Basketball club "Prometey" continues the series of pre-season interviews with players. This time we spoke with the newcomer of "Prometey", a player of the National team of Ukraine - Ivan Tkachenko.

- Ivan, welcome to “Prometey”. Please, tell us how and when you received the offer and why you decided to continue your career in our club?

- Firstly, I would like to say hello to everyone and thank for the chance to speak in this interview. When I came with “Cherkaski Mavpy” to play against “Prometey”, during the handshakes after the game, “Prometey” coaches Ronen Ginzburg and Milenko Bogicevic said: "You're playing well, we like your style of play." When "Prometey" started recruiting Ukrainian players this summer, I called the agent and offered to call "Prometey" and ask, because they spoke well of me. The agent called, Ginzburg was interested in this offer. We then went to a gathering in Italy with the National team. And in a couple of days we signed a contract.

- So, it was not an offer from the “Prometey” club to you, but you knocked the door of the club and it was opened for you?

-Exactly. Since I have some problems with the English language, it would be more convenient for me... And in fact, I wanted to play in a Ukrainian team at such a time, and not to be somewhere alone. It is clear that my wife and child are always with me and support me, but I still wanted to be in the Ukrainian team.

- The previous season for “Cherkaski Mavpy” and for all Ukrainian teams ended, to put it mildly, not as we all would have liked. What do you remember the most from the days when full-scale war began? What were the thoughts? What did you feel?

- My wife did not want to let me go when we were going with the National team to Spain, because she felt that something would happen, one hundred percent something would start. I said: "No, everything will be fine, I need to go to the National team, this is my chance". Already later, when my wife came to see me in Riga, I told her that on the way to the location of the national team, we overtook three tanks. Those days I thought that it was ok, it was for overcautiousness, I calmed myself down. In the morning on February 24, the parents called first, but they always wake up early, they live in the village. So, I thought they called by chance. But it turned out that it was not accidentally. The wife called, it was scared for them.
 

- What is your attitude to what is currently happening in Ukraine?

- Like all adequate people - negative. Personally, I will always tell my children, as long as I have one daughter, and I will tell her so that she knows that this is not kind of "special operation" there, that this is a war, that the Russians have come to shed the blood of our people, our children for nothing, that many people were injured.

- Is it true that your brother is at the front line?

- He is currently at the study centre. He will be a sapper by specialization. Currently studying. Of course, I would like him not to be sent anywhere.

- What is his spirit like when he communicates with you?

- It is positive. He got into a good team.

- Let's move on to basketball matters. You finished last season in Finland. What is your impression of the country?

- It was lucky that my team was from the capital. We went for the road matches to much smaller towns. Yes, it is beautiful there, beautiful houses, but the capital is the capital.

- In Finland, you played in the same team with Petteri Koponen. Tell us about your teammates. How did they treat you? What did you learn from them?

- Yes, I played in the same team with Koponen, with Sean Huff... Petteri knows Russian because he played in “Khimki”. That is why he sometimes spoke to me in Russian. I was well accepted into the team. I arrived seven matches before the play-off stage. I liked it. American Legionnaire Seth Allen also played there - he is the best friend of Oleksiy Len. They started their studies in Maryland at the same time. Seth said that when Oleksii came to Maryland, he had the same English skills as I do now. Therefore, thanks to this, it was easier for him to communicate with me, he understood me. I don't know English perfectly, but I tried to tell him one story or another. Because of the war, it was a bad push for me to overcome the English-language barrier.

- Have you learned anything else, besides English, from more experienced teammates? I mean, in terms of basketball. Are you back exactly the same as you were before?

- I think I came back stronger. Because there were completely different systems in both defence and attack. In Ukraine, we all cover the centre and direct to the front line. There everything is other way around, so it was very difficult to adjust from the defence I have played all my life. However, I was constantly helped by the coaching staff and Petteri Koponen. I guess I developed because it was my first experience as a Legionnaire. There was a different load, because you are no longer a role player, but you have to give something to the team, because you are a legionnaire. I am used to the fact that I'm a role player, but there I was somewhere on backdoors, on rebounds, breakaways, three-pointers. And here you had to take the ball, play, pull it on yourself. That was the experience.

