Poland’s Marcin Gortat has been given permission to leave the side’s training camp, but will definitely play at Eurobasket in Slovenia next month.
The Phoenix Suns center flew to the USA to undergo medical tests, after successfully completing the first stage of training camp in Gdansk, but Gortat admits that he can still feel pain in his injured foot and wants to fly to the States in order to be in the best shape he can be in at Eurobasket.
“Physically, I feel better and better, the rehabilitation is going well, but I still feel the pain of the foot, even during training,” Gortat said.
“I have to make sure that I will be healthy for the whole season.”
The 29-year-old also said that he hopes to re-join the team between August 17 and 19 before they depart for a warm-up tournament in Belgium.
Coach Dirk Bauermann has given the rest of the team four days off before they fly out to Italy on Monday to begin the second stage of preparations for Eurobasket, where they will be in Group C alongside hosts Slovenia, holders Spain, Croatia, Georgia and the Czech Republic.
Another of Poland’s main scoring options, Thomas Kelati might not board the plane to Italy though as he picked up a knock during practice on Tuesday. The medical team however has said that the injury isn’t of serious concern and the former Washington State player merely needs to rest.