Skapintsev has a chance to gain a foothold in the G-League team, he will also miss the next matches of the national team
Head coach of the Ukrainian national basketball team Ainars Bagatskis explained why as part of a team that is preparing for the qualifying matches World Cup 2023 with the Netherlands and Iceland, will not Artem Pustovoy, Bogdan Bliznyuk and Dmitry Skapintsev.
“Bogdan and Artem asked not to call them for personal reasons. I understand that if a player is not mentally ready, he cannot play his best basketball. You can only show your best game if you are in a good emotional state and have the desire to play. If some personal reasons interfere, it is better to let the player rest. There have never been any problems with these guys in terms of wanting to play for the national team.”
“Regarding Dmitry Skapintsev, he has real chances to gain a foothold in the G-League team and be in the sight of the NBA teams, and as a coach I am sympathetic to this situation. Here I want to repeat my words that the national team helps the players to show their strongest qualities. Everyone always wants more minutes, but in the national team every minute is at stake, and you can reach a new level. Skapintsev’s situation confirms this.”
Recall that the list of Bagatskis team includes 13 players. Among them are Prometheus basketball players – Lukashov, Sidorov, Sanon, Tkachenko and Lipovoy.
On November 11, Ukraine will play against the Dutch national team in Almira, and on November 14, in a home match in Riga, it will host the Icelandic team.
With 7 points after 6 matches, Ukraine is fifth in qualifying group L. The top three teams from the group advance to the World Cup. Before the end of the selection teams have to play four games.
Source: Sportarena
