Yesterday, David Blatt, who is experiencing difficult times, had a rare chance to smile. Let it be malevolent - his faithful friend and assistant to the St. Petersburg Dynamo and Benetton, and now the head coach of Khimki Kestutis Kemzura, with apparent pleasure, has justified his recent bosses. Thus, the impressive Lithuanian inadvertently pushed colleague Dusan Ivkovic into a cage (read, playoff grid) with a bloodthirsty predator. After all, everything goes to the fact that in the recent semifinal of the championship of Russia Dynamo will have to sadly say hello to CSKA.
Indeed, despite the fact that yesterday’s rivals will have to play three more matches on a regular basis, and their unhurried neighbor in the UNICS standings all five, it’s not easy to assume a more optimistic final of the preliminary stage of the Super League for blue and white. The Russian championship is not inclined to betrayal - sensational misfires of leaders do not happen here more often than three-pointer Papadopoulos, and therefore Muscovites should not count on someone else's absent-mindedness. Of the fateful fights of the star brawl, we can only taste the imminent raid on Kazan of all the same Dynamo. The success of this sortie for the representatives of the Mother See, by the way, is hardly believed, but a victory in the capital of Tatarstan is unlikely to give Ivkovich wards a reprieve from the Red Army.
Such close attention to the consequences of the Monday match bypassing the painting of the match itself seems reasonable. The results are more important and more fundamental than the usual content. “Dynamo” is still experiencing alarming in anticipation of “Pao” difficulties with variability in the attack. It is difficult to avoid stratification here - in addition to the armor-piercing Greek front, there is nothing special to boast of blue and white. The rear supports the front line with the determination of the schoolchildren who went to the community work day.
A typical example is Popovich. By virtuoso solo improvisation at the end of the meeting, the Serb presented Dynamo the last hope for a happy salvation. But most of the match Boyan was inferior in micro duels and traditionally killed attacks by impatiently throwing the ball towards the ring. Others are no better. With the passion of a prisoner in solitary confinement yearning for close contact with humanity, he is shamelessly, stupid and, it seems, incurably fouls Dean, whose eternal search for a throw becomes slightly tedious. Even marked by two exclusive long-range shots at the climax, Domani did not sparkle with his firmly perfect personal defense that evening. Yes, and spent the second consecutive successful match for himself, the “evil genius Treviso” Gill has obvious difficulties with self-control.
Much more recent “Khimki” with alarming systematicity lost the ball and noticeably nervous. But after the parity first half, the guests more or less sorted out their feelings, bristled under the shields and put on the conveyor three-point postcards. Plus, the St. Petersburg Dump ((c) Elevich) in the person of the triumvirate of Lampe - Veremeenko - McCarthy stamped all kinds of hits from an average distance.
The decisive was the jerk (16: 3) in the third quarter, after which the Khimki did not lose the game’s threads. Wards of Kemzury finally tore off the oppressive label of the “travel abroad” team and allowed the coach to express gratitude to the players without a shadow of doubt for their courage and bravery at the post-match press conference.
Nikita GOLOVANOV