Blatt Wants Russia To Peak At Right TimeRussia have not been playing like world beaters so far this summer but head coach David Blatt believes they are on the right path.
With the EuroBasket tipping off in 11 days, the country's basketball fans certainly hope they are.
Russia took second place at the recent International Tournament in Paris.
Blatt had put his troops through a rigorous training camp prior to traveling to the French
| “ | You will not recognise the team after these weeks | „ | ||||
| Russia Coach David Blatt | ||||||
Blatt told Sport-Express: "We've been working according to our plan to lead out the team to the peak of its form to the start of the European Championship.
"We have almost three weeks for that. I can assure you that you will not recognize the team after these weeks. It will be absolutely another team."
Russia's preparations for the tournament were disrupted by injuries to CSKA Moscow guard John Robert Holden and Dynamo Moscow forward Yuri Vasilyev, who both joined the team a couple of days before the departure to France.
They defeated the Czech Republic 83-80 in the first game and Holden scored 18 points while Zakhar Pashutin chipped in with 14.
But the result was marred by an ankle injury to Nikolai Padius that will sideline him for up to two weeks, putting his participation at EuroBasket in doubt.
Russia then thrashed Portugal 80-58 in their second game, with Utah Jazz star forward Andrei Kirilenko going for 18 points and CSKA's Alexei Savrasenko adding 11.
However, Blatt's men then imploded against France in the decisive game, losing 92-56,
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| Andrey Kirilenko will need to step up for Russia. | ||||
But, despite the disappointing result, Blatt is not concerned.
"It's difficult to expect stable results now," he said.
"I see no tragedy in our defeat to France. I can't deny that we played bad and that the game is a step backwards for the team but [the]two previous games were two steps forward. The team has improved its performance in total.
"We'd like to see the performance that we showed in the last quarter against the Czech Republic. The whole game against Portugal we can enter on our credit side.
"We pressured well, played aggressively and sharply in defense, moved from defense to offense quickly. We controlled the game completely."
Les Bleus looked very good, but Blatt said: "France had their best performance against us. It happens sometimes.
"Our opponents scored everything. For example, they converted 16 long-range shots.
"From the other side, we missed a lot of opportunities. When you play three games in three days, it's difficult to improve your performance," he added.
Blatt then explained what the immediate plans were for his team
"It's necessary to have a month of good work at least to create a real team," he explained.
"We're going back and we will have several training sessions in Moscow. And the squad has a final chance to impress in a friendly tournament in Germany to be played from August 24 to August 26 against Germany, Italy and Portugal.
"All the candidates have a chance to be included into the European Championship squad-list," Blatt warned.
"Padius will miss about a week according to the team's doctor. [Dmitri] Khvostov and [Sergei] Bykov will train with the team in Moscow and may go to Germany."
Russia have been drawn in Eurobasket's Group A to play in Granada against Serbia, Greece and the team that wins the additional qualifying tournament.
