“This was a great preparatory tournament for us ahead of the European Championship.”
This is what Erhan Toker, head coach of Azerbaijan’s U16 boys' basketball national team, said in an interview with Report while commenting on the team’s performance at the international Airom Cup tournament held in Kazakhstan, Idman.biz reports.
The coach of the team, which finished the tournament with bronze medals, said the first match was challenging: “The first game was tough. Since we arrived in Kazakhstan late at night, we couldn’t play the way we wanted in the morning. In the following matches, the team performed better. The game against the Georgian team Kutaisi was especially difficult. We were better on defense. We finished the tournament in third place. Actually, Kutaisi was expected to win the tournament, but since we beat them, the team from Kazakhstan became the champions.”
He said he was satisfied with the performance of some players: “After the tournament, we played a friendly match against the team we faced in our first game. The opponent had added two older players to their roster. True, we lost, but we could have won too. The first half of the game was not good for us, but we played well in the second half. The result of the tournament is not of major importance. We are trying to prepare for the European Championship. I am pleased with some players, but we lack experience. Sometimes we rush and fail to make the right decisions. I believe we have improved our defense. We will do our best to win every game at the European Championship.”
At the Airom Cup international tournament, Azerbaijan lost to Barsy Atyrau (54:72), but defeated Auyl Sport (60:33), Keepers (71:16), and Kutaisi (58:51).
Idman.biz
