Dmitry SKAPITSEV: “Playing with Lenham and Pustov is a challenge for me”

Dmitry Skapintsev believes that the Ukrainian national team should take revenge on the Italians for an unfortunate defeat in the World Cup selection.

“We didn’t start the game very well with the Estonians, we lost -10 right away. There are no easy games in EuroBasket and these 10 points had to be played. It was difficult, we were catching up with them almost the whole game, but at the end of the match luck smiled at us, Ilya Sidorov took the ball and added 2 points. Thanks to the disciplined work in defense, we recovered and finally caught our opponent.

It was hard to imagine that I would apply for the EuroBasket in the winter and early summer. That’s why I’m very motivated, satisfied and want to show my best game. Having the opportunity to play with Lenham is a very positive thing. We have already met Artem Pustov in the national team. Playing with them is a new challenge for me. I can try it myself and learn something new. These are Euroleague and NBA level players, so being on the same level as them is very important to me.

Regarding the next match, it is very important for us to take revenge on the Italians for the defeat. I believe we should have won that game, but now we can take revenge in front of the Italian fans. Why? I don’t think this team is stronger than us. Playing with Greece will also be very interesting. An experienced team with the best Euroleague and NBA players, it will be interesting to play against Giannis. Matches will be tough and I’m sure we can impose a challenge.

We need to play with more discipline and confidence against the Italians than in Riga. There were a few whistles that I thought spoiled our game in that game. We started to worry a lot about this, pay attention to the judges and lose our concentration. That’s why I believe we need to play more measuredly here, control our emotions and fight for every ball with a cool head and a warm heart.”

The match between Ukraine and Italy will be played on Monday, September 5, in Milan. Sport.ua will broadcast a text online broadcast of the Ukraine v Italy match.