Blue-yellows got the third victory in the group and advanced to the playoffs ahead of schedule
Head coach of the Ukrainian national basketball team Ainars Bagatskis commented on the victory of his team over the national team Italy (84:73) in the match of the 3rd round EuroBasket 2022.
“We expected it to be a tough game on the opponent’s court. Two weeks ago we lost to Italy in Riga in World Cup qualifiers. It was important for us to prepare mentally and play quality basketball. In moments we played really good, aggressive and, I would even say, smart basketball. Moments.”
“But at times we played very differently. For the second match in a row we have a lot of losses. And that’s probably the reason why we can’t run away in the first half. In the second – fewer losses, a fairly high-quality defense – and we won. It’s not easy to play against Italy on their court. I am very happy for the team. But that is already in the past. Now we have to focus on the next opponent.”
“How much did the August defeat help us now? I always say that no coach will say that he is satisfied with the time allotted for training. With the current players, we train together for two weeks. Any coach in the world will say that this is not enough. I want to say that we were not in the best condition then. And since that game, we’ve gotten better.”
Having beaten Italy, the blue-and-yellows advanced to the playoffs of EuroBasket 2022 ahead of schedule.
Ukraine in the group stage will play with Greece (September 6) and Croatia (September 8). The four best teams from the group will advance to the 1/8 finals.
Source: Sportarena
