It's stuffy here. The smell of cigarette smoke coming down from the stands is diluted with the powder of exploding firecrackers. But pyrotechnics are real trifles. Ringing in the ears at the unusual for the acoustics of the Pionir Hall begins half an hour before the start of the match, and by the end of it the headache is already distinctly painful. At the same time, there remains a feeling of indescribable delight from involvement in a fan-made performance. Just for the sake of it it is worth visiting the wonderful city of Belgrade.
CSKA could not play differently. Ettore Messina will then say that he did not have to look for words for the wards. Among other things, everyone was well aware that in the basketball capital of a basketball country, there is no other way. Just out of respect for the audience, living with the expectation of each next meeting with your favorite team and its rival.
The harmonious singing of all kinds of hymns in the name of the club, in which the negative coloring is aimed only at financial tycoons that do not allow Partizan to reject the status of the forge of young talents and regain a big name, seems to have been interrupted only three or four times. For a couple of performances by an inconspicuous support group, a big break and a deafening ovation to the stunning all-ups performed by the players ... CSKA - Holden's pass and the end of Torres came out really well.
I must say that by the time the hand of the Venezuelan striker, catching the ball over the ring, plunged it into the net, the fate of the meeting had already been decided - the difference in the score exceeded the “twenty”. “We stunned the young Partizan players with a powerful start,” Messina admitted. “They lost confidence and could not resist.” Confidence, by the way, was lost not only by the young. The starred Predrag Drobnyak also looked rather pathetic: firstly, out of 10 points in the beginning, army team scored 8 from a three-second zone - the estate of Drobnyak. And the Belgrade leader himself, who was zealous in the attack, but stumbled upon constant double custody under the ring, decently smeared, got nervous, got fouls - and ceased to be a problem for CSKA.
Due to the high class of reserve Muscovites, it’s hard to even say that the coaches saved the foundation. Formally, it turned out that way: reservists spent the most of their playing time on the site. By the way, Ponkrashov turned out to be the record-holder - he (like the Russian Holden) had more than 26 minutes. Just say, Anton looked at a good level. And in the end of the third quarter, we even managed to observe a rare phenomenon called a purely Russian five. Ponkrashov, Pashutin, Kurbanov, Vorontsevich and Savrasenko spent a rather short period together, having managed to win it against the Serbian youth team 5: 4. It’s a pity that Alex by that time was deciding decently, and the composition had to be diluted with Van den Spiegel.
Fans of “Partisan” fans were not sad. Even though Croatian ižić and Bosnian Domercant, not particularly beloved in Serbia, were dealing with Hoventud in Athens at the same moment, depriving the Belgrade club of the opportunity to play in the playoffs. "Grobari" led their pets with a standing ovation and received game shirts from them. CSKA basketball players limited themselves to grateful applause.
... This time no one found fault with Smodis’s passport. Matyazha gladly missed a flight departing for Perm, and the Slovenian striker took up the duties of a playmaker, in a funny apron, beginning to hand out dry rations to his teammates ...
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH, Belgrade