RIGA (Latvia) - Some may think Ukraine are simply a Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk one-man band. Others may see Oleksandr Kovliar as an equally important part of a dangerous one-two punch.
The reality, however, is that Ukraine are a well-balanced team with threats throughout the lineup. Six different players knocked down at least one three-pointer as they connected 13 times from beyond the arc on their way to an 82-76 victory over Greece.
It all came down to coach Ainars Bagatskis' 3&D approach. They were not shy about letting it fly, knocking down 39 percent of their 33 attempts, while their defense stifled Greece's offense completely.
"End of the day, the most important is the boxscore, you either win or lose. How you did that, that's secondary. We did it. We won," Bagatskis said, clearly not that enthusiastic about the way Ukraine won.
"We are playing with crazy emotions, but we are not controlling them like we're supposed to do with our experience. If we want to be more successful, we have to cover this."
Even with Nick Calathes (17 points, 8 assists) running the point, coach Vassilis Spanoulis watched as his men went just 9-of-32 from deep.
Kovliar had 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Maksym Shulga finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, while Mykhailiuk struggled with his shot and still got 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
"Our idea was to play good defense on Mykhailiuk, and we did it. He made 3-of-17 shots, we took the ball out of his hands and we forced him to take some bad shots, but they got a lot from a lot of players. That happens," coach Spanoulis explained what went wrong in his gameplan.
This win is more than just two points in the standings. Ukraine climbed to 5-2, while Greece are a full two games behind at 3-4, a gigantic gap in such a tight group.
"We need to get this out of our heads. We can do it. We believe in ourselves and in this team," Konstantinos Mitoglou remains optimistic for Greece.
Only the top three will advance to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027. Ukraine have not been at the main event since 2014, while Greece have not missed the World Cup since 2002.
FIBA