Germany women's coach Imre Szittya believes his team's draw for the EuroBasket in Latvia could have been worse, admitting he was very happy to have avoided Hungary.

The Germans were drawn into Group A along with fellow EuroBasket 2007 participants Lithuania and Israel as well as Ukraine and Great Britain.

"Yeah, it could have been worse. It was important that we avoided Hungary, who I think did not deserve to be in the fifth pot. Hungary are better than that and that was important," said Szittya, who was born in and used to coach in Hungary before coming to Germany in 1990.

"We want to finish first or second. We don't want to worry about being the best third-place team."

Szittya, whose team beat the Czech Republic last summer in Italy but failed to advance past the qualifying round, knows his players must not drop any points at home to reach Latvia.

"We have to win all of our home games and win two away games," he said. "And that should be enough."

Szittya said the lengthy trips to road games in Ukraine, Lithuania, Israel and Great Britain will be difficult to overcome.

He praised the Israeli women, saying: "Israel played very tough in nearly beating Poland and knocking off Slovakia to qualify for the EuroBasket 2009."

About Lithuania, Szittya said: "They have a lot of tradition and many players who have played internationally."

And on Ukraine, he added: "I don't know much about them. But I have heard they have made some major strides at the youth level. And some of their players play in the Russian league. So they will be tough."

The Germans are holding this weekend their first meeting of national team players in Germany, though their top stars will not attend.

Meanwhile, Szittya said center Martina Weber's participation in the qualifiers is in doubt after she had to have her club contract terminated due to personal problems.

But the coach did say star power forward Linda Frohlich is on board, adding: "She has said she definitely wants to play for the German national team this summer."