BAGATSKIS: “Ukraine’s rival in the playoffs? Let the Chicago Bulls come.”

Ainars Bagatskis, the coach of the Ukraine national basketball team, praised the defeat to Croatia in the final match of the EuroBasket group stage.

Ukraine made it to the playoffs and will most likely finish second in the group.

“Croatia showed their best basketball in the tournament, taking into account the match against Greece. We didn’t think about the difference in points, we tried to win. After the mistakes we made in the first half of the match, the opponent scored a lot. The situation improved in the second, but we didn’t shoot from good positions very often. Of course, the point difference was significant.”

“The playoff game? I understand we can go to Israel, Poland or the Czech Republic. I’ve always said it doesn’t matter who we play with. Even if the Chicago Bulls come, we have to show our basketball. We did a good job in the group stage, we improved our game in every game.

“A Ukrainian journalist said that we were lucky in the Estonia match. Then he said that we absolutely cannot beat Italy. Then he said that we will definitely not see the 2nd row. We are not saying anything, we are showing our basketball against any opponent.”