Basketball
Ainars BAGATSKIS: “Young players should have a chance in the national team”
Coach of the Ukraine men’s basketball team Ainars Bagatskiler He made a traditional comment on the formation of the team for the upcoming 2023 World Cup qualifiers. On 11 November, the Ukrainian team will play away against the Netherlands, and on 13 November they will host Iceland in Riga.
– What is the plan to prepare the national team for the matches?
– We are leaving for Riga on the morning of November 7th. I want to see how the players are doing in terms of health. Maybe there will be an extra day off on the first day, we’ll see, or we’ll have one practice each on November 8, 9 and 10, maybe two workouts a day on one of these days. On the 10th we fly to the Netherlands, where we will do morning training, a few video sessions, then the game itself, after which we will return to Riga. Before Iceland we will have another big practice and then a match.
– Why are there no Bliznyuk, Pustovoy and Skapintsev in the app?
– Bogdan and Artem asked not to call them for personal reasons. I understand that a player cannot play his best basketball if he is not mentally prepared. You can only show your best play if you are in a good emotional state and have the desire to play. If some personal reasons are interfering, it is better to let the player rest. Never had a problem wanting to play for the national team with these guys.
As for Dmitry Skapintsev, he has a real chance to be in the G-League team and be in the eyes of the NBA teams, and as a coach, I sympathize with that. Here I want to repeat my words that the national team helps its players to show their strongest qualities. Everyone always wants more minutes, but in the national team every minute is at stake and you can move to a new level. Skapintsev’s case confirms this.
– Comment on the return to Slava Kravtsov and the first challenge to Alexander Kovlyar’s official matches.
– I always thought that there should be a chance for young players with potential in the national team. They must be involved in the educational process. Kovlyar was with us in the summer, but we decided not to touch him from the youth team. If I had the opportunity to try Shulga in the national team, of course, I would love to. Unfortunately, there is no way to search for a player from the NCAA team during the season. We follow all young players. At the same time, I do not think that the players in the national team should change often, there should be a backbone in the team. In this regard, I am pleased with the return of Alexander Lipovoy.
As for Slava Kravtsov, this is an example of a professional and Ukrainian patriot. Despite his star status, he never dismissed the national team and said that he can be trusted, given the leagues Slava plays in. I can imagine what kind of resentment he felt because he did not participate in some matches and did not enter the European Championship squad. But he never rejected the team. This is an example of how not only a professional but also a top gamer can get along with his ego. In team sports, it is often seen that experienced players put their egos above team interests. Slava Kravtsov is an example. I talked to him, he plays a lot in a youth team and now I want Kovlyar to take him a little.
As a coach, I want players to make the right decisions on the court, but if a basketball player who takes 20 minutes makes a shot, it would be naive to hope that he will score more for the national team. I don’t know what situation he is in now and what Ivan Tkachenko will show. Budivelnyk has a few games overall and the Ukrainians don’t get big minutes there. I don’t know what they will show. This goes for Prometheus players as well, but Sidorov and Sanon play a little more there. Although this is the biggest problem for me, it should not be such a problem. I believe that if a basketball player of the national team plays in the Ukrainian club, he should get at least 20 minutes in the club. Otherwise, it will be an additional problem for me as a coach.
– We played with Iceland, we will meet with the Netherlands for the first time. What to expect from these teams?
– These are unpleasant opponents playing disciplined basketball. They play aggressively and will shoot at every opportunity. They have very strong shooters. In Iceland we closed the scorers in the first half, but in the second half they punished us for everything. The assistants already gave me information about these teams, showed me what these teams did especially in defense. Basketball is a very easy and straightforward game, you have to show your strengths and hide your weaknesses. We’ll work on that in practice.
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
Three matches were played as part of the 18th round of the Euroleague on December 26.
Partizan hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv and suffered a heavy defeat.
The home team, which started the match better, was separated from the opponent by 11 points (28:17) in the first quarter, and at the end of the first 10 minutes, they missed the 3:13 attack and reduced the difference with the opponent team to 1 point (31:30). In the second quarter, Maccabi seized the initiative and after a 14:0 move, they fell behind by 15 points, 56:41. This part of the game was decisive, since then the away team increased their advantage and achieved +33 points – 92:58 at the end of the third quarter, after which they relaxed a little and allowed the opponent to reduce the gap to the last 25 points – 87:112.
This was Maccabi’s fifth consecutive win in the Euroleague, which moved them up to 14th in the standings.
While the most productive player of the match was Walker, who scored 20 points, overall five of Maccabi’s players scored 10+ points.
Monaco had a tough home win against Real Madrid.
The Monegasques were ahead almost the entire game against Los Blancos, but they could not gain a comfortable distance. At the beginning of the third quarter, the home team had a 14-point lead, but then they missed a move at 4:14 and allowed their opponent to return to the game, and at the end of 10 minutes, Real equalized the score: 70:70. The decisive factor in the fourth quarter was Monaco’s 12:0 breakthrough towards the middle of the 10-minute period, which gave them a 12-point advantage: 87:75. After this, although the guest team reduced the gap, they did not fully return to the game. As a result, Monaco won with a score of 100:95.
