From "Peace and Friendship" with hope for the best

On Thursday, in the Athens hall with an unsportsmanlike name, Dynamo Moscow showed character, Ekezi and good basketball, but still failed to catch up and overtake Olympiacos.

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Dynamo lost to Olympiacos. Expected. Predictably. According to the game. But - not hopeless. Not to the nines and not to dust. Not at all. Obviously, it takes time for victories over such teams to bleed off personnel losses in blue and white. How much is unknown. But great things are not done right away.

The idea, by the way, is not new - it belongs to Sophocles. The fact that he composed the ancient tragedies together with Euripides and Aeschylus in the 5th century BC. Not a local, immense titan, who is more like Shaquila in his youth than a poet and playwright. I really wanted to look at Schorzianitis. How, for scientific reasons, for example, to estimate by eye how many conventional Tails could fit in this “refrigerator”? - and from practical ones. A trial by the black Hellenes would be very useful for the Dynamo front line. For an adequate assessment of their own capabilities and as the first test of professional suitability of the debutant Obinna Ekezi.

Unfortunately, the Greek-arap in the Olympiacos was never found. Not very trusting the young center-“bulldozer”, the coach of the Piraeans Pini Gershon did not include Schorzianitis in the application. And after the match, the shocking three-time creator of Israeli happiness (under the leadership of Gershon, Tel Aviv-based Maccabi won the Super League in 2001, the Euroleague in 2004 and 2005) even expressed his intention to get hold of another “big” one. Like, it’s not enough. Take a word to the honored specialist of the Promised Land is not so simple. The fate of the meeting was largely decided by the frank superiority of the hosts under the shield.

Which, in general, is no wonder. The Greek club best of all collects rebounds in the Euroleague. Therefore, even the average performance of the team leader in this field, “second Anthony Parker” Aker, did not prevent the Piraeans from dominating near well-known rings. Muscovites could not cope with the duet with the life-affirming name for Olympiacos Zhi-Va (Zizic - Vasilopoulos). Croats and Greeks did not see worthy opponents in three-second zones and easily crushed authority and mass. Plus, the endless "twos" and perimeter discounts with the participation of a tall tandem led to regular replenishment of Greek eyeglass luggage. Indeed, the composition of “Olympiakos” with visible pleasure boasts of personnel variability. So even without the long and seriously injured Arvydas Matsiuskas, who had been looking gloomily in a sweater with rhombuses for the sniper successes of rival Domerkant, there was no one to score. Fotsis maliciously filonil in defense, noting exclusively activity in the attack. But Ekezi left a good impression. Obinna answered without a bluff Fotsis - boldly "chopped" for bounces, did not spare the abdomen in "close contact". But one Nigerian to defeat Olympiacos itself is clearly not enough.

Again, the main Dynamo playmakers gave reason to send dubious compliments. Popovich, of course, gloriously defends himself and forces fouls in the attack of his guardians, but his point guard skills are not brilliant. It's a pity. After Chetman’s deportation, Dynamo was literally captured by the amused Boyan. And to that there is an installation from the main thing or not - at least henna, let me throw the ball (today, however, successfully) or take a walk with it to the ring. And only in an extreme and hopeless case pass the partner who is starving in the orange sphere. The doubler of Popovich, Eddie Gill once again almost brought the trainer to white-blue to white-hot. And almost in the first attack. Filigree transfer of the American bench furious Duda tried to meet with a football kick rally. Enraged Ivkovich - thank God, this is not Stankovic from Inter Milan: he missed. There was no technical violation, but the Serb had only enough patience for seven and a half minutes. Then the ex-Indiana defender was solemnly handed a towel and asked not to worry. Gill no longer appeared on the site. The third-ranking controller, Khvostov, was struck by fearlessness and zeal in defense against the “starry” Penn. To demand from him something else at such an age is naive and non-pedagogical. And so well done.

Well done and the rest of Dynamo. Giving a ghostly chance of salvation, the three-pointer Domani added fuel to the fire, it seemed, an extinct intrigue. Sparks in the eyes and the mind in the actions of blue and white almost led to overtime. A miracle under the arches of Peace and Friendship did not happen. But the aftertaste is pleasant. Dynamo will still fight.

Nikita GOLOVANOV

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