This text should not be in this place - why write about the stand-by victory of the unconditional favorite? Just think, in the ranks of Muscovites there wasn’t enough Matyaz Smodis and Thomas Van Den Spiegel! CSKA has become accustomed to appearing in an incomplete composition, and the home rout of Ural Great convinced him. It turned out that the Gascons had little in common with the Permians.
I wonder if Ettore Messina was preparing for such a development of events. At least he remained cautious until the last, and the pre-match promises that the game would be difficult were not at all a mandatory compliment towards the opponent. “Po” proved to be not just a strong, but a competent and disciplined team.
A Finnish coach with an English name, Gordon Herbert, seems to have made a coup, but in fact he just neatly took advantage of CSKA’s weaknesses. Speakers without two “big” guests were immediately loaded with activity under the ring, and two quick fouls by Aleksey Savrasenko further complicated the life of the army. Clever Aaron Miles (9 assists) was not in vain eating a bread in the overseas Golden State: his passes under the ring to Britton Johnsen and Ian Mainmi were exemplary. Plus, the mobile “zone” of the hosts turned CSKA into a team of hasty “truckers”, which, in fact, is “Po-Ortez”. As a result, Muscovites fired 25 times around the perimeter, while the French threw from afar 13 times - almost half as much. Sly Frenchmen seem to have swapped places with the Russians, deceiving not only the opponent, but also Fortune.
To the uninterrupted roar of a seven-thousand army of fans and the humming sound of a small brass band, the inspired owners immediately seized the initiative. Perhaps their pressure did not bother only David Andersen, whose game, which had not looked so reliable for a long time, was the only reason for the joy of CSKA coaches. Oh yes, there was another third quarter, during which the “personal” of the guests did not allow the French “kids” to freely get the ball on the perimeter, and Trajan Langdon, Anton Ponkrashov and Andersen organized a jerk that brought 7-point leadership. Not for long.
For the last segment, there was not enough strength, or luck. Rather, both of them. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain the ball that literally jumped out of the net after Andersen’s signature half-hook, Holden's miss (John-Robert hit just 2 out of 11) came from without resistance and two losses of clever Theo Papaloukas - just when he usually makes a break in the game. For half a minute to the end at “-6” CSKA did not even foul - it was too obvious that in this state it would not be possible to escape. And the siren that sounded became a signal for the holiday on the Gascon street: perhaps this was the main event of the season for Po-Ortez.
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH