The magnificent modern palace, hidden somewhere under the trestles of the Kashirsky highway, is impressive. But the women's basketball top tournament, having prescribed the “Final Four” here, seems somehow alien. It’s not even the matter of the provincial manners of the organizers (you can go inside the arena for the usual “pass-inside”, but with a pass inside you come across the “do not let go” even where the “let it go” is ordered with large numbers on the plates of accreditation zones). With free entry, the stands are jam-packed, albeit with numerous kids and even a military detachment. All this seems sweet and funny, and common sense still wins: journalists are allowed into the arena, and draftees are ill so loudly and sincerely that you can’t suspect a catch. A real super club looks weird here. How can I explain this?
So, shortly after the New Year in Moscow, I had to watch the “Final Four” of the Russian Women's Cup. He looked, honestly, much more serious than the current, Euroleague. The Russian "Big Four" for some wild money will give odds to any club in the Old World. Everything seems very simple here: if you want a player - get it; need a top coach - please. And last weekend's MVP Tina Thompson was in vain surprised that hitherto CSKA beat Spartak (as it sounds like a football ...) in three previous matches. What's so surprising, Tina? The Samara team relies primarily on the leaders of the Russian national team - not a weak team at all, if anyone does not know - and Masha Stepanova and Ilona Korstin are now clearly not in the best shape. But “Spartak” in European competitions is not burdened with the obligation to let out a couple of local players: because the combination of Penicheira – Bird – Torazi – Thompson – Whitmore, using the Polish Bibrzycka and episodic appearances of Abrosimova, Osipova and Karpunina, can bring much better results than in domestic competitions.
CSKA, however, looked somehow unnatural. His defeat from Spartak turned out to be logical. In the end, the best player in Europe according to FIBA Stepanova in the semifinals remembered how to play, only in the last minutes, when it was already too late, and the partners lost confidence. And the third place was not easy to get: a much more modest “Bourges” scooped up the rebounds in the attack against the “zone” of the Samara team, restrained the pressure with quick counterattacks, snarled with three-pointer. Lose CSKA, it would be useless to talk about the Russian semifinal as an early final. And so, the topic wasn’t lost among journalists.
But the decisive match was worthy. Everyone appreciated this - and keep in mind that few people understand the local public and the press in women's basketball. Thank God, even an amateur will understand where All-Stars, and where - the village. Head coach of “Spartacus” Natalia Kheykova then said that during the break she set the players to play clearly on the defensive. But it didn’t work out that way: the hostess got into an attack, and the rivals from Ros Casares, who were inferior with a two-digit difference, managed to equalize the situation. And then attacking defender Diane Torazi (by the way, the best sniper of the previous championship of the female NBA) received a fourth foul - in the fourth minute of the third quarter. Despite the fact that before that, an outstanding sniper got almost everything that he threw into the side of the ring, the coaches had other concerns. “In the end, I wanted to use Torazi against Milton in the fourth position. Our“ big ”DeLisha could not cope, she was moving faster,” admitted Heikova.
And yet the red and white are too good with the stars. Clockwork Milton was excellently opposed by Thompson, after colorfully telling the Sport Today correspondent about the history of the confrontation with a friend on the US team. Clever Tina, who has become an example for Commodities in Spartak and an excellent assistant to coaches, gave DeLiche compliments, despite the fact that a compatriot received a fifth foul for Thompson's gambling in the face. “It’s a pity that there is only one main prize,” said the friendly star of the overseas NBA.
Lost Milton (last year's MVP “F-4”) Spaniards resisted, rather, by inertia. And the representatives of City of Vidnoje (as the suburb is called on the club’s official logo), on the contrary, everything flew into the ring. To take the prize, by the way, the third in the Heikova collection, turned out to be a matter of technology.
“This season is special for me,” said Heikova, who soared to the rank of European top coaches. “The team of stars had to build a different psychology. Shabtai Kalmanovich girls adore. For them, he does whatever he asks. It was easier for me. would be in a different situation. You know, people coming from the countryside are always more hungry. It's easier to aim for success. "
The legendary Shabtai, which Russia still hasn’t figured out how to define as a messiah or an adventurer, it is true that in two years he pulled Spartak from the provincial backyard. How long? And what's the point?
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH