National team coach – about the war in Ukraine
Main coach Ukrainian national basketball team Ainars Bagatskis told how war in Ukraine influenced him and the players of the national team.
“I took the war in Ukraine personally. I have lived in Ukraine for six years and I am very used to the country, people, customs. Before the start of the war, we went to the match with Spain, which just took place on February 24th. And when I opened the phone in the morning and saw what had begun, I had an emptiness. In general, any war is pointless,” said Bagatskis.
“Then the team asked to postpone the morning training, but I want to pay tribute to the way the guys played. Considering that all the players were at home with their relatives in their thoughts… Then there was still hope that everything would end quickly, that common sense would win, but we see that everything continues. And just such a rhetorical question: ‘For what?’. I think there is only one person in the world, if he can be called a person, who understands why this is being done.”
“We had players who wanted to go home and defend the country with weapons, but if you are more than 2 meters tall, then it’s probably more correct to do what you can do better. So the players stayed to play in different leagues.”
Bagatskis also spoke about how the Ukrainian national team is preparing for the upcoming 2023 World Cup qualifiers and the EuroBasket 2022 finals.
“Now we are training in Latvia, we were received very well, all the conditions were created. We try to do what we can for Ukraine and Ukrainians.”
“How is the war affecting the players now? I can say that in any profession you can show yourself when you are “taken out of your comfort zone. And now all of Ukraine is “taken out of the comfort zone.” This will give us more energy. Whether it will be beneficial is another question.”
“I want to hope that the fans will come to support us. 4.5 thousand fans came to the match against Spain and it was an incredible feeling when they drove us forward. If 5,000 people come to the match against Italy, it will be good.”
At the end of August, the Ukrainian national team will play the first matches of the second group round of the 2023 World Cup qualification, in which they will face the teams of Italy (August 24) and Iceland (August 27). On September 2, the blue-and-yellows will start at EuroBasket 2022.
Ukraine is opposing the military aggression of the Russian Federation for the 166th day.
Source: Sportarena
