MOSCOW (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) - Sergey Karasev followed recent sweeping changes in Russian basketball from a distance, as he was focused on establishing himself with the Brooklyn Nets.

When the 22-year-old Russian winger left home in summer 2014 to pursue his NBA dream, Andrei Kirilenko was still a Nets player and Evgeny Pashutin was the newly-appointed coach of the national team.

Fast forward 18 months and the former legendary forward is the president of the Russian Basketball Federation (RBF) while coach Sergey Bazarevich has taken over as the new play-caller.

In between, Russia endured a disappointing campaign at FIBA EuroBasket 2015 as they stepped out without the likes of Karasev, Timofey Mozgov and Alexey Shved, crashing out of Group A in Montpellier with four losses in five games.

Now that the dust has settled and Russian basketball is pursuing a fresh start, two things are clear in Karasev's mind.

Firstly, he will bolster the national team in their bid to advance from Group C of the upcoming FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers.

"I hope that everyone will come to play this summer and that everyone will be ready," Karasev told fiba.com.

"I speak with Mozgov when I see him on the road or when he comes to play here [in Brooklyn], I hope to see him, Alexey [Shved] and all the guys in the summer and I am looking forward to playing with them on the national team."

The second thing that Karasev is certain about is what Russia's primary target after the recent re-boot should be.

"We have four games this summer and the only goal should be to qualify for EuroBasket next year," he said.

"This is the main thing right now for us, there is no doubt."

In Qualifiers Group C, Russia will go up against Sweden and Bosnia and Herzegovina of Mirza Teletovic, a former team-mate of Karasev in Brooklyn.

"They are going to be tough games, especially if both teams bring their best players," the young Russian said.

"Sweden can bring [Jonas] Jerebko and [Jeffrey] Taylor.

"They beat us in the group in 2013 (at the EuroBasket in Slovenia) with those guys, so we know what we're up against.

"And of course Bosnia and Herzegovina is also a very good team.

"We talked with Mirza about it, but I am not going to say what he told me!"

"For sure it's going to be fun and I hope that we will qualify.

"We have to."

Karasev deems securing a berth at FIBA EuroBasket 2017 to be a compulsory assignment for Russia and he is fully committed to the cause.

"Anything I can do on the court, I will do it as best I can to help the team qualify for the EuroBasket," the Nets player pledged.

"I will play in the way the coach needs me to play.

"I cannot say I am going to play at center but if he tells me to move the ball I will move the ball, if he tells me to score I will try to score.

"We haven't worked together [with coach Bazarevich] but I know that he has developed young players and that he believes in good communication with everybody.

"That means a lot, especially on the national team."

Karasev is in constant communication of course with a contemporary of the 51-year-old Bazarevich back in the days the new Russia coach was an international player himself.

His father, 45-year-old Vasily Karasev, shared the point guard spot for Russia with Bazarevich during the last stage of the latter's career.

Later, Karasev senior coached his son at both Triumph Lyubertsy (now Zenit Saint Petersbourg) and the national team.

"My father played for a long time and he knows every side of basketball, both as a player and as coach, and I think that has been a great advantage for me," the youngster said.

"We try to talk every day but it's difficult because of the time difference, the constant travel and games in the NBA.

"But he still helps me a lot, giving me advice about my game and about the future."