Mozgov, Shved strengthen Russia squad for third window
MOSCOW (FIBA Basketball Word Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Russia are to bolster their squad for the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers against Belgium and France with a number of tested veterans, including Timofey Mozgov and Aleksei Shved.
Mozgov, the country's towering, athletic center, is set to feature on the Road to China 2019 for the first time. He averaged 13.3 points and 7.4 rebounds last summer for Sergei Bazarevich's team at FIBA EuroBasket 2017.
Shved will also make his first appearances in the Qualifiers. The combo guard made the All-Star Five at Europe's biggest competition last summer, after leading all players in scoring at 24.3 points per game.
"PLAYING FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM IS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT YOU DO DURING YOUR SEASON IN THE NBA OR WHEREVER YOU PLAY. IT'S ABOUT PRIDE AND REPRESENTING YOUR COUNTRY, SO THAT IS A UNIQUE THING TO DO." Mozgov
Among the national team linchpins that have been in both the November and February windows of the Qualifiers and are also on the 16-man list announced by the Russian Basketball Federation (RBF) are point guard Dmitry Khvostov, shooting guard Dmitrii Kulagin and forward Andrey Zubkov.
All three were vital for the Russians as they beat Belgium in November and Bosnia and Herzegovina in February.
| Russia 16-player squad for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers | |||
| Semen Antonov | Evgenii Baburin | Vitaly Fridzon | Petr Gubanov |
| Vladimir Ivlev | Sergey Karasev | Dmitry Khvostov | Artem Klimenko |
| Dmitrii Kulagin | Mikhail Kulagin | Nikita Kurbanov | Timofey Mozgov |
| Aleksei Shved | Ivan Ukhov | Andrei Vorontsevich | Andrey Zubkov |
Mozgov is excited to be back after spending this past NBA season with the Brooklyn Nets.
"I've been playing with the national team for a long time now and I really love it," said Mozgov, who has thrown down some vicious dunks in his games for Russia.
"It's great and I love to be with my fellow compatriots, my teammates, my friends and play with the Russian jersey on my shoulders.
"Playing for the national team is different than what you do during your season in the NBA or wherever you play. It's about pride and representing your country, so that is a unique thing to do."
Mozgov is taking nothing for granted with respect to making it to next year's 32-team event in China. Russia were not in the field of 24 at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Mozgov and Shved were outstanding at FIBA EuroBasket 2017
"First we have to qualify for the tournament," he said. "We want to be there and compete on the world stage, but first we have to finish the qualifying campaign and reach a spot in the FIBA World Cup.
"The road to the World Cup is still long, and we got to win more games to get there. But our goal is to qualify."
Russia very easily could be 4-0 but lost their opener at Bosnia and Herzegovina in November and then fell at France after overtime in February.
Mozgov watched both of the games that ended in defeats.
"We fell short in both of those games but the guys did play well, in my opinion," he said. "We lost both of those games by a small margin, especially the one against France, so that means the guys fought hard to try to win for the entire game, and that is a positive thing.
"Those games were away from home, we lost both of them, but now we have to get the job done in the last two games, especially the one (against France on July 2) at home."
"WHEN YOU PLAY AT HOME, YOU HAVE TO WIN. YOU HAVE THE SUPPORT OF THE FANS, THE COUNTRY AND YOUR FAMILY, SO ALL THE ELEMENTS TO MAKE YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL ARE REUNITED WHEN YOU PLAY AT HOME." Mozgov
That game will be played in Krasnodar and if the first two home games are any indication, the arena is going to be full. Mozgov has circled that date on his calendar.
"It's going to be a tough one but we have to win it to get to the next round," said the 31-year-old. "France is a very good team but we have to win at home.
"When you play home, you have to win. You have the support of the fans, the country and your family, so all the elements to make you achieve your goal are reunited when you play at home.
Former Russia national team star turned national federation president Andrei Kirilenko is glad to have Mozgov and Shved for the Qualifiers
"It's not always easy, but you have to give your best and play hard to win every time or almost every time you play on your own soil.
"We can count on our fans to be cheering for us, they love basketball and they count on us to win."
FIBA
