Becky’s looking good in eyes of Sokolovsky

VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's London Calling) - Some Olympic coaches are already wearing anxious looks on their faces.

Boris Sokolovsky of Russia is one of them.

Sokolovsky wants to get it right when he leads the national team in London, and he knows just how hard it is to get it right.

He had a rough baptism as Russia coach in 2010, when his team fell in a Quarter-Final stunner to Belarus at the FIBA World Championship in Karlovy Vary, the Czech Republic.

Nothing went according to plan in that game as Russia lost, 70-53.

Sokolovsky knew the players, was passionate about the national team and was determined to get it right the next time, so the federation stuck with him.

One year later, he led Russia to gold at the EuroBasket in Poland.

Before travelling to Poland, Sokolovsky showed himself to be a coach who wanted to listen to his players before making hard decisions.

His most significant move was to announce that he and his players had had enough of the waiting game with Epiphanny Prince, the Sparta&K Moscow Region guard who’d been given a Russian passport with the expectation that she would play for the national team.

Prince’s representative and Russia’s federation couldn’t agree on a date for the player’s arrival at the national team training camp.

After Sokolovsky spoke to his players and was told they could win without her, the coach took a team with no Prince and won the gold in Poland.

Elena Danilochkina gained additional playing time in the backcourt and shot lights out from three-point range at the EuroBasket, earning the honor as the tournament MVP.

Now Sokolovsky is planning to go back to the naturalized route.

He is going to welcome American Becky Hammon back into the squad for the London Games.

Hammon is not a 100% certainty to be at the London Games, but the South Dakota native will be there if she has a good training camp.

Sokolovsky said: “She's played three times for the national team of Russia: the Olympic Games, the European Championship of 2009 and the World Championship two years ago.

"Last summer, she showed an excellent game during the WNBA and now she's playing in the Russian national championship.

“All of our players like Becky.

“Becky is good mentally and I hope that she will improve the quality of our game.”

Hammon, who turned 35 on March 11, is a solid player.

She averaged almost 16 points per game last season in the WNBA and at the EuroLeague Women Final Eight, she’s been a coach on the floor for Pokey Chatman, hitting three-pointers and making daring drives to the basket.

It would be easy to second-guess Sokolovsky since so much was made of Russia’s success last year without a naturalized player.

But a big contributor in that team, Liudmila Sapova, ruptured her Achilles tendon in back in October.

The Nadezhda guard was versatile and explosive in Poland, where she erupted for 16 points in 25 minutes of Russia' Semi-Final triumph over the Czech Republic.

She hit 10 of her 15 attempts from behind the arc in Poland.

While Hammon wouldn't be a direct replacement for Sapova, she would bring quality to the side.

Much can happen between now and the start of the Olympics.

Hammon may get hurt, or look tired at the training camp and make Sokolovsky have a re-think.

On Thursday, while playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg, Russia's four-time Olympic center Maria Stepanova was lost for the London Games when she tore the ACL in her left knee.

Her absence only heightens the importance of bringing in a veteran like Hammon.

As it stands right now, Hammon is coming back.

It's a wise move by Sokolovsky to at keep the door open for a veteran guard who can help.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

FIBA’s columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.