SPORTSLINE

MEN'S BASKETBALL

EUROBASKET '97

Ukraine's national men's basketball team recently participated in its first European championship. The 30th such biennial tournament since 1935 was held in Spain on June 24-July 6 in Barcelona and its environs. Sixteen teams took part in what was known as "Eurobasket '97."

Placed in Group D along with the host country, Croatia and Germany, the blue-and-yellow was in a tough position (although they could count their blessings, not being in Group C to face both eventual finalists Yugoslavia and Italy, as well eventual seventh-place Poland). To add to the pressure, their debut match on June 25 against the Spaniards was widely televised, and there could be no doubt on whose side the 12,000 screaming fans were.

All of Ukraine's games were played in the ancient Iberian town of Badalona, northeast of Barcelona, in the Pavello Olimpic built for the 1992 Olympics.

The first game did not go all that well, as the visitors dropped a lop-sided 82-54 decision, but all 12 men on the squad got to play.

Guard Dmytro Bazylevsky turned in a reasonable effort, potting 15 points (two three-pointers), and going three-for-four off the foul line, and three-for-four in the field. Also in the double figures was forward Leonid Yailo, with 12 points, drawing six fouls and making two steals. Forward Anatolii Lokhmanchuk gave a hint of what was to come by putting up three blocks and going five for seven off the line, while the seemingly dwarf-like (six-foot, two-inch) guard Ihor Kharchenko announced his specialty - steals.

First Ukrainian men's dunk

The next day brought on the next opponent, Germany, and another loss by a score of 81-60. With forwards Vadym Pudzyrei and Viktor Savchenko riding the pines, Lokhmanchuk was active on both sides of the court, with 16 points (two trifectas), five steals and five defensive rebounds. He also put down Ukraine's very first dunk in international men's competition. Kharchenko checked in with 13 points and seven steals. Bazylevsky was firing blanks however, ending up with seven points, and hitting only one of six three-pointers. Guard Evgenii Murzyn picked up some of the slack, netting 10 points, but his percentage was low from the field, sinking only five of 12 shots.

First hoopy victory

On June 27, the Ukrainians scored their first victory (and a major upset) against the high-scoring Croatians (1995 Bronze medalists and the only team to reach 100 points in one game in the tourney). Final tally: 95-88.

They shortened their bench by sitting out Oleksander Okunsky, Roman Rubchenko and master-thief Kharchenko, and had Bazylevsky and Lokhmanchuk put on a show. Lokhmanchuk drew seven fouls (four-for-seven off the line) and went bananas from three-point range, trying eight but draining two, and had a total of 18 points. Bazylevsky hit for 19 points (two three-pointers), drew 10 fouls and was an NBA-like 11 for 12 off the line (that's 92 percent folks).

Forward Denys Zykavliov awoke and netted 14 points, draining two from three-point range, while seven-foot center Hryhorii Khyzhniak announced his presence with authority, slamming two dunks and muscling in three offensive rebounds for 10 points. Murzyn stole three and put up 11 points, and Pudzyrei responded off the bench by adding 10.

At the end of group play, the standings were:

   Team

 gp

 w

 I

 For

 Agst

 1  Spain

 3

 3

 0

 227

 184

 2  Croatia

 3

 1

 2

 234

 228

 3   Germany

 3

 1

 2

 195

 202

 4  Ukraine

 3

  1 

 2

 209

 251

However, because they'd lost to Germany and conceded more points than the Teutons did, Ukraine was judged to be unworthy of the playoff round despite having a similar record.

Lucky 13

Undeterred, the team kept its composure in the classification rounds. After a day's layoff, they met the Latvians on June 29 and came out on top, 84-76. Lokhmanchuk had his best game of the tournament, with 21 points. He hammered in a dunk, three rebounds and drew 11 fouls and went an impressive 13-for-16 off the line (81 percent). It could have been even better, as he fired a less than awesome four-for-10 in the field and missed two three-pointers. Bazylevsky also was strong, with 17 points, five-for-seven on free throws and two three-pointers. Murzyn added 14 on an almost perfect day (five-for-five in the field, four-for-five on the line), and Yailo was also strong off fouls (five-for-six) for a total of 13 points.

That victory gave Ukraine a chance to play for 13th over all in the championship against Slovenia on June 30. The result was a solid balanced effort, with scoring coming from almost every member of the squad, and another win, 80-75.

