ZAGREB (EuroBasket 2015) - It's not really fair to ask Worthy De Jong about the last time the Netherlands played on Europe's biggest stage. But the athletic small forward has already made EuroBasket 2015 a memorable one for Dutch basketball fans.

Right now it's very important for Dutch basketball to lift up and put the Netherlands on the map. - De Jong

"No, it's kind of hard to remember much of that time," joked De Jong, who was only one year old when Netherlands made their last EuroBasket appearance in 1989.

"For us in the Netherlands this comes around once every 26 years. It feels like we have accomplished something already even though we haven't played any games yet," De Jong said just before the start of the tournament.

De Jong did more than his part in accomplishing that as he scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds in the Netherlands' Group C-opening 73-72 victory over Georgia.

"This is just epic. We did this and this will give us so much energy and so much faith in this whole tournament. We threw a lot of energy on the floor today," De Jong said after the win.

"We were on the vibe, emotionally and physically. We had something going together. That was one of the most important things to this game."

But one game does not a tournament make for the Dutch, who played at every EuroBasket between 1946 and 1989 and finished fourth in 1983. Netherlands' chances of reaching the knockout stage would greatly increase if they pick up a second victory - ideally against The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the second day of action in Zagreb.

The Dutch proved many doubters wrong with the win over Georgia, building a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter and then staying strong to come back after falling behind by four points in the final minute.

"We gave them the game and we took it. Now we have to take it tomorrow," said De Jong.

Dutch head coach Toon van Helfteren knows De Jong well from coaching him mat Dutch club Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden.

"Worthy is a great weapon. I coached him for four years. I know what I can expect from him," said van Helfteren.

"He's kind of unpredictable. But he helped us tremendously with the good Worthy."

De Jong for his part emphasised that regardless of what happens the rest of the way, he and his team-mates must learn from this experience.

"Thinking that the last time was 26 years ago, we need to make it worth it - every second, every practice, every game we get. We need to leave everything we have on the floor. That's going to help us, help Dutch basketball."

De Jong and company have already done that.

Go to eurobasket2015.org for complete coverage of EuroBasket 2015.

FIBA