KIEV (EuroBasket Qualifying) - Ukraine’s Serhiy Gladyr discovered a very hard lesson this summer.
No matter how good you are, or how many times you have achieved great things at junior level, nothing is as tough as playing for the senior national team.
One of the most talented guards to emerge in Ukraine in the recent years, Gladyr earlier this summer set FIBA’s youth competitions record by making 11 three-pointers in a U20 European Championship game against Lithuania.
With the big fellas, those coached by Valentyn Melnychuk, it was a different story.
Other than a scoring eruption in their penultimate EuroBasket qualifying game against France, Gladyr barely caused a ripple.
“It’s so hard to adjust…” he said.
“Sometimes, even my hands are shaking. I am told not to think about a shot, to just fire it, but on this team I have found myself contemplating whether to shoot or pass. Sometimes I hear the more experienced teammates criticize me and it makes it hard to relax.
“This stopped in Mykolaiv because the coach allowed me to shoot as much as I wanted. But here, I can sometimes get a negative reaction from the coach after making a mistake.”
Gladyr really didn’t make his mark with Ukraine’s national team this summer, save one dazzling performance in Le Mans against France.
With his team in dire need of a spark, Gladyr scored 12 points in a 16-5 run that reduced his team’s deficit to just one in the final quarter.
During the scoring spurt, Gladyr drained three consecutive three-pointers using his trademark “I-don’t-care-who’s-guarding-me” style.
That flashy approach was something that his fans were used to, but had been deprived of seeing at senior team level until he got hot against France.
Ukraine, however, couldn’t quite get over the hump and lost 87-83.
Before the France game, Gladyr said, he just could not find a comfort zone.
“I didn’t feel confident shooting in the defender’s face at this level because the coaches used to scold me for doing it in scrimmages and this made me scared,” he said.
“But they told me it’s better to shoot over a defense than to turn the ball over so I tried and it worked. I felt it and kept shooting.”
Ukraine, throughout their qualifying campaign, had reason to think they had the makings of a very good team but the players couldn’t perform at their best for 40 minutes.
They ended up with a solitary victory against France at home.
Their summer ended in a resounding thud at home to Belgium, who beat Ukraine to earn a place in the Additional Qualifying Round.
Ukraine fell into the Relegation Round dogfight that will be staged next summer which also includes Hungary, Estonia and the Czech Republic.
Who knows? If the team has a good preparation, and perhaps the exciting prospect Gladyr finds some consistency and grows more confident, then maybe Ukraine may just avoid dropping into Division B.
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