The 2023 World Cup qualifying schedule, which will begin on August 25 in Japan and the Philippines, concluded on Monday with matches in the Americas. To the dismay of all fans of Ukrainian basketball, our team did not get into the planetary forum, but the year and a half selection became a very bright page in the history of the blue-yellow team.

After the draw for the current qualifier, Ukrainian fans could meet with measured optimism. The wards of Ainars Bagatskis frankly avoided bad options and took only Spain and Italy from the heavyweights of continental basketball. All other opponents in the first round and potential opponents in the second part of the selection were seen as equal teams in games in which you can achieve the desired result.

However, in fact, our team has only had four final victories in ten matches (not counting the fights against North Macedonia, which did not count towards the second round), two of which were outside of the main selection. against the Dutch national team. Caused? Let’s try to understand together.

War

It is worth noting right away that one of the main reasons for the failure of the tournament was the bloody war on the territory of our country. On the day when rockets and bombs began to rain down on your loved ones and all of Ukraine from the morning, and the invader’s foot crossed the borders of a sovereign state, it still is to take the field against the reigning champions of Europe. difficult task. Our team was in this situation before the away game to Spain. Later fights did not have such intense intensity, but this factor should not be underestimated. Let’s suffice to say that our team was deprived of the right to play home matches due to the war and that the support of the local tribunes is a very important factor for a brave sport like basketball. For some reason, we can’t get over the thought that if we played at home the home meetings we lost to Italy and Spain, then we could definitely win in one of them.

I want to express my gratitude to Riga and all Latvia along the way. In an incredibly difficult moment for Ukraine, the small Baltic country threw our basketball back and Riga became a real second home for the blue-yellows in this election. Thanks for everything, but how much we want our team to play at home, and after the end of hostilities in our old but cozy Sports Palace, a kind of friendly tournament was held where Ukrainian basketball will host its true friends. The ideal option would be the arrival of the national teams of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. However, he strayed from the subject.

players

Given that the European basketball calendar is somewhat intertwined in terms of EuroBasket 2022 schedules and 2023 World Cup qualifications due to the coronavirus pandemic, many teams from our continent have had the opportunity to enter some of the most competitive squads for some of their qualifiers. .

In the context of our team, this resulted in the long-awaited arrival of Ukrainian NBA players – Svyatoslav Mikhailyuk and Oleksiy Len. The first played three elimination matches in July, two in August, and the second – two fights in the last month of summer.

fiba.basketball. Svyatoslav Mihayyuk (No. 10)

However, it was these sections that became the black zone where most of our luck for the Asian World Cup was lost. Specifically, the blue-yellow team’s selection was lost on three key points: a one-point home loss against Spain (July), a great performance in the match against Italy, and accumulated points in the first half (August) and Iceland (August) a sensational, unyielding illogical fiasco. For fans of symbolism, it can be noted that two of these three moments can be associated with certain episodes – a block from the Spaniard Sebastian Saiz to Vyacheslav Bobrov in the last seconds of the match against Spain, and the brutal loss of Svyatoslav Mikhailyuk. Attack in the same final seconds of regular time in Iceland.

A lot has been said about the performance of Len, and especially Mikhailyuk in a blue and yellow T-shirt, so we will not repeat ourselves. It remains only to point out that our NBA representatives cannot help us achieve important victories and that we are perhaps the only team in Europe where the presence of two players from the world’s strongest league does not give at the same time. The advantage expected of us, even against an opponent of Icelandic level. However, our American legionnaires looked better at EuroBasket 2022.

Unfortunately, there was no leader for the entire selection among the other players. So from the very beginning to the end. In individual matches, Pustovoi, Bliznyuk, Sanon, Tkachenko, Bobrov, Sidorov and others showed themselves very well, but only in individual matches. Our Georgia team did not have a permanent leader at Shermadini, Shengelia or Iceland level. But the tongue will not turn to say something sharp to our basketball players. They tried, they fought, their eyes burned. Not everyone succeeded, but even on the television screens, it was felt that the players were struggling, and performances with the national team jersey were not an empty word for them.

You just have to accept as a fact that the blue-yellow team has its own level, ceiling, handwriting if you wish. Since the time of Mike Fratello, our team has been a team of “basketball workers” who, with the right skills and detailed instructions, can perform very serious tasks, and if the Ukrainians still muster courage, then very little will happen. there is room for everyone (first half of the match against Italy and almost the whole of the home match against Georgia will not let you lie). But things don’t go as planned (second half of the home game against Italy, most of the away game is in Iceland), because most of the time we don’t have a plan B.

head coach

fbu.ua. Ainars Bagatskiler

And there are already more questions for our team’s coaching team. Of course, Ainars Bagatskis is an important name for Ukrainian basketball. And from a purely human point of view, I want to thank him very much for everything he has done for Ukrainian basketball. And once again, thank you so much for what you did for our basketball after the war started.

However, the obvious shortcomings in the coaching bridge are obvious. A lot of credit for Svyatoslav Mikhailyuk, questions about squad formation for knockout windows (both on the called-up list and on the non-summoned list), delayed substitutions in some matches. And like the cherry on the cake, the most controversial coaching decision regarding Oleksiy Len’s absence in the second half of the game in Iceland, where our team wrote one of the blackest pages in Ukrainian basketball history.

They say the winners are not judged. These moments can be closed if our team successfully completes the selection. But instead, the entry to the World Cup is celebrated in the Caucasus and we must say with disappointment that we lost our third ticket from our group to the world forum to an equal opponent, which we also beat in personal meetings. Accordingly, all of the above and only the points do not raise questions.

Of course Ainars Bagatskis is with our team as long as most coaches do not go through their entire career, only war and coronavirus is enough, against this background, the rest of the difficulties seem like childish jokes. And again, all that remains is to take off your hat and thank him for this path that not every mentor can master, but from the outside now, the watershed moment is as close and appropriate as possible. The expression that the team is tired of the coach or that the coach is tired of the team is often used. This is not our case. The microclimate in the team is very good, the Latvian specialist has a lot of energy, and the current meeting of the Ukrainian team is still hungry for great victories. But it looks like Ainars Bagatskis and the blue-yellow team have given their best and no further progress should be expected.

***

The nineteenth FIBA ​​World Championship in August-September this year will be held without Ukraine. Unfortunately, this is a fact and cannot be changed. It is doubly disappointing that despite all the difficulties our team has a real chance to beat the qualification. We skipped Iceland and Georgia, which turned out to be higher in in-person meetings. On February 24, 2022, they gave a serious fight to their opponents in all their matches, except for one away match against Spain. New names for the national team debuted and after a long time, NBA representatives played. Chances were good and this is perhaps the most offensive right now. Because we didn’t use them. And instead of a choice that could be a new hope for Ukrainian fans, we found a selection of unfulfilled hopes.