Report.az
The Azerbaijan women's national basketball team will try to compete well in the games of the European Championship qualifying stage.
The head coach of the team, Evren Alkaya, gave an interview to "Report" about this.
The Turkish specialist stated that they have been seriously preparing for the tournament for more than 20 days:
"Erica Carter and Alexandra Mollenhauer have not yet joined the team. They will be in the squad after November 8. Şilan Akbingöl will also come from Turkey. We have a very young team. We will see the situation better after they arrive. We will play with players aged 16-18. It will be difficult for us. Our opponents are Bulgaria, Montenegro and Ukraine."
E. Alkaya also talked about the opponents:
"Montenegro was able to pass the qualifying stage of the European Championship last year. Bulgaria and Ukraine, although they performed successfully in their groups, failed to do so for certain reasons. I think their strength is very close to each other. They are superior to us both in experience and physically. But we will do our best. We will fight and try to represent our country properly. The children have grown a bit since last year. I hope that they will be able to show the experience they gained in the B division last year this time."
The head coach added that Bulgaria has a strong basketball player like Haaliya Hillsman in its squad:
"First of all, we will try to stop her. She is a very strong basketball player. We analyze all the games and opponents individually. Bulgarians play basketball at a high level. They have players who have been playing together for a long time. Their head coach has been the same person for years. I think they will perform better this year. In terms of strength, they are not behind Montenegro and Ukraine. We need to defend very hard against them."
The specialist reminded that the basketball players of the Azerbaijan national team are 8-10 years younger than their opponents:
"This also increases the difference in experience. But we will try to eliminate this difference with determination. Montenegro is a team that plays at a very high pace. They also have good basketball players and can cause us problems. We will play our last match against Ukraine in Riga. It will be a long trip, but we will fight there too. Although Ukraine is one of the favorites of the group, some of its main players are already old. Nevertheless, they are still a very high-level team. I think they are considered one of the strongest in terms of getting out of the group. Overall, our group is very strong. Our goal is to perform as well as possible in this tournament and prepare for the next European Championship in the best possible way. We are grateful to the Azerbaijan Basketball Federation for creating this opportunity. The children are going through a difficult process, but this experience is very important for their adaptation to the professional level. This tournament will not be easy for us. But I believe that we will play better basketball after each game. Girls, like boys, need experience, and this tournament is a great opportunity for them in this regard."
It should be noted that the Azerbaijani national team will face Bulgaria and Montenegro in Baku on November 12 and 15, respectively. The team will face Ukraine in Riga on November 18.
