Buoyant Bulgaria Hope To Build Momentum

Forget the fact that Bulgaria only scraped their way into next year's EuroBasket in Poland.
They finished as the third best second-place team in Division A with four wins and four defeats in Group A, and ended up with a superior goal coefficient to that of France, who came in as runner-up to Turkey in Group C.
Bulgaria's inspirational coach, Israeli Pini Gershon, said bluntly: "The most important thing is that we
Ibrahim Jaaber led Bulgaria in scoring with 16 points per game.qualified."
The Bulgarians had an incredible summer, one with many twists and turns.
When Gershon accepted an offer to coach the team at the end of last year, expectations soared but in a qualifying group that also included Serbia, Italy, Hungary and Finland, it wasn't going to be easy.
The national team won against Hungary, Finland and Italy in its first three games under Gershon before falling to a first defeat in Serbia on September 3.
Gershon's men then had to stiffen their resolve after a heart-breaking setback in Hungary on September 6, where they lost to a shot in the final seconds by the home side.
But they rebounded in the next game with a gritty home triumph over Finland, and crucially did not lose to Italy by more than one point in Turin in their penultimate qualifying game.
Had that happened, then the Italians would have finished second and Bulgaria third because of the goal differential in their two meetings.
As it was, Bulgaria had a better goal average in Group A to finish above Italy. Their goal coefficient was so strong that only a huge blowout in Sofia against Serbia would have prevented them from advancing to Poland.