Bagatskis: It was important to find emotions and aggression, because the match had no tournament value

Head coach of the basketball team of Ukraine Ainars Bagatskis commented on the outcome of the last qualifying match for World Cup 2023 with the Netherlands (72:56).

“Before the match, I was worried about how we would look mentally, because this game had no tournament value. It was more important to find emotions, find aggression and start a match in power basketball. In fact, we did it from the first minute.”

“We worked somewhat relaxed in the first two quarters, we had 12 losses, most of the points and most of the decisions for the Dutch team were easy, they earned easy points. But I liked how the team went into the third quarter, played with aggression, with pride, we found free throws, found our big ones, because we had not used their advantages before.

“But I have to say that the Netherlands is a young, aggressive team that learns a lot from every game, they have created problems for us. But more importantly, how we played. In any case, we play every game to win, not for fun. Although I have said more than once that you need to play with pleasure, with pleasure, then you win matches.

“I want to say that every kind person in the world supports Ukraine. Each of us hopes that the war will end. But what I want to say about basketball is that we could not imagine how it is when you have a war in your country, when you cannot go home to friends and relatives. Taking this opportunity, I want to say “thank you” to the team, you are really cool, ”said the coach.

The key to the fight was the third quarter, which Bagatskis’ wards won with a score of 23:8. Issouf Sanon became the top scorer with 17 points and repeated his personal record in official matches for the national team.

Bagatskis’ team failed to qualify for the 2023 World Cup. The Ukrainian national team finished fifth in Group L with 14 points.