Spor Toto World Cup – The Official Website/Blog of Mike Fratello

Ukraine and The Czar

After losing to Turkey in overtime on opening night and dropping our second game against Serbia, the Mighty Ukes rallied to beat Germany in the final game of the Spor Toto World Cup in Izmir. Germany entered the contest undefeated after beating Serbia in Game 1 and Turkey in Game 2. They sat out some players in Game 3, but I’m sure they expected to beat us given our 26-point loss to Serbia the previous night.

However, our defense was much better against Germany. We also shot the ball well and took advantage of our fast break opportunities, which resulted in a big overall improvement from the night before. It was good to win one against a high-caliber team, particularly on the last night of the tournement. Despite the loss, Germany wound up placing first in the Spor Toto World Cup. Serbia beat Turkey in Game 3 to clinch second place, while Turkey and Ukraine both wound up 1-2.

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Photos courtesy of Oleksiy Naumov from the Ukrainian Basketball Federation.

After a tough overtime loss to Turkey on opening night, the Ukraine faced Serbia in Game 2 of the Spor Toto World Cup. We competed well during the first and second quarters and trailed by just one point at halftime, 38-37. But Serbia wore us down with their tough defense in the second half. They forced turnovers and made it difficult for us to set up our offense. Unable to sustain our momentum, we wound up losing the game by 26 points, 83-57. Serbia is a very good team. They lost to Germany on the first night, but two of Serbia’s starters sat out during that contest. Tomorrow afternoon we will try to regain our footing with a win against the talented German squad. They beat Turkey today, so they’re 2-0 heading into the final game of this exhibition tournament.