Blue-yellows start the tournament with a match against Great Britain
Head coach of the Ukrainian men’s basketball team Ainars Bagatskis commented on the upcoming start of his team at EuroBasket. The coach emphasized that the main task of him and his assistants is to reveal the strengths of the Ukrainian players.
“My biggest expectation from EuroBasket is that the team will play quality basketball. I mean that we plan to play aggressively, toughly and, most importantly, intelligently. And if we follow these rules, my expectations will come true.”
“Of course, I will not reveal all the secrets before tomorrow’s match. Of course, before the game you must know what your advantage over your opponent is. It is equally important to know your weaknesses and your opponent’s strengths. My job, the job of the coaches of our team is to use the advantages that we have and hide our weaknesses. Everything is very simple. Great Britain loves to play physical basketball, loves to run. Most importantly, if we don’t stop fast transfers, passes, we will have big problems.”
“When we played in the World Cup qualifiers in the previous window, it was a completely different team. Now we have four or even five new players.”
“We have become more mobile with Len, but it is very difficult to find mutual understanding between players and coaches in such a short period of time. We are still looking for our way to our best game.”
“We must remember that the game lasts not 20, but 40 minutes. Sometimes 39 minutes and 50 seconds is not enough to win a match. If we remember this and use the best qualities of each player, our dreams will become a reality.”
EuroBasket 2022 will be held in four countries – the Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany and Italy – from 1 to 18 September. The top 4 teams from 4 groups will advance to the playoffs.
The team of Ainars Bagatskis will play all matches in Milan. The start of the event for blue-yellows is September 2. On this day, Ukraine will fight with Great Britain.
Source: Sportarena
