In an interview to the newspaper Sportday and in the frame of the Acropolis tournament held in Greece with Serbia, Lithuania and Russia participating, Viktor Khryapa named Greece and Spain as top candidates for the Eurobasket.
"What are prerequisites for a team to reach the title?" was the question with Khryapa answering "The team that will play strong, tough and smart and will be in top form in September, ready for the crucial games will win the title. The truth is in my opinion Spain and Greece are the top favorites for the title. I also like Slovenia's playing style."
Regarding a possible repeat by Russia Khryapa said " I believe that eight out of ten teams can win it, but i don't want to name them. The level is pretty strong and there are not many differences. It will be a close tournament. As fo my team, things aren't easy. For sure nobody can underestimate us, but the fact that we have a young team makes our mission tougher. After all we have changed over 50% of the roster. I am hopefull that we will do good. We will see what we can do game by game."