- After your return, you became, okay, not a star yet, but perhaps the main hero in Ukrainian basketball. Many specialists and experts admitted that they did not expect such rapid progress from you. The July matches for the National team made you an indispensable basketball player in Bagatskis' game picture. What is the secret of such progress?

- I am still far from a star. And in general, even if I were, let's say, in some top championship, I don't have such feeling that I'm a star. There is no crown, as it happens with some players who make progress, become arrogant and go into decline. I don't have that. But thank you. I am pleased.

I gained more confidence, became a part of the team. First times, when I came to the National team, I was shy to make contact with some of the boys. I communicated only with those who was in the youth national teams with -  Zotov, Sydorov. Of the elders - only with Pustovy. It seems to me that on February 24 in Spain, against the background of the war, we got very united, everyone supported each other. We were in Spain for three days, then flew to Riga, where we stayed for a week. We gathered at 11 a.m. and sat together until the next morning, watched the news, worried about each other. Serhii Pavlov's father went to fight in the first days of the war. We were all worried for his father and for all the families who remained in Ukraine.

- Artem Pustovy said that his parents remained in the occupied territory.

- When we were in Finland for a friendly match, I heard how Artem was talking to his family. Everything is fine with them, but they constantly hear loud explosions, shots, as if it is somewhere behind the fence.

- Ivan, you said that at first it was not convenient to communicate with elder teammates. You said about those who you communicated with. And with whom it was not so comfortable?

- I wouldn't say it was uncomfortable. I just didn't know how to speak, where to start a conversation with Oleksandr Lypovyy, with Denys Lukashov, with Slava Kravtsov. And then, somehow we were sitting, joking, joking, joking, and a dialogue was established, it relaxed me, I went to contact with everyone, and they got closer to me.
 

- In the previous six months, you debuted in the National team, got your first legionary experience, you will probably go to your first EuroBasket, in October you will play in the EuroCup. Very rapid career changes. Let's say, at the beginning of the year, could you have imagined that you would be playing at such a high level already this year? What did you dream about?

- My contract with “Cherkaski Mavpy” was coming to an end. The agent said that there are 3-4 Ukrainian teams that are ready to offer good money. I thought “God grant the “Prometey! was among those four teams”. I really wanted to join this club, because the coaching staff is good, and the Ukrainian players are good, and the team played in the Champions League, and I knew that there would be even more top tournaments in the future. I wanted to get to this club, but I thought "Well, there are better players, why do they need me, if there is someone better". However, I hoped, and everything worked out.

- Matches with the National teams of Italy and Iceland. What can you say about them, can you analyse the result? The game in Iceland is particularly interesting.

- In the match against Italy, we started very well. We imposed a fight on every centimeter of the court. We struggled, gave them a fight. Italians did not expect this. I think they expected to pass us on one leg and go to Italy to drink wine. But it didn't work out that way, we imposed our game, we beat them, and beat them confidently. The advantage reached 13 points. We were sure of our victory. We understood that, we talked about the fact that the third quarter is often unsuccessful for us. It seems to me that 70% of teams fail in the third ten minutes. I think we had some slack. We knew that the Italians would fight, because they got a kick from the coach. We knew they were going to fly, they were going to use the fastbreak because they are a running team. We agreed to disrupt the attacks with fouls to break the tempo and continue to impose our game. But we didn't do it well, out of five fouls, three times we got two with a foul. Then there were a few whistles that broke us when either there was no foul or it was called so late that we were already on a fast break and the referee whistles for a foul that was three seconds ago. And at some point we were broken by certain judges' decisions. Some players began to spend their emotions in the wrong direction - communicating with the referees. And eventually, it was already difficult to catch up with the Italians, since their team is still experienced.
 

- What about Iceland?

- This is a specific team. They have one very tall player, like our Pustovy. The rest are short. It was very difficult with them, as all of them are fast, agile, no one could keep up with them. I think that, first of all, we gave the opponents some freedom in defence, everyone stood with their player and they were successful just on the pick-and-roll, having quick feet. Elvar Fridriksson - very fast, played in the top championships - overtook our big man, if there was a shift, he assisted the big man, the big man scored, if there was no shift, he scored himself, scored 27 points. Any way, we could have won if we had scored, played smarter in attack. Really, many factors. When I picked up the ball in attack, I could have finished it immediately and it would have been +1. But I didn't see that there was no one, I took it out, lost the ball. It was difficult to play because the Icelanders are a non-standard team, they are shorter than everyone else. We have the shortest player Illia Sydorov, and in Iceland the first numbers are even shorter. It was difficult to keep up with them.

