Day 1 of FIBA EuroBasket pre-qualifier camp for new Ireland head coach Michael Bree was certainly a packed one.
On Monday, the Sligo man welcomed his squad to the National Basketball Arena, held practice, carried out some media duties and then headed for the airport at 4pm as the team travelled to Luxembourg for Thursday's game with North Macedonia visiting Dublin on Sunday in Group A of the qualifying series - the latter a game on the verge of selling out.
Bree, who once tracked a certain Steph Curry in a pick-up game at Davidson College in North Carolina, officially took charge on 1 September with his backroom team overseeing the summer series with Norway.
The former Irish captain will, as a result, take charge for the first time in Kirchberg, and while the window for face-to-face work has been minimal, he is confident that there has been enough preparation work put in ahead of the two-game block.
"So far, so good," was his response to RTÉ Sport when asked of his time since taking over.
"It's always tough (doing) everything remotely, when these camps are coming, they’re short get-togethers.
"A lot of work done in between, a lot of communication done in between, trying to get to know them, who they are, what they're like, track them and see how they're performing, coordinating with the staff in Ireland, coordinating with the federation, trying to get everything in order for these camps to work pretty smoothly.
"There's always hiccups, but it's been better than expected."
Ireland hold a 10-1 competitive European record over Luxembourg, although just three points separated them in their last clash in August 2023. North Macedonia, meanwhile, sit 23 places above them in the world rankings with the weekend’s visitors to Ireland placed 59th currently.
Two different scenarios, but Bree is banking on two very difficult assignments.
"Every national team game is really, really tough. When you play for your country, you leave everything out there on the floor.
"It doesn't matter who we play, it doesn't matter what the scenario is. We've got to go there and try our best and see what happens.
"We treat every game the same, we approach it the same way.
"We're preparing to win. You want to go in with the same mindset no matter who we're playing, no matter what arena we're in."
Bree’s first squad was notable for the inclusion of US-born Matt Zona who played 33 games in NCAA Division 1 with the Fordham Rams and has since been snapped up by English professional side Cheshire Phoenix.
"Matt's skilled, big. He can stretch the floor, he can dive, he can post up, he can pass, he can connect," Bree, who played NCAA Division 1 basketball with Davidson, said of his new recruit.
"(He'll) allow us to be more dynamic on offence in terms of situational things."
Belfast’s CJ Fulton is unavailable though due to his commitments with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Fulton, who appeared in the NBA Summer League, is hoping to progress to be the first male Irish NBA player since Pat Burke.
"Definitely keeping an eye on him, we're wishing him the best and we're rooting for him," Bree said of Fulton, currently playing in the NBA’s developmental G League with the Iowa Wolves.
"Hopefully he can continue to take the opportunities in front of him."
With tickets for Sunday’s game against North Macedonia nearly sold out, Bree is hoping the final few are snapped up and those present really get behind the team.
IRELAND SQUAD NAMED FOR EURO PRE-QUALIFIERS
"It’s high level international competition. If you want entertainment, if you want sport, if you want people competing in a high-paced scenario, it's a great game to come and watch.
"We're a sporting nation, we love sport, we're highly competitive people. We enjoy things when things are going well."
Ireland are in the first round of pre-qualifiers in a group alongside North Macedonia, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan. Ireland's fixtures will take place over three windows in November, February/March and July.
The three group winners and the best-ranked second-placed teams will advance to the second round of pre-qualifiers, where they will be joined by eight teams from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European qualifiers first round.
