An interview with Amil Hamzayev, a player of the Azerbaijan national basketball team, by Idman.biz:
- In the third round of the 2027 FIBA World Cup European qualifiers, you lost to Ireland by 24 points. Did you expect to lose by such a lopsided result before the game?
- We really played poorly. We didn’t expect this much of a difference. The opponent shot at a very high percentage. We had a lot of missed rebounds early in the game. Because of that, we couldn’t break their series. The difference in the first period affected the whole game.
- What were the main reasons for the defeat?
- We couldn’t connect with our point guard, Jordan Davis. He scored well individually but wasn’t very useful to the team. We prepared for the game in one way, but it turned out completely differently with him. This had a big impact on the result.
- But let’s agree, the young players in the team also played very poorly...
- We couldn’t show the team play we had been preparing for. The ball wasn’t distributed well.
- In the next round, you will host Switzerland in Baku. Will this game be a chance to recover against the leader?
- We are thinking of playing much differently against Switzerland. We will be playing at home, and if we lose, our chances of advancing from the group will decrease.
- There are a lot of experienced and older players in the team. Since the new generation isn’t emerging, you are carrying this mission. How do you see the future of the team after you retire?
- Zaur Pashayev will retire from the national team after the game against Switzerland at home. Orkhan Aydin and I will remain. Much bigger and different work needs to be done to nurture the new generation. I don’t want to go into detail on this subject before the team’s games...
Emin Aga
Idman.biz
