On Wednesday evening, after signing the press, the Russian basketball team held the final match of the Federation Super Cup against the Lithuanian national team, in which the winner of the tournament was to be determined. However, regardless of the result, we can already say that the debut in the team of American coach David Blatt turned out to be successful: he outlined his aggressive attacking style and successfully rejuvenated the roster. If Blatt’s work is objectively analyzed a little later, then you can tell about those who will implement his plan in life right now.
In the absence of the main star and the hope of domestic basketball, Andrei Kirilenko, who took a year-long break in the appearances for the national team, the leaders should be the players who until recently called him “clones”. We are talking about a couple of Victor Khryapa - Sergey Monya, who, in addition to the eccentricity of their names, have been united for several years by performances for the same clubs. Khryapa very successfully spent last season at the Portland Trail Blazers NBA club, having managed not only to gain the trust of the head coach and partners. The main disadvantage of this player, as well as Kirilenko, are throws. But if the pace with which Victor is progressing in the NBA continues, in a year from this shortcoming there will be no trace.
Monya also started the season at the Blazers, but after several successful matches at the start he wandered, got into a farm club, and then was completely exchanged for Sacramento Kings. As a result, in the summer, the basketball player made a sensational decision to return to Russia and will play for Dynamo Moscow. Despite the apparent step backward, for the player and the team this is not the bad news. In the Russian club, Sergey will spend much more time on the site and will approach the most important matches of the European Championship in combat form.
The third Russian in the world's strongest basketball league, which Blatt will certainly bet on, is the 19-year-old striker of the Los Angeles Clippers club, Yaroslav Korolev. Last summer, he was selected in the draft under the record number 12 for Russia, which caused a lot of noise on both sides of the ocean. Clippers head coach Mike Dunlevy said then: “Yaroslav is a very technical basketball player, he has an amazing sense of the game. I think that if he works according to our methods and with our coaches, including individually, he will progress at a fast pace and will soon be able to play at the NBA level. " The specialist was right. In the first year, Korolev had a little playing time, but he participated in regular season matches all the time, which cannot but speak of its high potential.
Their players who are still dreaming of the NBA, and while creaking sneakers on Russian sites, first of all, it is worth mentioning the defender of Khimki near Moscow Vitaly Fridzon. This guy, who grew up to the level of a national star in just one season, has a number of qualities that can make him a world-class player in a couple of years. He is fast, jumping and most importantly - he has the confidence and composure of an experienced master, who has helped him more than once to decide the outcome of matches in favor of his club. This summer, he even had to write a letter addressed to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Federation of Basketball Sergei Ivanov, in which he asked "to protect from constant pressure" from the leadership of the Moscow Dynamo, who certainly wanted to see the player in his star squad.
The same group can include 26-year-old Nikolai Padius, who is now experiencing a second youth. Back in the late 90s, they predicted him the glory of the most gifted Russian basketball player after Kirilenko, but the player himself, apparently, did not adequately accept those praises, being the main disappointment of domestic basketball. As a result, after rubbing his pants on the spare benches of several Russian clubs, Nikolai went to Greece, where, without too much okhov and akhov, he became one of the leaders of the local “Aris” and earned an invitation from Blatt for the first gathering of the national team.
Andrey IVANTSOV