Bagatskis explains why Ukraine lost to Poland at EuroBasket

Head coach of the Ukrainian national team Ainars Bagatskis After losing to Poland (86:94) in the 1/8 final of EuroBasket 2022, he answered journalists’ questions:

“It was a difficult game as we expected. It should be the same in the playoffs. The whole game was not easy for both teams, especially in terms of offense. I can say that the reason for our defeat was not defense but offense. The Poles punished us immediately, and three percentage points.

The Poles have given us a defense where we can shoot a lot of open three-pointers from corners. We expected this, but we weren’t able to convert most of these shots. My greetings to the Polish team.

Return moment in the game? I think there were several such, you can not choose one. For example, if I remember correctly, we were +7 ahead, we had two losses in a row – the score was even. This has happened several times.

We didn’t have many losses. I said the defense wasn’t the best, but Poland’s two best players, Ponitka and Slaughter, for example, hit less than 50% of their shots. We defended against them, we closed. But his shots did not hit. Why didn’t we hit them? This is a question.

Except for the last minute, the score was almost always even. We lost -8, but we only had -2 with 30 seconds left. A good defense, a good shot and we would be back in the game. But it didn’t work.

Sanon and Mikhailyuk’s performance in the tournament? These are top players, professionals. One of them has a lot of NBA experience. It was the best tournament for Issouf Sanon, showing the best quality basketball he’s ever had. But that’s not his limit, he has no limits.

I hope Aziz finds a good team to be used as he deserves. We did not have anyone who wanted or did not want to play for the national team. Everyone wants to play. These basketball players played well, found the rhythm of the game, mental freedom.

And these two are professionals at the highest level. I’ve already said that to all the guys in the locker room, and I’ll say it again – I wish you good health and good luck in the new season.”