The points leader was the surprising giant, seven-foot three-inch center Okunsky, who had spent many of the earlier contests idle. In this game he contributed 18 points, two dunks and four rebounds, was a perfect four off the line and seven-for-10 in the field. He was all over the court, adding three defensive rebounds and three blocked shots.

Bazylevsky and Lokhmanchuk got into foul trouble early and were kept to nine and eight points, respectively. Bazylevsky got all of his points on the line off 10 attempts. Murzyn hit for 13 with an average six-for-11 day off the line, Khyzniak had nine points, and forward Ihor Molchanov netted nine.

In closing it can be said that the men from Kyiv acquitted themselves fairly well. They need to be more aggressive on the offensive boards - they had only 32 rebounds for the whole tournament as a team. Defensively, their rebounding was reasonable (65 for the tourney). Lokhmanchuk was obviously the team's main man, scoring 72 points and drawing 32 fouls. He made 14 steals but, tellingly, allowed 17 turnovers, a sign of impatience.

As anybody who has played "21" and then joined a full-flight game in motion knows, they need to improve the accuracy of their shooting from the field. Free-throw heroes Bazylevsky and Lokhmanchuk were great on the line, but if they continue to miss three pointers at their present rate (17 of 24 and 12 of 18 respectively), their team and their fans will have many broken hearts. To compound this problem, the Ukrainians as a group seem not to willing to pass. They had the among the lowest assist total of all 16 teams. While Yugoslavia and Russia had several players with over 20 and Italy had one over 30, only Murzyn (10) and Bazylevsky (nine) had over five on the Ukrainian side. If you wanna be hetman, you'd better be Michael Jordan.

The team also needs more balance. While other country rosters (particurlarly the elite squads) showed an even mix of centers, guards and forwards, Ukraine's contingent consisted of two centers, two guards and eight forwards.

For complete stats on the Eurobasket '97 Championship, visit the tournament's website at http://www.catbq.es, and take your pick of English or Spanish.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

European League Teams

In other basketball news, the draw for the EuroLeague Women (ECF), EuroCup (ECC), Korac Cup (ECK) and Ronchetti Cup (ECR) for the coming season was held on July 22 at the Sheraton Hotel in Munich.

Kozachka-ZALK of Ukraine will play in the EuroLeague Women (ECF)'s Group B together with teams from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Turkey and Yugoslavia (Serbia).

Ukraine's Bipa-Moda-SKA will play in the EuroCup (ECC)'s Group A, with teams from Finland, Lithuania, Macedonia, Spain and Turkey, while Budivelnyk-Horda will be in Group H with squads from Austria, Greece, Israel, Russia and Slovakia.

In the Korac Cup (ECK), Ukraine's CSKA-RICO will play in Group K with Spartak Moscow and WTK Azoty Nobiles of Poland; and Dendi Basket will play with teams from Russia, Lithuania and a qualifier. In the Ronchetti Cup (ECR) Group P, Energobis will play a team from Finland and Poland.

National team slips at Europeans

While the Ukrainian women's national team continues to do far better than its male counterpart in the international arena, 1995's European champions suffered a grievous blow.

Unfortunately, the squad did not qualify for the world championships to be played in Germany next year. According to statistics on the Fédération International de Basketball's website (http://www.fiba.com), they were knocked out of the semi-finals of the 26th European Championship held in Budapest on June 6-15.

In the preliminary round, Ukraine was proceeding with its usual aplomb in Group A. On the first day, they knocked off powerhouse Yugoslavia 81-67 after trailing 36-41 at the half. But the wheels began to come off on June 7, first in a loss to Germany (88-92), then to Spain (62-76, June 8), then to Lithuania (70-73, June 10). The blue-and-yellow just managed to squeak into the next round by besting the Czechs 76-72 on June 11.

In the quarter-finals two days later, the team overcame a strong Italian side 75-73, but the following afternoon the Czech Republic exacted its revenge, and Ukraine was out of the semi-final round.

Ukraine was 10th in the final European placings, with only six teams entitled to advance to the Worlds.

According to a FIBA press release of June 20, 10 of the 16 teams that will participate at the World Championship via their continental championships (including entries from Asia and Oceania) will include Germany (organizer), Lithuania, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Spain, Russia, Korea, Japan, China and Australia. The 16-team field will be completed by four teams from the Americas and two teams from Africa.

The World Championship for Women will take place in Germany from May 26 to June 7, 1998.

* * *

(A Sportsline thank you to one of our readers in Spain for letting us know the Eurobasket tournament was on.)

- compiled by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 3, 1997, No. 31, Vol. LXV

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