The blue-yellows will play with the Georgians on July 1 in the 2023 World Cup qualification
Forward Ukrainian national basketball team Vyacheslav Bobrov spoke about the preparation of the national team for the match against Georgia qualifying for the 2023 World Cup. He also shared his opinion about the leader of the Georgian team Tornik Shengelia
“It will be tough to play three games a week, but we have 14 players who are ready to give on the court, gnaw on every ball and fight for every rebound. We have shown in 2017 [на Евробаскете]that we know how to play and complete tasks when no one believed in the team and we were sent to rest to eat red fish and sunbathe in the sun. But we beat the Georgian team with Shermandini, Shengelia and Poulin. I think that we can do it again, we have this spirit, ”said Bobrov.
“Shengelia is a very strong player individually and one of the best strikers in Europe. You have to play hard against him, he always needs to show in every possession that you can stand like a pillar. We played against each other a lot and if you push against him, he loves it and gets turned on by it. You can play on that and provoke a foul.”
“We owe it [Шенгелию] stop him, give him more shots from the perimeter, but don’t let him score easy points from the fast break, because that’s how he scored a lot in Georgia. Perhaps we will play new interactions and we will release a third number against him, forcing him to give more in defense.
“Of course, we will miss Bliznyuk and Lipovoy, because with them there were more options in defense and attack. But we have guys who went through the entire training camp with the team, and we had a month to prepare for the official games. I believe that Georgia or Ukraine has no advantage before the match, everything will be determined on the first day.”
Ukraine and Georgia will play on Friday, July 1, in Riga. The match starts at 19:00 Kyiv time.
Ukrainians are preparing for the match with Georgia as part of 14 basketball players. On the eve left the location of the national team defender Alexander Mishula.
In qualifying for the World Cup, Ukraine played three matches, defeating North Macedonia and losing away to Georgians and Spaniards. In their group, the blue-yellows take third place. The top three teams from each group will advance to the next round of selection.
Source: Sportarena
