schools. And the national federation must also find a coach as Shamsi Abdel Rahman was unable to continue on as coach because of other commitments.

Former UAE international Ayoub Abbas, meanwhile, has been brought on as an assistant with the U17 team.

"It's a great opportunity because at the same time it gives a chance to a former nation team player, which doesn't happen that often. It's great, he's committed, he's a great young person willing to learn. And it's one more opportunity for basketball to benefit somehow," said Zupcevic.

FIBA