Coach Bagatskis praised team's unity after the clutch win against Estonia / News - Basketnews.com

In the post-game conference after the win against Estonia, coach Ainars Bagatskis praised his players that showed great unity even during the most difficult moments of the game

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Ukraine escaped with a victory against Estonia with the final score of 74-73. Estonia played with their hearts on their sleeves and almost felt like they had the home-court advantage with thousands of their fans in the stands of Mediolanum Forum.

Ukraine / Schedule

Ukraine Great Britain90-61 Estonia Ukraine73-74 Ukraine ItalyMon19:00 Greece UkraineTue15:00 Croatia UkraineThu12:15

But even during the third quarter, when Estonia went up by 10 points and looked on the brink of killing the game, Ukraine didn't give up and fought back. And in the final two minutes, with the help of a little bit of luck, they were able to secure an extremely important win for the continuation of the round.

"Honestly, we played terrible basketball from the beginning of the game", Bagatskis confessed in the post-game conference. "We allowed way too many easy shots, it was almost like we forgot that this team (Estonia, ed) knows how to shoot. We're lucky that the game finished like this".

"But what's important is that we showed that we're a team, we played really like a team", Bagatskis continued. "The rest doesn't really matter. Something really important that I learned from Mike Fratello (the former head coach of the Ukrainian NT, ed) is that tactically and technically don't mean anything to the players. The most important thing is how you know your players' mentality".

Coach Bagatskis then had a little discussion with a reporter who asked him if, due to the current situation of the roster, he regret the last cuts that he made right before EuroBasket.

"Absolutely not, I don't agree with what you said", Bagatskis answered the reporter. "Let's make a deal: next time come to visit us in the practice and I'll give you absolute freedom and you can decide who's gonna be on the court, who's gonna play more or fewer minutes, you decide whatever you want. Do we have a deal?".

Ukrainian player Illya Sydorov ended the press conference thanking all the Ukrainian people back home who keep supporting the team event under the current situation.

"A huge thank you to all the people in Ukraine", Sydorov said. "I know that a lot of guys who are fighting for our country right now are watching our games. For us it's a big honor, we talk about you, and we think about you every day. My hope is that the war will end soon. But again a huge thank you for keep fighting for Ukraine".

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