Rakhmatulina: “Hammon doesn’t have a reserved spot”

Russian National Team general manager and former player Oxana Rakhmatulina spoke to Russian news agency RIA News about player selection for the London Olympic basketball tournament.Rakhmatulina spoke regarding Becky Hammon: “The National Team and the basketball federation have never rejected a player with a Russian passport, especially Becky who has always expressed her desire to play. Out of all the foreign players with Russian citizenship she has been the best choice for the team and the coach. But no one on the team has a reserved spot. Yes, Becky will be among the NT candidates for the Olympic games, but it’s up to her to prove herself. If she’s the strongest among point guards, she’ll make the team.”

She also addressed some of the displeasure among Russian players about having Hammon or any other naturalized player, which was most recently voiced by Russian NT captain in Eurobasket – Svetlana Abrosimova on her twitter account @zvetlanka. “Players prerogative is not to judge the actions and decision of the head coach and the Russian Basketball Federation. There can be different statements, but players, that are confident in their skills, playing in a high professional level don’t have to worry that someone will take someone’s spot or that someone won’t be able to show herself off. Undoubtedly in Elena Danilochkina, the revelation of the tournament, we found our point guard that got voted in the All-Tournament team and was the MVP. And we’ll be following Elena but maybe it’s still worth it to strengthen our team.”