It’s no secret to anyone that Ettore Messina is especially relevant to such fights that mean nothing in a tournament sense. A trainer clever in psychological puzzles is much more interesting to look for ways of motivation where it is almost impossible to find them. To prove the seriousness of intentions, CSKA took 13 basketball players to the capital of Serbia at once - all those present in the application, with the exception of David Vanterpool, who went to America for treatment. Even the ex-army captain Sergey Panov plunged into the club charter. It’s a pity that the striker, who started with a big basketball, was not going to go to the court. The Euroleague champions had one more reason to take the “reserve” with them - from Belgrade, the plane from CSKA will fly directly to Perm for a calendar match against Ural Great.
“Take care” of one of the leaders of Messina is not going to. Immediately after the morning training, the coach told the Sport Today correspondent that the young center center Anatoly Kashirov would be the thirteenth evening extra. Although he admitted that he would try to give more time to Ponkrashov, Kurbanov and Torres ("Oscar missed almost the whole week, he needs to feel the rhythm of the game!").
Involuntarily skipped memories of the match in Barcelona, where in the penultimate round of the regular season CSKA lost a lot in the first half, but after a break, recovered and achieved a hard and prestigious victory in overtime. Why are there such difficulties? Subconsciously guarded!
- This is a stupid prejudice that in meaningless matches you should try to avoid injury. In such a fight, the probability of something to be damaged is about the same as in some home training, ”Messina assured. - But such thoughts have a terrible effect on the mood of the team. This is exactly what happened to us in Barcelona. At first, they thought too much about how to maintain their health, which is why they were late for half a second all the time, for half a step. That's why I say that a meeting with Olympiacos a week ago was one of the most difficult for us this season. How to convince the team that it is necessary to win against a serious opponent in a match that decides almost nothing? More precisely, worse, hold on to some difference in the bill?
It’s easy for an army trainer in one thing: CSKA has already learned to feel strong and win, if only because it is a matter of honor for the team. Messina agrees with this argument and offers another factor.
- You know, I already noticed that this year many rivals are simply afraid of us. They go to the meeting doomed, assuming that CSKA will win anyway. Because we live much easier.
In the morning training, life really seemed light and sunny: a rare sun in recent days flashed in the sky over Belgrade. Basketball players calmly worked on the throw, occasionally smiling harmless to the antics of the cheerful Papaloukas (Theo in the Serbian capital feels especially comfortable - here he became the European champion!). The Greek playmaker either beat the partners to play one on one, then scored from above, then rocked the construction of the shield, knocking down the scope of teammates.
Finally, in order to further emphasize the originality of the Belgrade situation, basketball players appeared on the Pionira venue in training uniforms ... The Stars of the Red. The "Red Star" immediately found much in common with the "Red Army". But the most exotic was Holden's friendly conversation with Feather Antic. CSKA vice-president Andrei Vatutin and I scratched our heads, not immediately realizing what career turn connects the Serbian center and the American defender. I had to ask Jay. “We played together in Greek AEK,” Holden smiled. “We have been friends since then. The pen is a good guy.”
The “meaningless” match under the arches of “Pionir” today is again marked with a full house. Getting tickets for it has long been unrealistic - even though the audience will be more interested in the outcome of the Athens meeting of Olympiacos and Hoventud. In addition, as partisan defender Urosh Tripkovich rightly noted the day before, independence from the result will help teams show spectacular basketball.
“I don’t think that the chances of the Serbs reaching the playoffs are low,” Messina said. - Today, “Hoventud” on the site may well go Lyubosh Barton, who missed the game with us due to injury. Therefore, the victory of the Spaniards over the Greeks will not be a big sensation.
Well, let this be the only reason for joy for Partizan fans.
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH, Belgrade