- It is usually believed that the higher the team, the stronger it is in basketball. And in the case of Iceland, it turns out that the shorter they are, the more dangerous they are for the Ukrainian National team.

- Yes, that's how it turned out. It was in this aspect that it was very difficult with them.

- Ivan, 25 losses per match. What did Ainars Bagatskis say to you?

- Do not forget that we were whistled 10 fouls in the attack, this also counts as a loss. Because of this, there were so many losses. I am 100 percent sure that we were given at least 10 offensive fouls. I some moments, they wanted to play fast. You see that you can play in touch, you give it in touch, and somewhere there someone sticks a finger, the trajectory changes, the ball is taken away. Somewhere there was confusion, somewhere someone forgot a set, ran to the wrong place, and in the last seconds they played a pick-and-roll, and there already scored/did not score. We were more focused on individual actions.

- After this match, we have very illusory chances to qualify for the World Cup. What is the spirit in the team like? Do you still believe that the Ukrainian National team will be able to leave the group?

- We will fight until the last match. There are always chances. Now they have decreased almost to a minimum. But still there is some. You have to play every match targeting to victory. The main thing is to do your best.

- Another serious test is waiting for you - the European Championship. The National teams of Greece, Italy, Croatia are waiting for you there... What are the team feelings on the eve of EuroBasket?

- Good feelings. There are also Estonia and Great Britain. We set up to these two teams, because we understand that these are two games where you have to give everything to win. And this will be our chance to leave the group. It is clear that we will struggle in every game. But we definitely able to beat these two National teams.
 

-Regarding higher ranking teams. Will you fight for victory?

- Of course, we are setting ourselves up. I would like to win against the Croatians. Everyone watched the match between Croatia and Finland, where the Finns won with the same line-up as in the game with us. If they won with this line-up against the Croatians in the top roster, and we lost to the Finns in overtime... We can impose a fight on every team. The main thing is to believe in yourself and do what we do during the trainings, don't take offense at each other, support each other, and everything will be fine.

- Ivan, let's talk a little about "Prometey". I am interested in your thoughts on participation in the Latvian-Estonian League. Are you thinking about these competitions? Or mayby all thoughts focused on the National team?

- I haven't even looked at what teams are there yet. I only know VEF and "Tarta". Not interested yet, since I'm in the National team. What will be in "Prometey", will be in "Prometey". We will find out very soon. Now I am focused on the National team of Ukraine. I want to leave the group and advance as far as possible.

- With the club, you will be based in the capital of Latvia. What are your impressions of this country?

- Good impressions. There is a lot of support for Ukrainians who come here. I think this is one of the countries that currently gives even more to Ukrainians than to its citizens. Ukrainians are loved here. Yes, there are enough Russians here. We went to a rally at the Russian embassy. An elderly Russian woman began to tell us that we should go to the front line. But in general, everything is good. I really like it in Riga.

- Have you had time to get to know your teammates in "Prometey" yet? The roster is formed. Very strong performers will perform in "Prometey" this season. What can you say about the composition of the team?

-All the main players remained. In terms of names and level of players, the roster is very strong. And I think we can advance far in all championships and win some of them.

-Have you talked to head coach Ronen Ginzburg since you were signed? Did he say what he expected from you next season?

- No, I haven't talked to him yet. He said that we will talk at the location of the club.

- What are your personal plans for the new season? What do you want to achieve together with the National team and the club?

- With the National team, I want to get out of the group and advance as far as possible. To break our record - the highest place for the National team of Ukraine is sixth at the moment (at EuroBasket 2013 - Author). And with "Prometey" I want to play every match to win. I think everything will be in our hands.
 

- And finally, a traditional address to the “Prometey” fans. What would you like to say to the fans?

- When the news that I signed a contract with “Prometey” was published, many people congratulated me, responded to my posts, wrote that they wanted to see me in “Prometey”. I really liked it. I want to tell “Prometey” fans that I will play every match targeting to victory, I will add positive energy to our team. I believe that I am a positive person, I can give good energy in the locker room and fire and good moments on the court.