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It was the first in all the history of Perm basketball European Korac Cup game and the interest of people to it was huge. About seven thousand spectators came to watch it. Everyone was expecting our team to win... But Ural Great could not start well enough, nobody managed to hit the basket. Pegushin and Smiljanic missed twice each, Chikalkin took the lead at the end of the second minute. It was clearly seen that Ukranian players were nervous, the opening put them down. Their first attacks looked uncertain, but guarding was strong from the very start and Pacesas experienced it. Up to the middle of the first half both teams increased the lead slowly (13:14 on the tenth minute), but then Ural Great practically stopped playing and during three minutes they lost the ball six times and did not score a point. CSCA used this situation - 13:27. CSCA guards could do in offense what they wanted, expecially Yevstratenko and Kharchenko, while Bashminov was passive. After the second time-out we looked a bit better and the difference was only six points (23:29), but CSCA time-out taken in the right moment did not let our team change the situation crucially. Moreover, then came unanswered 7 points from Kharchenko. If we hadn't have Chikalkin, the score of the first half could have been much worse than 29:39. The second half did not give us any hope of revenge, the visitors easily added five points. But when we managed to hit the basket, there followed three points from CSCA. And one unpleasant thing appeared in Ural Great attacks - nobody dared to shoot, they preferred unnecessary passes. Our players were bad in offense, too. Centers could grab rebounds only... There was complete disorder and confusion in our defense, CSCA attacked very fast and too often. The result - "-25" (11th minute). Though Smiljanic shortened the difference to 9 points, it did not affect the final result... Next game on October 13 will show whether our coaching staff and players could come to the necessary conclusions. If not - we have no hopes for anything good in Korac Cup and Russian championship... > written by Alexei Urakov
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| Fragments of post-game conference |
Andrei Podkovyrov (CSCA): - I am satisfied with the result. The game was interesting, our players did what they could, they were not afraid of spectators' support. But in my opinion it was not the real level of both teams. We managed everything unlike you. I think the game in Kiev will be hard and nobody is able to say who will win it. - What did you know about Ural Great? - We did not have video tapes, only heard about you from players, coaches, referees... Your potential is great. We knew Pacesas as he played a year in Ukraine, Chikalkin, other athlets. And I was really surprised, I think it was one of their worst games. - Can you distinguish anyone in Ural Great? - In the first half it was Chkalkin, in the second - Yugoslavian player. The game in Kiev may be the same but reverse. Our players may not be ready psychologically... While your team have nothing to lose... - What are your goals in Korac Cup? - To be among the two to qualify for the next round. Then we'll see. Sergei Belov: - I think everyone must realise that East Division is East Division, West is West and European basketball is European basketball. To put it short - all our drawbacks were vivid in this game. Every player used 20-30 per cent of his potential, just like in Irkutsk and Novosibirsk... We had information about CSCA, watched video of their game against Gomel Wildcats. And I cannot say they surprised us, they just played their usual way unlike our team. The main reason of our defeat is defense. We worked hard at it during all preseason training, but it is not so easy to change psychology of players, time we are together is not enough yet. We have seen neither defense nor offense today, as if we got together only yesterday. My greatest dissatisfaction is with play-makers Pacesas and Shushakov, who could not direct the game right at the very start. And practically no one played as he was able to play. Smiljanic seemed to have good resulted, but he just made his statistics better, scoring when we had "- 20". Today we face the problem of the team leader. Lost games in Irkutsk, Novosibirsk and today indicated the absence of the person, who can unite the team. I think it is time for the players to understand they've grown out of East Division. Many of them are not ready to it from the psychological point of view: new demands, behaviour on the court and out of it... I think the two games in Irkutsk and Novosibirsk should take away arrogance and euphoria they got after the last season. They don't feel life in extreme situations, don't have feeling of danger... ...Our first European Cup experience is failure, but believe me it is not beginning of crash. The main remedy is to work and forget about your mistakes, leave them in your past and go ahead. In my opinion when situation is hard, we are to see whether Ural Great is one team. It is a serious test for both players and coaches. We will analyse every moment. And maybe you are tired of hearing the word "defense", but I repeat that if the team does not play well in defense, it will lose games. > prerared by Olga Lukanina |
