MOSCOW (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) – Russian fans flocked to Khimki Moscow Region's home arena at the weekend to cheer on stars Aleksey Shved, Timofey Mozgov and Sergey Karasev upon their return to the national team. The home players rewarded them by delivering two dominant triumphs over Belarus and Georgia in a three-nation warm-up tournament for the upcoming FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers.

Playing for the first time under new head coach Sergey Bazarevich, Russia rolled over Belarus 103-50 on the opening day of the tournament, as Mozgov paced the winners with 14 points and Shved finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. On the second day of action Georgia prevailed 86-74 over Belarus, behind 24 points from Michael Dixon and 17 points from Tornike Shengelia, while Vitali Liutych had 15 points and Artsiom Parakhouski added 12 in losing efforts.

On the final day, Russia dominated the boards 35-25 and raced to a 94-62 win over Georgia to claim first place in the tournament, on the back of a 15-point, seven-rebound display by Shved and 13 points from Vitaly Fridzon, while Georgi Shermadini collected a game-high 17 points in defeat.

Bazarevich none the less tried to contain the euphoria. "It's hard to say to what degree we are ready, I do not think it can be expressed as a percentage," the Russian head coach said. "Each player is different, [Semen] Antonov had a quite painful injury and it is evident that he is not yet ready, Mozgov has just started training with the rest of the team while on the other hand Artem Klimenko was a monster in these games. Let's say that everyone is willing to get better."

The Russian head coach however was pleased with the fact his players seemed comfortable with the style of play he wants to implement. "We want to run, this is the trend today, if you look for example at the Golden State Warriors," Bazarevich said. "I have never had so many good shooters on a team and it's very good to have this option. If you can make a three-pointer in transition, it gives the team a big advantage. I cannot say that we are a three-point shooting team first and foremost, but with shooters like Fridzon, Karasev and the others, perhaps we need to take more shots. I would like us to play fast and aggressive on both ends of the floor."

Georgia played in the Moscow tournament without their superstar Zaza Pachulia and influential winger Manuchar Markoishvili, who are nursing injuries and have not yet joined training camp. "I hope they will be able to join us when we go back to Tbilisi," said Georgia head coach Ilias Zouros. "Our team will be very different if we have these players on board and I hope they will be with us for the Qualifiers."

Russia were drawn in Group C of the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers, together with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Sweden. Georgia will do battle with Albania, Montenegro and Slovak Republic in Group F, while Belarus will go up against Estonia, Poland and Portugal in Group D.

FIBA