Basketball is close. Wizards training camp is less than a month away, and the buzz of a new NBA season started practically as the last one came to a close. We're all ready for another season of hoops here in the states, but fans abroad have an even shorter wait. Eurobasket 2017 tips off Thursday across the countries of Finland, Isreal, Romania and Turkey.
For Wizards guard Tomas Satoransky, tournament play starts Friday as his native Czech Republic takes on Romania in Cluj-Napoca. Sato leads this years Czech team into Eurobasket alongside former NBA guard Jiri Welsch in a tough Group C that includes European powerhouse Spain.