Tireless hustling at both ends of the court is what has put Russia on the verge of qualifying for the Olympic basketball tournament, former Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko said Saturday.
Russia, playing without the injured Denver Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov, secured a semifinal spot at the qualification competition in Venezuela on Friday, beating Angola 80-65.
Later Saturday the Russians will face Nigeria, who inflicted a shock 80-79 defeat on Greece in their quarterfinal. A victory, or a loss plus a win in the third-place match, will see Russia secure a place in London.
"We are a very energetic team, we hustle on both ends of the floor and that's why we've been successful," said Kirilenko, who now represents his hometown club CSKA Moscow.
"We play as a team, try to help each other and cover for each other, especially defensively."
He warned against complacency, despite the Russians' status as overwhelming favorite to qualify for the Olympics.
"It's only the first step. Right now we are in the top four, but there are only three spots."
Russia has never won an Olympic medal, finishing seventh in Sydney in 2000, fifth in Beijing and failing to qualify for the others.
A national team player since 2000, Kirilenko won the 2007 Eurobasket with Russia and was the part of the team that finished third at the 2011 tournament.
