“Ukraine is a tough team that usually makes you play badly”

The national men’s basketball coach, Chus Mateo, warned of the danger of Ukraine, a rival this Friday in the qualifying phase of the 2027 World Cup in Qatar and that in addition to having “a lot of resources on an offensive level”, it is “tough” and with the ability to “make you play badly”, while forward Santi Yusta asked to be “solid in the head”.

“Ukraine is a rival that has played very well in the first ‘window’, that has played very well defensively and that has a lot of resources on the offensive level,” Chus Mateo warned the media before the match in Riga.

The coach highlighted that his rival this Friday “is a team that runs, is tough, that defends very well, that knows how to play with shooters and with a very good point guard (Kovliar) who generates a lot of play and takes a lot of shots. They have very big people who block well, they have an average of 5.5 blocks in these ‘windows’ and that says a lot about their ability to intimidate,” he commented.

“But above all, they are a tough team that is going to make things very difficult for you, which tends to make you play poorly. In addition, they have won the first two games and that is also why this ‘window’ is so important,” the national coach stressed.

He insisted that his 14 chosen for this double match against Ukraine “are here because of how they have played in their clubs, the good level they have shown, and because of the commitment they have also shown in the first ‘window’.”

“The fact of seeing them play so fresh, so happy, so much like they are in that first ‘window’, has made me think that we can have a group with some continuity. I hope that they demonstrate in this second window the same collective values ​​that they showed in the first,” he added in this regard.

In this sense, he did not forget that they have brought in “important additions” such as Pierre Oriola, Ferrán Bassas, Isaac Nogués and Sergi Martínez and that “they are having an extraordinary season.” “I hope we don’t notice the absences at all, although we will keep them in mind, because obviously both Miki Salvó’s injury and Great Osobor’s injury have been serious injuries. But, ultimately, what it comes down to is that the group is what is important and that we can get the ‘window’,” he said.

YUSTA: “WE HAVE TO BE RIGHT HEAD SO THAT THEY DO NOT TAKE US OUT OF THE GAME”

For his part, Santi Yusta also referred to Kovliar, “a very good point guard”, and center Artem Pustovyi, whom “everyone” knows for his extensive experience in the Endesa League, and warned that they should “try to stop them.” “From there, play our game and, above all, not let them run, they run a lot of counterattacks,” he indicated.

“They are a very aggressive team, we already saw it against Georgia and Denmark, so we have to be good in the head so they don’t take us out of the game. Basically, it is being solid in the head and knowing that we have to play our game,” he added.

The Casademont Zaragoza player acknowledged that in the national team everyone must play their “game.” “I think we complement that very well and I think we have to continue like this, intense, solid, and against Ukraine, which is also a team like that, we have to impose ourselves at that pace,” he noted.

Finally, Yusta confessed that he does not know “what is the magic potion” that he has taken to be performing at a high level this season. “It is true that after the Eurobasket I saw that ‘little point’ of speed, of aggressiveness, of everything, and that I wanted to make that leap. I think I started to see it in the team in the Endesa League and I think I continue to maintain it because it is the level I want to be at,” he said.