"In the teams I worked before, we started preparing for the season 2 months earlier. However, the situation here was such that we were able to start training a month ago."
Murat Dikmen, head coach of "Khazri" basketball club, told Idman.biz.
He evaluated his team's preparations for the season. An expert who has experienced many championships in Turkey said that due to the lack of time, the trainings are conducted with an accelerated program: "I think that at the start of the championship, the team will be 50 percent ready for the season. As the rounds pass, along with the rhythm of the match, the team will reach a level ready for the league."
Dikmen said that the debutant "Khazri" has high goals: "We have a newly formed team. This, of course, has its pros and cons. I am always a coach with goals. I have experienced many championships in Turkey. I have always coached teams that were built to be first. Azerbaijani basketball is also developing. Local players will level up better in the coming times. As the financial situation increases, better basketball players from the USA will come to the league. Then the league will be more interesting. If we talk about the current competition, of course our goal is the championship. The bigger the goal, the more successful we can be. We have serious competitors. "Sabah" club will play in the European Cup and they are experienced, NTD-INDIGO and "Neftci" are very good teams. I have great respect for each of them. But I repeat, our goal is both in the cup,
The head coach thinks that the participation of "Sabah" in the European Cup will benefit the country's basketball: "I hope that their performance will be a new beginning for Azerbaijani basketball and that other teams and managers will move towards this goal after that. "Sabah" playing in Europe will both add value to the league and advertise the Championship. It is a very good case for the country's basketball. I wish them success."
The Turkish specialist also said that he liked the new regulations of the Azerbaijan Basketball League: "The team is built according to the number. It is a normal regulation. A pre-season tournament is held in Turkey every year. It would be nice if a competition was organized here before the championship. This would be appropriate for the preparation of the judges, for checking the electronic scoreboards, for the teams to get to know each other. I hope that this practice will be applied next season."
It should be noted that Georgian Daviti Tsivtsivadze will be Dikmen's assistant in the newly created "Khazri".
Emin Aga
Idman.biz
