In Perm, everything is not so bad as it seems from afar. The Molot Arena at the game with the Moscow army is almost full, the support group is on the floor again, and the team is fighting with the best club of the Old World much more stubbornly than the Partisan Euroleague participant ... Why is it only 10th in the Super League? Olympic champion Sergey Belov, who linked his fate with the Perm club, was sad. But when answering questions, as usual, he doesn’t go into his pocket for a word.
- After the crisis that overtook Ural Great in the first part of the season, is it possible to say that the situation in the team began to improve?- I would not say that she was already so bad, although now things are a little better with financing. The main thing is that the team’s game remains unsatisfactory. Yes, it was such even under Rimas Kurtinaitis, and a change of coach could not positively affect basketball players.
Unfortunately, players are now entering the site without any motivation. I can’t blame Sergey Zozulin - he turned out to be a "fireman", almost forcedly took over the leadership. But at that moment we did not have the money to invite a more famous specialist. Nevertheless, even with this roster and the coaching staff, Ural Great had to fulfill the task of entering the eight before the start of the season.
- Surely already thinking about the next season ...- I was thinking about him when this one had not yet begun. As you know, the contract with Kurtinaitis was signed for three years, many players have multi-year agreements. Unfortunately, the club was driven into a constant race for the result. I have long said that this will eventually happen. Ural Great actually has no home, base, and this is what concerns me first of all.
- But one of the strongest clubs in Russia in recent years cannot be imagined without a result.- In any case, there is too much politics. It's a shame that the leadership of the region gave up on game views, considering them unpromising. Because, you know, the hockey “Hammer” is going through hard times. But I have been working here for 8 years, and I have a good idea of how professional clubs can be provided. Go out into the city, look at least at the car fleet ... Believe me, there are not much more opportunities in Kazan, and 18 teams are based there!
- According to your latest interviews, I would like to conclude that you were disappointed in foreign specialists because of your experience with Drucker and Kurtinaitis ...- I never looked in the passport to the coach. But it so happened that these specialists, once in the “Ural Great”, began to impose on their players not only their vision of basketball, but also to learn how to live their own way. They climb into a strange monastery with their own charter. For example, I have a deep sympathy for Ettore Messina, and not only because he won everything with CSKA. He simply has the right, professional, working methods. On the other hand, I do not accept Dusan Ivkovic at all. I believe that his authority is excessively inflated. People like Ivkovic are pulling our basketball back. Believe me, I know what I'm saying and answer for my words. I would like to invite a Russian coach to Ural Great, but honestly, I don’t see a suitable candidate yet.
- You do not want to return to the coaching post yourself?- In Perm I do not see the conditions for this. I do not think that the financial situation in Ural Great is already quite stable. And I do not want to risk my name. On the other hand, I'm not afraid of coaching. I have long said: give me a normal team, and I will beat CSKA. Ready to repeat it now.
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH, Perm