The interview of Vugar Azimov, general secretary of the Azerbaijan Basketball Federation (ABF), to Idman.biz
- The head coach of Azerbaijan's men's basketball team was changed. What was the reason for replacing the foreign specialist with a local one?
- Our contract with Serbian head coach Aleksandar Trifunovic was not long-term. He was brought only to coach our national team during the European Championship held in Malta. After the contract expired, we parted ways. The leadership of the Azerbaijan Basketball Federation decided to assign this post to Tahir Bakhshiyev. Because he is a local coach. He knows all the players who play in the Azerbaijan Basketball League. Some of them were his students and some were his teammates.
- How do you evaluate the performance of the Serbian head coach in the national team?
- His time to prepare the team took place in a short period of time. For this reason, we did not have high expectations from the Serbian head coach. But he is a very good coach. Therefore, I cannot say a bad thing about him.
- If he was a good head coach, wouldn't it be possible to continue with him?
- He did not know our basketball players closely. Therefore, it was difficult in terms of communication. But we thought that the team would be more successful with a local coach. For this reason, we preferred to bring in a local head coach.
- What are the goals set for the new coaching staff?
- On February 22 and 25, 2024, we will have consecutive matches against Kosovo and Switzerland within the World Championship qualifying. Our main goal is to win these matches and move to the next stage. We have built all our plans on it.
- What is the current state of the team?
- The head coach of the men's team has just been appointed. Tahir Bakhshiyev will also deal with bringing new basketball players to the team. Of course, training camps will be held before the matches. Our team of players selected during this process will represent our country in matches.
- How would you evaluate the course of the Azerbaijan Championship?
- The Azerbaijan Championship continues very interestingly. The level of our teams has increased. It is possible to see the difference compared to last year. Important games between "Neftchi", "Sabah", NTD INDIGO and "Khazri" are waiting for us. Literally, each of them is showing a quality game.
Banuchichek Huseynli
Idman.biz