Real Madrid’s Ukrainian headquarters Alexey Len He spent 6 minutes on the field and made 1 incorrect two-point shot and 1 foul during this time.
The two visiting players immediately recorded double-doubles. Tavares had 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Campazzo had 28 points and 10 assists. Okobo scored 22 points for the winners, but Monaco showed more team play; 6 home players scored 10+ points.
Virtus Bologna hosted Olympiacos and almost staged a surprising comeback in the fourth quarter.
The home team won the first quarter with a score of 25:23, but then the game went sideways and at the big break the Greeks had a 9-point advantage – 50:41, and before the last minute of the third quarter the away team was ahead +20 – 77:57. The fate of the match seemed certain, but then Virtus got back into the game with a move at 18:3. There was an even game further down the field, where the home team tried to equalize the score, but Fournier’s three-pointer with a score of 92:93 and successful free throws helped the Greeks preserve the victory, but Virtus made a three-point shot for equal score at the last second through Alston’s efforts.
Dorsey scored 23 points and Fournier scored 21 points for Olympiacos.
Europa League. Regular season. 18th round, 26 December
Partizan – Maccabi Tel Aviv – 87:112 (31:30, 12:28, 16:34, 28:20)
Partisan: Payne (15 points + 3 rebounds + 6 assists), Brown (12+2+4), Bonga (10+4+1), Jones (10+6+2), Marinkovich (9+2+1), Washington (8+1 assists), Osetkovski (8+1+3), Fernando (6+4+1), Lakic (6+1+1), Calathes (3+2+2).
maccabi: Walker (20+2+5), Sorkin (17+6+3), Leaf (14+6+1), Brissett (11+3 rebounds), Santos (10+2+2), Gord (9+4+2), Ryman (8+4 rebounds), Clark (7+3+6), Blatt (6+4+7), DiBartolomeo (5+3+1), Lundberg (3+2+2), Levy (2+1 selection).
Monaco – Reality – 100:95 (21:20, 26:23, 23:27, 30:25)
Monaco: Okobo (22+2+2), James (15+4+5), Nedovich (12+3 rebounds), Strazel (12+4 rebounds), Diallo (11+7+2), Mirotic (10+1+2), Theis (8+7+1), Blossomgame (6+4 rebounds), Hayes (4+7+1).
Real: Campazzo (28+5+10), Tavares (21+11 rebounds), Okeke (12+2 rebounds), Dec (9+4+2), Abalde (7+2 assists), Hezonja (6+5+2), Maledon (5+1+2), Procida (3), Garuba (2+2 rebounds), Kramer (2+1 rebounds).
Virtus Bologna – Olympiacos – 94:97 (25:23, 16:27, 19:27, 34:20)
virtus: Wildosa (17+2+4), Morgan (15+5 assists), Edwards (14+1+2), Diouf (12+4+1), Smailagic (9), Alston (8+2 rebounds), Niang (7+4+1), Hackett (6+3+4), Payola (4+1+4), Akele (2+1 rebounds).
OlympiacosDorsey (23+4+3), Fournier (21+1 rebounds), Vezenkov (16+5 rebounds), Milutinov (13+9+5), Peters (13+6+1), Papanikolaou (5+4+2), Walkup (2+2 assists), Ntilikina (2+1+2), Hall (2+2 assists), Morris (3 rebounds + 2 assists).
tournament table
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
Croatian “Zadar” reported on its official website the transfer of a basketball player from the Ukrainian national team Ivan Tkachenko.
After a short trial period during which the Ukrainian player met the requirements of the coaching staff, a contract was signed with him at the end of the season.
The club has already announced that Tkachenko will participate in the Adriatic League and the Croatian Championship, so the Ukrainian can make his debut for the new team in the local championship match against Kvarner on December 27.
Tkachenko did not sign a contract with any club at the beginning of the 2025/26 season and played in only two official matches after the start of the season – as part of the Ukrainian national team, against Georgia and Denmark in November as part of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers.
Last season Ivan played for Mitteldeutscher, where he won the German Cup. The forward, who played in 32 matches in the 2024/25 Bundesliga, averaged 4.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 17.3 minutes.
During his club career, Tkachenko played for Ukrainians Cherkasy Mavpy and Prometheus, as well as Finland’s Helsinki Seagals.
Zadar is in sixth place in the Adriatic League Group B with 4 wins in 10 matches, and is in second place in the Croatian Championship with a score of 10-1.
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Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
Star player of Los Angeles Lakers Luka Doncic Against the background of the embarrassing defeat of Houston Rockets (96:119), he explained what the team had to change to improve the results:
“I don’t know exactly what needs to change, but something definitely needs to change. We need to figure it out, that’s what we need to do. Everyone should discuss it.”
I know JJ Redick said it would be disturbing. And that’s the way it should be.
As I said, we need to discuss this. It may be uncomfortable, but everyone needs to try harder, starting with me.
We just have to challenge each other. Everyone should challenge themselves and their teammates. “There’s no way to play the way we play, so we’ve got to be better than that.”
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
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