Yesterday Ukraine lost to Portugal in a friendly match
Head coach of the Ukrainian national basketball team Ainars Bagatskis commented on the defeat against Portugal (76:77) in a friendly match.
After three quarters, Ukraine won by 12 points, but scored only eight points in the final quarter.
“It was interesting to see what we can do and where we need to work harder, especially in a situation where basketball players play on heavy legs. All players have different conditions, because they had different playing times in the clubs. What we saw on the site was about what we expected. We try very hard, but sometimes even too much, playing more with our feet and emotions than with our heads. It was especially clear today when, due to coaching decisions, Lukashov and Bobrov did not play and we lacked freshness in the back line, ”said Bagatskis.
“In the second half, we had a lot of wrong decisions in attack, technical defects. The opponent took 19 rebounds on our shield and made 20 more shots – the Portuguese team played very aggressively. We swam a little in the second part of the game. In the fourth quarter there was a moment when we lost the ball on the dribble four times. We just threw less and made more mistakes. So we need to learn how to make the right decisions, which is what we are focusing on now. As I said, we lack players who would take on leadership roles, and we are looking for such players in the current situation.”
“We have tried new variations of the game, which we will definitely use in the upcoming matches. The good news is that the players pick them up quickly, but I will say again that we must play better according to the situation and make the right and good decisions. We will work on this over the rest of the days. The team should be calmer on the floor, regardless of the opponent and the score on the scoreboard. In basketball, whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins.”
In early July, Ukraine will play three qualifying matches for the 2023 World Cup. On Friday, July 1, Ukrainians will play with Georgia in a nominally home match, which will be held in Riga.
Source: Sportarena
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