The U20 European Championship Division B is kicking off in Chalkida, Greece on July 15th. Before leaving for Greece, the assistant of the team’s head coach, English Chris Mayes, answered the questions of the ANOC press service.

-What can you say about the team members and what potential do they have?

-They are a very well balanced team and they want to be here, they want to do well for Armenia and they are looking really good combined.  Last week was a preparation week before the tournament this week so we are going to see how we are going to play together as a team.

-The guys are holding a training camp more than a month; do you notice any team play growth?

-Yes, it’s starting to grow, the team members start bonding, they stick together. We’ve seen a massive growth in a team play. Though Steven came in late he is able, he’s just fitted right in, he is a high communicator, an excellent player, he is able to adjust to the team.

-They also had friendly games, what conclusions did you draw after them?

-We had the first two friendly games against Iran and we learn a lot about each other, unfortunately we haven’t had any further games, you know we have tried to develop in practice which has kind of competition effect, so these two games helped us a lot.

-The young basketball player, NBA rising star Steven Enoch, has joined the team, what would you say about his collaboration with the team?

-He looks too athletic, he has very good wide skills as well, I thought it was going to be rough, but he is not. He is able to influence the players. He has a lot of influence on players, he plays at such a high level, he is not scared to put it all in the game, so we are very happy that he’s here, with the character that he is. He is fantastic for this team so we are looking forward to start developing this week.

-You will play in Group A with Portugal, Montenegro, Macedonia and Georgia. -Have you examined your opponents?

-Yes, we have seen Portugal a bit; we have information about them from our friends. Macedonia hasn’t changed since last year that much. We have a little bit inside information but this is going to be tough and it’s going to be a rough competition for us.

-What expectations do you have from the European Championship Division B?

 -The expectations have to be better than before. We want the Armenian basketball to grow. We want to follow the adults’ team’s example and bring pride to this nation through basketball.

ANOC press service