Winners on the court: the exciting story of the Ukrainian team in Eurobasket | Israel today

The situation at home is not good.

A hard war has been going on for six months.

Despite the non-ideal starting conditions, the basketball team of Ukraine succeeds in the European Championship, it advances to the round of 16 and even from second place while beating host Italy in Group C.

On a clear day, the Ukrainians even see the quarter-finals, because the opponent Poland is a team they can definitely get past.

Whoever thought that the mere participation of this team in such a period is the achievement - was wrong, Ukraine came to play basketball.

The Ukrainians won Eurovision mainly because of solidarity.

Here in the European Championship, sympathy has no weight, only ability, but even here it is impossible to separate what happens to the team from what happens in the country.

The situation in Ukraine makes the players in the national team very motivated, the feeling of pride is stronger than ever right now. The national team, Yusuf Sanon, defined it perfectly: "With the situation at home, we have to give everything, we came here to show love and support for the people of Ukraine."

True, the schedule was on her side, she started against the two weak opponents at home - Great Britain and Estonia, beat them and already put herself in an excellent position, but she also knew how to complete the job and rise as Greece's runner-up.

She does all of this without a naturalized person, Jerome Randall, who played in the Ukrainian national team in recent years, this time is not taking part in the tournament.

The opening conditions were not easy.

Beyond worrying about the situation at home, the preparations were outside Ukraine and took place in Riga, the capital of Latvia.

Some of the players came to the national team after a long period without basketball, following the suspension of the league in Ukraine.

Len.

Came from the NBA, photo: AP

On the other hand, the situation caused a full mobilization, also of the two NBA players, center Alex Len and guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, who is one of the outstanding players in the tournament.

He leads the team in scoring (16 on average per game), points (18) and hits 42 percent from three.

🇺🇦 @Sviat_10 with 25 PTS 4 REB 3 AST as Ukraine remain perfect in Group C & advance to the Round Of 16! #EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/4a5yxOjuZ2

— #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) September 5, 2022

The main strength of the team is the interior players.

This is the highest team in the tournament with: Len (2.16), Artem Postovi (2.18) and Voldimir Heron (2.08), who are joined by quite a few experienced players, including ex Herzliya - Bogdan Belizniuk, and the promising young guard Yusuf Sanon.

The weakest point is the center position.

Another strength is the coach.

Do you remember the disgraced coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv Einers Bagatskis?

The Latvian coach who arrived during the yellows' terrible season in 2016/17 and was replaced before the playoffs in the league.

So Bagatskis, despite this unpleasant experience, is a good coach and a very experienced national team coach, he has been a national team coach for almost a decade - when before Ukraine he coached in his native Latvia for 7 years with considerable success.

He knows the league in Ukraine very well, in which he coached Kyiv for the last three seasons, and he has a big part in the success and the fact that Ukraine is one of the exciting stories in the tournament.

in Gatzakis.

A bad memory from the country, photo: Getty

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