In less than two months from the start of the season, these teams have taught that each of their failures is examined under a microscope. Yes, it happens with any favorite club, but even a favorite is supposed to lose from time to time. For a change. Here, defeat seems to be a misunderstanding. It is all the more interesting to look at the clash of two such squads.
Oddly enough, it was CSKA who so far lost out of variety - well, it didn’t go well with Po-Ortez. UNICS, apart from the cup defeat from the Rostov “Locomotive”, in the ULEB Cup twice lost somehow incomprehensibly, with an amazing percentage of hits. And when the general manager (in the past - the head coach) of Kazan Stanislav Eremin said in an interview with “SPORT today” that the reasons for the defeats of “Red Star” and PAOK are understandable, the errors were analyzed, but the conclusions were secret, you could think anything. Expect, for example, that a club from the capital of Tatarstan will surprise with incredible progress in defense - since the attack is so effective. But to imagine that a tenacious, defense-oriented CSKA will be a bit even more beautiful, cavalry attacks and an increase in the percentage of hits ... Built by Antanas Sireyka, the attack by the hosts looked very aesthetic - due to mobility, at least two sequels were seen from the passer, and even briefly used by the army team "zone" did not change anything. She only emphasized the greed and mutual trust of Kazan.
In fact, CSKA had only a couple of highlights. The first is the luck of Matyaz Smodish, who coped with both Lavrinovichi without any problems. The clockwork Slovenian fought fiercely, sometimes with elements of the Greco-Roman struggle, and for the time being this was enough to maintain the appearance of equality. In the second half, Yegor Meshcheryakov often switched to Matyazha, who did not seem to do anything special, but Smodis became quieter - both as a person and as a basketball player.
The second glimpse of optimism for Muscovites was the beginning of the fourth period, when they, for the last time betting on character, scored six points in a row and reduced the gap to -13. But even here their attempts were killed by the efforts of the same Meshcheryakov. Forward personally organized a jerk 12: 2, having thrown three “three” and a ball with a foul, beautifully going into the face of Alexei Savrasenko. Air kisses of the Belarusian Kazan audience flew away by the farewell of CSKA - there was no time for an answer.
Although the birthday on this day - in the literal and figurative senses - was Jarod Stevenson. With all the efforts of Saulius Shtombergas and the Lavrynovych brothers, it was precisely the hits of Stevenson, who turned 31 on the first day of winter, that brought the greatest confusion to the vaunted defense of CSKA. The face of Ettore Messina, who had to watch a Kazan American “ship” one three-pointer after another through the hands of his wards (5 out of 7 attempts in total), grim with every minute. And when Ponkrashov fell victim to Stevenson, he involuntarily recalled the immortal Baryshnikov, with whom the Italian once compared the young defender. However, on this day, “Papaloukas, Langdon, and Vanterpool were suitable for the Baryshnikovs ...”
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH