Andrey Agishev, president of Ural Great told in his interview to Business Class newspaper about risks the head coach has to deal with, possible changes in the teams roster, fans and other aspects of around-basketball life.
Question: Ural Great played seven games in the Russian Superleague, both home and away, against favourites and neighbours in the standings. What are your impressions of the team?
Answer: We have a completely different team from that of the last year. We can see the impact Drazen Anzulovic has in every aspect. Thus we may assume that our choice of the head coach was right. Basketball fans or professionals may have their questions about playing time of certain players but Anzulovic has his own vision of the team as he wants to see it.
Q: What do you think of the cooperation between the coach and players, especially the Russian ones?
A: Anzulovic has to face certain risks. He does not know our domestic championship (as well as Russian players), so in the game he relies mostly on the foreigners. I talked to the Russian players in our team and asked them to be more open, communicate more with the coach. We have certain problems but the situation is improving with every game.
Q: In which game Ural Great showed its real potential vs. Unics or CSKA?
A: CSKA. The Moscow club is a good challenge for any coach. Our players could not deal with the whole bunch of emotions when they played vs. Unics, while in the CSKA game they managed to cope with nervousness and entered the floor well-prepared.
Q: Choice of a coach justified itself. Can we tell the same regarding the players? Sergey Krasavtsev for instance is criticized often by the fans.
A: We managed to keep a few players from the last season which I think is good. As for Krasavtsev, he was invited by Anzulovic. I think the coach likes Sergeys motivation, his fighting spirit. In the preseason we had to face serious competition for Wisniewski and Wright who had offers from very good clubs. Koljevic and Biggs were signed literally in the last days of the summer signing campaign. Plisnic was not the only candidate for forward position. Anzulovic took all responsibility for foreign players. So I am not surprised that he relies on them so much.
Q: Ural Great roster is quite long. Will the club release somebody?
A: There are players whom Anzulovic does not see in the main roster. Now we are working with their agents.
Q: Frontline of the team leaves a few questions. Are you going to sign players on this position?
A: We have Aleksandr Rindin who is improving fast. He left good impression during the preseason camp. Now he has daily individual practices with Sergey Belov and the teams conditioning coach Yuri Gagarin. We invited also dietarians for him. I hope the player will gain weight and will be able to perform in the games after New Year. If he wont, we will sign one more foreign player. We are studying situation with Russian players but there are not so many good ones available.
Q: How does Drazen Anzulovic feel in Perm?
A: We are trying to provide him the best conditions. Actually Drazen is a very open person. He already met Croatian players from Amkar football club and does not seem lonely in Perm.
Q: How does the cooperation between the coach and Sergey Belov develop?
A: They have normal working relations. Everybody has their own area of responsibility. There is a coaching board in the club. Belov, Anzulovic, Gjegja, Pegushin, Dvinyaninov, Laletin and Pashkov are in this board. In the open communication process we create a system covering all stages from Ural Great to our junior basketball team. I would draw your attention that Perm players Chernov and Ionov play in the main team. We did not make Anzulovic keep them in roster, it was his decision. And as far as I know, the coach likes these players.
Q: Increase on ticket price for the CSK A game was discussed a lot by the fans. Whose decision was that and why was it done?
A: It was my decision. I did not like the way the people in the gym reacted in the first games this season. They were silent and indifferent. It is not a secret that the club distributes free tickets among children. Some people come to Molot but are not interested in whats going on during the game. Moreover we found out that part of the tickets which we distribute for free is sold in front of the gym. This we think is not right. We decide to make the tickets more expensive. We want only real fans to come to Molot and support the team. It does not mean that we do not any more distribute free tickets to children. The club will provide tickets for groups of fans from other towns. I know that people from not only Perm region but neighbouring Izhevsk come to support Ural Great. Our goal is to have six thousand people fill in the gym, not mere spectators but really interested fans. Molot was hot in the game vs. CSKA so I believe we will reach our goal.
Q: Did you correct the goals for the Russian and FIBA Europe competition after the starting games?
A: No we did not. Starting games proved we are moving in the right direction. All Russian clubs are stronger this season, we will not have easy games any more. Unics seems a bit weaker but his leading spot was taken by Triumph Moscow region. Ural Great will fight for the 6th place, in the playoffs we may compete vs any team apart from CSKA. Russian Cup is not a priority tournament for Ural Great this season. We have good chances in the FIBA Europe Cup and are going to focus our efforts on this competition.
