Murzin: We need to draw conclusions and quickly forget this game

Head coach Ukrainian women’s basketball team Evgeniy Murzin commented on the devastating defeat in the match with Serbia in qualifying EuroBasket 2025.

“After losing, we gained good experience. All the players were involved in the game and that’s one of the few positives I can say after this match.”

“Serbia had a total advantage, first of all, under the shields. In general, I would note three components that influenced the outcome of the game. Firstly, the rebound was lost under our shield – the Serbians made 19 offensive rebounds. The second component was 27 turnovers, probably almost half of them were made on our introduction or due to poor decisions made on passes. The third component is the implementation of our three-point shots (16.7% on 30 attempts).

There were good moments: they took the players out for free throws, there was some movement of the ball. We were able to rebuild after the first half and play tougher on defense – if in the first two quarters we conceded 49 points, then in the second half we conceded 33.”

“Now we need to draw conclusions, quickly forget this game and directly prepare for Portugal.”

“I want to address the fans. I invite everyone to support the Ukrainian national team in Riga. We need support. We want to feel your energy, we need it. Now we will study the game of Portugal against North Macedonia, there will be information, we will have two training sessions, we will prepare.”

The Ukrainian team lost to Serbia with a difference of -42 points. In the next match, Evgeniy Murzin’s team will host the Portuguese national team in Riga on November 12.

Women’s EuroBasket 2025 will be held for the first time in four countries – Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic and Germany. The teams of these countries received places in the final part and will play each other for FIBA ​​ranking points in Group I.