- The match with CSKA for UNICS will certainly not be ordinary - after all, a meeting with the best club in Russia and Europe, and for you also with the team that brought you considerable success. Feel the approach of a special event?- You know, since I’m no longer the head coach, I don’t have big worries - they are probably tormenting the players and the coaching staff now, because the responsibility lies with them. Tomorrow, on the day of the game, I, like ordinary fans, will be worried. Of course, the importance of the match is felt by all people involved in UNICS.
In my opinion, it is not worth making a fetish from the fight between UNICS and CSKA. Yes, the army team is now the leader of European basketball.
We perform well in the championship, a little worse in the ULEB Cup. In this meeting, a lot depends on the performance of the "little ones", first of all, Cleves. As for the Muscovites, then this season I watched quite a lot of their matches. CSKA wins largely due to arrogance, amazing self-confidence. They make the opponent feel doomed. And it’s important not to give in.
- Two European Cup defeats of UNICS turned out to be rather strange. The team showed excellent statistics, a high percentage of hits, but lost to Crvena Zvezda and PAOK. Why did it happen so?- Of course, we conducted a detailed analysis, discussed a lot with the coaching staff. But I do not want to comment on the results. Firstly, it is not ethical in relation to Antanas Sireyka and his headquarters, and secondly, we do not want to stick out our miscalculations and mistakes in front of future rivals. We will try to fix it.
- Now that more than a month has passed since the start of the season, can you evaluate the off-season acquisitions?- Honestly, this will be an assessment of not quite my work. There was a piquant situation. Given that I left the post of head coach of UNICS and had just taken up the unusual work of the general manager, I could not fully deal with personnel matters. The composition was selected according to the wishes of the new coach, and our president Evgeny Bogachev was in charge of the finances. My functions came down to giving advice, recommendations. In terms of specific work, I hope that I helped the club in negotiating and signing contracts: believe me, pretty decent money was saved.
- The key figure for Kazan was playmaker Meytin Cleves, who was the star of student basketball, was noted in the NBA. Yes, and acts in your role. Give him a rating?- About Cleves, we had a lot of conversations with Sireika. The coach insisted on inviting a pure point guard, and I thought that a universal defender would be more useful, the first or second number, who can score points if necessary. After all, we have a Russian playmaker Samoilenko, one of the best in the country in his role. In my opinion, it was necessary to use it, but in the end the head coach made a different decision.
Cleves is undoubtedly a very strong player. A bit different from what we had Shammond Williams and Travis Best - explosive and effective. I think he has great potential, only by this moment he had revealed it, perhaps, in two matches - at the tournament in memory of Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky with Moscow Dynamo and in the ULEB Cup with Real Madrid. We have an efficient, liberated team, which needs to put the game. And this task lies with Cleves.
It seems to me that Jarod Stevenson will greatly help us - his value is already visible.
- To what extent did the union of the Lavrynovych brothers fail a year earlier?- Perhaps they are inferior to someone in the class, but they have no equal in self-giving, self-sacrifice, and working capacity. They are a bit diverse, but great complement and help each other. Dariush Lavrynovych, who came to us this summer, is more adapted to the game in the role of center, better rests on defense.
- Your discovery last season was Yegor Meshcheryakov, who, probably, you just guessed to use in the role of the center ...- I have been following Yegor for a long time, since the age of youth teams, because his game was not a surprise to me. Glad I managed to get it. As for speaking in the fifth position, this, believe me, is not made from a good life - well, we don’t have dominant centers!
- How comfortable do you feel in the role of general manager?- To be honest, not really. Understand correctly: I don’t have any problems at the club. They trust me, although they ask me seriously. I did not expect that everything would be so serious. Our president is a true professional, versed in basketball, a dock in his field, an excellent specialist as a manager. And I still have a lot to learn.
When I refused the role of a coach, I had no idea what the sensations would be like after a long pause. Now, after two or three months of rest, I understand that there is not enough adrenaline. I’m used to being in the center of events, influencing the result. Nevertheless, I do not regret anything. Changing the direction of work makes it possible to analyze past achievements and miscalculations, to understand what he did wrong, to evaluate his strength. At the same time, I do not refuse the opportunity to continue coaching. I have no shortage of suggestions: in a way, I'm in stand by mode.
- Rumor has it that you are being offered to lead the Russian women's team ...- Over the past year, among the proposals, some related to women's teams. Moreover, many in the financial sense were even more profitable than working in UNICS. Firstly, I have not yet determined the moment when I want to return to coaching. Secondly, I’m not sure whether I’m so ready to change my focus, because women's basketball is significantly different from men's. As for the Russian national team, one can’t say anything definitely here, because it is now led by a wonderful coach Igor Grudin.
- Do you, as a person recently engaged in coaching, find it difficult to get along with a successor?- I know, at first there was a lot of talk, they say, Eremin stayed - if anything, he will be put in place of the next coach in case of failure. Therefore, firstly, I immediately explained to the management that I did not pretend to return the post. Secondly, I consider myself a sociable person, and it was not difficult for me to find a common language with Antanas Sireika. How do we interact? I try not to interfere in the affairs of my colleagues. I understand that you should not climb into a strange monastery with its own charter. At the same time, we are aware that Sireika is a new person in Russian basketball, therefore I can help him with information about players, opponents, living conditions in Kazan.
- The selection work of UNICS is not finished?“She's in full swing.” Perhaps we will strengthen, although so far there is no particular need for this. Now I am occupied with work for the future. We have already talked with Evgeny Borisovich about the need for more active selection. Staffing for the next season must begin in the course of the current.
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH