In “Khimki” so far too much PeterWith such a composition that Khimki near Moscow now possesses, it’s not a shame to meet with the NBA club, and to fight in the “final of four” Euroleagues. True, “Clippers” failed to impress, and the Khimki team is still far from a continental top tournament.
The Russian club, which brought together so many strong players that Sergei Elevich, if he wanted to, could easily carry out replacements with whole fives, managed to lose twice in three matches. The guest failure in the match with the Belgian “Telindus” (the team is famous for the fact that the army team Holden and Van Den Spiegel gained fame in it) could be blamed for bad luck, but the second defeat in a row, even in a meeting with the leader of the Italian championship, requires more serious explanations.
The head of the league table A “Siena" is not so rich in personnel, because it was seen quite passable. And in the first half of Khimki, to the delight of a crowded arena, they were not just leading, but enjoying basketball. Caught the courage of Ademola Okuladzha intercepted and hit from above in quick separation, and at the end of the first quarter he sent a comic ball into the ring, falling out of the hands of Rimantas Kaukenas, who was preparing to pass for the face. Okuladzha even pleased the fans with a beautiful “blind” show, which Gianmarco Potzecco usually specializes in. The Italian playmaker was also having fun and noticeably upset when in the second quarter he was recalled to the bench, - on the way he playfully kissed Elevich on the cheek.
Coach “Siena” Simone Pianidzhani later admitted that he wanted to concentrate the wards on defense. In the first half, it didn’t work out: even a seemingly well-built “zone” turned into a couple of adventurous, but accurate “three rubles” Kelly McCarthy and Melvin Booker. But after the break, the two-digit advantage of the Russian club was quickly lost. Own attack began to junk, often getting lost on the individual actions of the leaders (the standard “twos” that took place in the first half, the opponents had already figured out), several unnecessary losses followed, and the opponents who shot themselves Romane Sato and Caukenas got opportunities to attack over and over again.
“We expected Italians to use sliding barriers more often,” Sergey Elevich thought, “but everything turned out a little differently. The guys often didn’t think about exchanging money, and therefore Siena snipers were often thrown open.”
The first trouble came from the Georgian Vladimir Boyce, who at the end of regular time, momentarily breaking away from Vladimir Veremeenko, equalized the “three” from the corner. And in overtime, Kaukenas already distinguished himself, who, leaving his guardian behind the curtains, in surprise (from unexpectedly gained freedom) shot from five meters. The remaining 2.6 seconds, “Khimki” did not have enough to recoup.
At a press conference, Elevich was justified by the lack of teamwork (it’s true - ex-Petersburgers McCarthy, Veremeenko and Maciej Lampe are clearly lost in the team schemes and prefer to habitually give in to each other, and confusion in defensive exchanges is on their conscience) and reassured those present, they say, the tournament is long, we’ll have time to get used to, win matches and make our way to the next round. A little scary only unconditional and undisguised faith in the greatness of Booker. The point guard (?) Defender of “Khimki” is obviously the main option of the coach in key moments. It is so obvious that in the last attack of the fourth period, which exploded under the ring, Melvin was predictably met by three (!) Opponents. It is good when in such a situation there is an opportunity to beg for a foul. Not this time.
There are a lot of Lithuania in UNICSThe second representative of our country, who nearly quarreled Russia with FIBA due to refusal to participate in the European Cup (in order to take the place of St. Petersburg Dynamo), is a little luckier. Firstly, with a draw, and secondly, with rivals at the start. It’s still not clear how Kazan managed to lose to “Red Star” in Belgrade?
In that meeting, the team of Antanas Sireika 25 of 39 two-point, 5 of 13 three-point and 19 of 21 free-kicks! Count the percentage of hits yourself - in any match, this is more than enough to win. Only the Red Star Serbs somehow managed to get out with the help of “grandfather” Milan Gurovich.
Now UNICS has almost become the base for the Lithuanian national team. Here is her head coach, and the Lavrinovichi brothers, and captain Saulius Stombergas. Will someone complain? I think no. The Lithuanian factor looks very convincing: all the representatives of the star trinity give amazing statistics. How did you like 13 points, 16 rebounds, 7 interceptions and 6 block shots of Krzysztof Lavrynovych? But Syreika has other trump cards, in particular, Mateen Cleves, whose progress the coach noted after yesterday's match.
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH