Published: 19 September, 2009, 12:40
Edited: 19 September, 2009, 09:01
While the Russian basketball team may have missed the chance to retain their European title, David Blatt's side still has plenty to play for.
Victory in their next two placement matches would see them earn a fifth place finish, and a place at next year's world championships.
RT caught up with some of the national side who didn't make the trip to Poland and heard their thoughts on how Russia had performed over the last couple of weeks.
”We’ve got a young team as we said before the tournament,” noted Russian forward Viktor Khryapa, who is missing Eurobasket due to injury. “We were struggling in the beginning, won only one game, but in the second round, which was the most important for us, we won all three games and showed our character and showed how we can play. But the most important thing, and what I like most, is that we have a good team built on the young guys – this is what we need for the future.”
While Russia, along with France and Russia’s next opponent Croatia, is now dreaming of qualifying to next year’s global event in Turkey, Spain and Greece, as well as Slovenia and Serbia, are gearing up before their respective semifinals on Saturday evening.