Stepanovsky: There was not enough rotation to pass Croatia

Head coach national team of Ukraine basketball Vitaly Stepanovsky summed up the results of the team’s performance in the match with Croatia in the pre-qualification tournament for Olympics 2024.

“We were not able to fulfill everything that we prepared for this match, given several factors and reasons. Unfortunately, we can say that we didn’t have enough rotation and the guys were really tired after the previous matches. The players who received more minutes in the second half looked very tired. This led to making wrong decisions, sometimes we did not have time in defense, there was more technical defect, which allowed the opponent to score easy points. In this regard, I’m not happy with the game.”

“But in the game with Croatia, as in previous matches, the guys fought, played with great desire, I have no complaints. Unfortunately, we could not win and reach the final, but I am grateful to the guys for their work and the entire training camp.”

“I can say that I am very pleased. I am satisfied with the collection: yes, it is difficult to implement everything planned, but most of it was successful. Corrections were made by the injury of Sergei Pavlov, whom I planned to use on the third number, as I did in the match against Lithuania, when we played the big five. This was missing somewhere in the game against Croatia, when Mario Hezonja played on the troika.

“We simply did not have enough sizes in the rotation in order to put Bobrov in defense against Mario on the third number. We could have experimented a little more with the line-up, but in general, we tried to implement the ideas that we had.”

“I am generally pleased that the guys who got into the national team used their chance. Even before the training camp, in an interview, I said that I believe in Sasha Kovlyar, I know him very well and I know that he will be able to bear the burden of the main first number of the Ukrainian national team. I am very happy with him, glad that he took his chance and showed that he can play well at a high level.”

The Ukrainian national team lost to Croatia in the semi-finals of the Olympic pre-qualification (70:85). In the group round, the blue-yellows defeated the teams of Bulgaria and Iceland, and lost to Turkey in the battle for the first place.

The Ukrainian men’s national team dropped out of the fight for the Olympic ticket. The Croatian team reached the main Olympic qualification, which beat Turkey in the final of the tournament.