The head coach of the Armenia national basketball team, Tigran Gyokchyan has spoken about the national team in a conversation with the press service of the Basketball Federation of Armenia.

-This year when the Basketball Federation of Armenia announced that you were going to lead the Armenia national team, it was also mentioned that you were eager to do it.
-Yes, the Basketball Federation of Armenia chose me as a head coach of the team and I am very happy and proud to be entrusted with this position which I have always dreamed about.
-It is known that you have worked as a coach in Lebanon over the last 20 years. How would you describe these years?
-I have begun to work as a coach in Lebanon since 1996. I have worked with Lebanon youth team which managed to qualify for World Championship and the men’s team which was struggling for an Olympic qualification, I have also worked with AGBU “Andranik” club and one of the most famous clubs of Lebanon, “Riad” (2004-2012) which during my coaching years has become Lebanon’s champion seven times in a row. From 2013 up today I have been coaching Asian famous club “Sagesse”.
-Soon Armenia is going to the European Championship for Small Countries and is going to struggle for the first place. How realistic is the goal?
-Knowing the qualities and abilities of the players, I am sure that it is possible to implement the goals set before us.
-2015 Pan-Armenian Games proved once again that that there are many talented basketball players in the Armenian Diaspora. In your opinion what potential does the Armenia national team have?
-Pan-Armenian Games helped us to reveal Armenian talented basketball players and thanks to the hard work of the federation we could gather the best Armenian players from Diaspora.
- How is the national team going to prepare for the European Championship?
- From June 1 to 26 we will conduct a training camp in Yerevan and then will leave foe Moldova. Some national teams have been invited to Armenia to play friendlies but it isn’t clear yet which teams will come. The problem is that in many countries June is a vacation period and finding an opponent is really difficult.
-The European Championship for Small Countries will be attended by 8 countries? What can you say about the opponents?
-We study in detail each team and don’t underestimate any of them. Moldova as an organizer will also enjoy fans’ support which gives it a definite advantage.
ANOC press service