Stepanovsky: Turkey can be considered the favorite of our four. Iceland needs no introduction

Head coach of the Ukrainian national basketball team Vitaly Stepanovsky commented on the results of the draw pre-qualification of the Olympic tournament.

“First of all, of course, the Turkish team should be noted. This is a strong team playing on the home parquet. It is clear that the team is very powerful, plus they will play at home, so the Turks can be considered the favorites of our four.”

“The Bulgarian national team is also a good team, led by one of the best Euroleague players this season, Sasha Vezenkov, as well as naturalized Americans Cody Miller-McIntyre and Dee Bost. These players are half the team of the Bulgarian national team, which has several experienced players.”

“The Icelandic team needs no introduction. We suffered a very nasty defeat against them in the away game of World Cup 2023 qualifiers. This defeat as a result did not allow us to reach the final part. This is an opponent who plays very fast basketball, with a lot of three-point shots. Our guys have recently played against them twice and are already well acquainted with this Icelandic team.”

“I think it will be an interesting tournament, because the teams will keep their chances to get to the Olympic Games until the very end. All teams will try to approach this tournament as responsibly as possible, invite the strongest players to the squad and try to use their chance.”

The Ukrainian national basketball team will play in the pre-qualification group of the Olympic tournament with Turkey, Bulgaria and Iceland. To enter the main qualifying tournament, Ukraine needs to become one of the top two in the group stage, and then win the playoffs, which starts from the semi-finals.

All matches will be held in Istanbul from 12 to 20 August 2023.