In 2003, in the semifinal Euroleague match, Barcelona dealt with CSKA. To the great chagrin of Russian basketball fans and probably Ettore Messina. And the matter is not in the visionary abilities of the coach or those who have taken special sympathy for the Muscovites of the current army coach. A day later, his Benetton was mercilessly beaten in the finals.
Three years have passed, and the Catalans' directorate is still racking their brains - how can one achieve a relapse of that success? Since last year, immigrants from the former Yugoslavia have been responsible for the brain activity of Barcelona. Head coach Dushko Ivanovich and general manager Zoran Savich came together for short, being players of the great Yugoplasty. The same one that won three times in a row, from 1989 to 1991, won the Euroleague. This, by the way, was never done by anyone again and never.
Wise by the necessary experience, the Slavs rushed to break the record with Barcelona. A club with a non-toy history and considerable fame. Aliens in the Pyrenees are loved in the same way as everywhere: the main thing is that there is obvious benefit and new exhibits for the club museum. But with this in Catalonia tension. After the disastrous non-trophy season 2005/06 (in the April Final Four, the vindictive Messina and Co. returned the favor to the blue-garnet), blissful peace in fan souls did not appear. Fans sleep like babies: wake up every hour and cry. For obvious reasons - the new year again brings more grief than joy. The shameful “el classic” (“-17” from Real Madrid), six losses in ten matches of the Spanish League and an honorable division of places from 10th to 14th. Hot heads instead of bread and circuses require a repetition of repressions of Kosovo. We hope it will not come to bloodshed. But the chairs under the Serbian duet swing like schoolchildren after graduation.
However, bumping into tears Ivanovich and Savich prematurely. In the dense forest of problems, “Barca” there is still a thin light ray - Euroleague. Here, the Spanish grand lives well and for five rounds knows no troubles or defeats. And even sometimes it shows a meaningful basketball pleasing to the eye. And it could easily not have been at all. It is not known what drove the “Balkan Mafia” leading in Catalonia: the policy of clandestine protectionism or the natural desire to ideally bring tactical ideas to the site. One way or another, playmakers Yaka Lakovich and Roko-Leni Ukich (Slovenes and Croats, respectively) were dressed in blue and garnet. The logic in acquisitions of fellow tribesmen was traced with difficulty. In the summer, Ivanovich loudly declared his desire to tune the wards in a more combinational fashion compared to the previous season. Then the attacks were coordinated by the subtle strategist of solo passages, Shammond Williams, whose style is much closer to the streetball school than the Yugoslav one. The catch was that both recruits were absolutely not ready for the roles of great combinators: Lakovich - due to the lack of an organizational vein, Ukich - due to his tender age.
However, the expected difficulties with finding a holistic game pattern did not arise. On the contrary, the statistics paradoxically notes the fantastic coherence of the work of the Catalan basketball players. Not having a single refined dispatcher, Barca is the leader in the Euroleague in the total number of assists, and less often a garnet-blue ball is lost only by Ephesus Pilsen! Among the personalities of the Spanish club, as always, the delightful first Euroleague sniper Navarro stands out. A real shock for basketball Europe was the performance of Triass, who used to kill time on a bench more often. It should be emphasized that in the past the best years were Basile and Marconato. The captain of the Greek national team Kakiuzis and Vasquez and Kasun, bought in the off-season, who own Orlando rights, are infinitely far from their ideal form.
Speaking of the NBA. In October, Barcelona, like CSKA, slapped the public taste of America. At ease and in the case, the Catalans laid on the shoulder blades of the Philadelphia, with Iverson at the head. Unlike the Army men themselves, who yielded the "76th" in the final of the NBA Europe Live tournament with the angry old-world arrogance. But that is friendly matches, but nobody wants to lose the “cow”. Red and blue - much less. It is necessary to confirm the high status of the Euroleague champions. For starters - in a group. "Barcelona", of course, as Freddie Mercury sang, viva, but the tobacco apart. The first place was waiting for the rightful owner. CSKA must win.
Nikita GOLOVANOV