Love Women's Basketball Share Our Passion For Women's Basketball
For whatever the reason Russian Basketball Federation has decided to release extended NT candidate lists for both the senior and youth NT’s.
The purpose of these lists is unclear – it can change from now until the final list of candidates will be determined. So it’s not like it matters to players vying for a spot on the NT. So this could be considered more like a Russian version of their player power rankings. The public list can be updated monthly.
Hours after releasing it was revealed that there was an error and Svetlana Abrosimova should have been on the main squad. As it is, she’s not listed among all 30 players. Odds are there has been a mix-up with her and Tatyana Abrikosova who hasn’t done anything worth being among the main 18.
| Main List of Candidates | Reserve squad | 2012 Olympic squad |
|---|---|---|
| Tatyana Abrikosova | Natalia Vieru | Olga Arteshina |
| Olga Arteshina | Natalia Vodopyanova | Evgenia Belyakova |
| Evgenia Belyakova | Nadezhda Grishaeva | Natalia Vodopyanova |
| Tatyana Vidmer | Katerina Keyru | Marina Kuzina |
| Elena Danilochkina | Ekaterina Lisina | Elena Danilochkina |
| Veronika Dorosheva | Anastasia Logunova | Becky Hammon |
| Daria Ezhova | Viktoria Medvedeva | Ilona Korstin |
| Natalia Zhedik | Lyubov Paskalenko | Natalia Vieru |
| Ilona Korstin | Anna Petrakova | Irina Osipova |
| Marina Kuzina | Tatyana Petrushina | Anna Petrakova |
| Anastasiya Loginova | Aleksandra Tarasova | Natalia Zhedik |
| Natalia Myasoedova | Anastasia Shilova | Nadezhda Grishaeva |
| Irina Osipova | ||
| Epiphanny Prince | ||
| Ekaterina Ruzanova | ||
| Ludmila Sapova | ||
| Maria Stepanova | ||
| Maria Cherepanova |
So much for the generation change in Russian WNT. Old guns continue to rule. The perspective younger ones meanwhile get moved to reserves while similar age players who have shown less potential in the pros suddenly make the main squad candidates (you can’t have players who could beat your veterans out, now can you?).
What makes this even more nonsensical is that there is no pressure put on the new coach to win now. All Russia have to do is qualify for the World Championships. This should be the perfect time to infuse new blood and respectfully say goodbye to the Korstin’s, Osipova’s, even Stepanova’s of the world.
Otherwise by the time Rio rolls around, with most of the old guard likely retired anyway, none of of the players that would come in their place would have the same experience, that the previous generation had the chance to obtain. Being born at around the same time Stepanova, Korstin, Arteshina, Vodopyanova got the chance to make their NT debuts while they were still teens. Players nowadays enter the National Team at around 22-23 years old and they wonder why they suddenly need an American player to bail them out.
If these lists are any indicators, the only lesson RBF has learned is that it was all head coach’s and Becky Hammon’s fault.
