In order not to spread molasses on the screen and not get bogged down in a sugary-sweet stream of compliments, we start with a fly in the ointment. An excellent team basketball, which now grinds Dynamo from game to game, is too tied to a single person. You can’t name a big-headed Lazaros Papadopoulos as a superstar, and his role is so huge that he seems almost omnipresent. Firstly, the Greek center is almost the only blue-white who is able to win a position at the border of the three-second zone and receive a transmission close to the ring. Secondly, Lazaros knows how to competently manage the advantage in growth and technology. When he doesn’t put the ball into the net with a branded half-hook, which seems to hit the target solely by chance, Lazarus cleverly passes the passes. The last facet of his skill particularly painfully hit Klimio, who threw a double-team on Popadopoulos (it seems that this was the only serious idea of the coach Ergin Ataman) - several discounts to the right corner or to compatriot Antonios Fotsis bursting into the ring gave the attacks no less dangerous continuation. Thirdly, the presence of a “big” on the court, capable of distracting the lion's share of the attention of the defense, makes partners move the ball more actively in search of a free player.
Dynamo's greed led to the fact that in the final protocol the shots from the game confidently surpassed 50 percent, recalling, rather, the figures of the mischievous UNICS, and the number of successful transmissions (away from these statistics is usually not considered very carefully) was reminded of a miserable 4 a pass in Sopot, still standing in black shame before the eyes of the “blue and white”. The injury that made Popadopoulos skip the start of the season seemed to have forced partners to look for reserves in the collective game, but only led to digging in shallow deposits of individual skill. Dynamo fans can only pray for the health of such a valuable shot - without Lazaros Muscovites as without hands.
The Klimamio leadership has other problems. They practically said goodbye to Euroleague prospects and were carried away by perestroika, parting with coach Fabrizio Frates and sniper Preston Schumpert (he was the most productive among the Bolognese in Moscow). The recruits are not bad: Ataman is an authoritative specialist, Alain Digbe is a universal and undeniably cool forward, and Jerome Moisot is a center that traveled through the expanses of the NBA. True, before the start of Top 16, the latter does not have the right to go to the site - he has already played for "Lottomatic" - therefore he is forced to tune to the cheerleader's chants to the beat behind the bench.
In its current form, “Klimamio” looks pretty nice. If you piss off Marco Belinelli - this is exactly what Travis Hansen did in the first quarter, then the young sniper becomes literally unstoppable. One has only to ask a rhetorical question why they are not trying to bring the ball to him in every attack. An experienced Stefano Mancinelli, recovering from the Moscow dislocation of the ankle, with tremendous composure, sends the most important throws to his destination, and even puts his long hands on the case - on Thursday he made 10 (!) Interceptions. Rare but bright flashes of talent that transform into spectacular hits and passes burst out from Vasco Yevtimov, and Jamel Thomas, when not afraid to attack through the lanky Popadopoulos, looks like a very respectable level forward.
These, undoubtedly, serious qualities were enough to compete with the owners of the ULEB Cup on equal terms for 25 minutes, slightly letting go, and then catching up with Dynamo. But then, at the approximately 10-minute junction of the third and fourth periods, the guests ruthlessly skated along the rivals ’attempts. Sergei Monya, Boyan Popovich, Hansen and Focis flawlessly hit from afar, a cool playmaker woke up in Eddie Gill - once after interception he even performed a flawless parachute to Fotsis, and Popadopoulos did not doze off.
The difference in the score somehow spontaneously grew to “twenty”, forcing the coaches to release the second lineup on the parquet four minutes before the siren.
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH