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| Ural Great Won, but Kept Spectators Worried |
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Scenario of the game was quite expected, after fantastic +49 in Panevezys it was hard for Ural Great to be spirited, while Sema had nothing to lose... It is tradition now that visitors take the lead. Pegushin missed and black center from Lithuania was better than Kurashov - 0:2. Our attack gave no result. This time Chikalkin missed and trying to grab rebound Smiljanic got his first personal foul. In some seconds we got another foul as Kurashov was not so fast as his opponent. But Djoumbi hit the basket only once from free-throw line - 0:3, and that was the last "Lithuanian" minute in Molot Sport Hall. First Pegushin in a nice drive shortened the difference, then Kurashov made the score 5:3 getting one point from free-throw after a field goal. It was followed by three-pointer from Pacesas after Smiljanic grabbed rebound and Pegushin assisted. Then we had some misses and block-shot to Kurashov from Djoumbi - 8:6. And we got the initiative again. Pegushin added 5 points - three-pointer and free throw. Chikalkin made the score 17:6. Bashminov joined the game not bad at all with two dunks. Perhaps after that the host team thought everything was already done and was severely punished. Feeling that Ural Great slowed its pace and started making mistakes the visitors even managed to get ahead at the 17th minute - 24:25. Those minutes Chizhov was not good at all, while Smiljanic was rather effective in post defense and offense but made a lot of mistakes in assists and shots. Only after Pacesas was back to the court and Pegushin made his drives we left Sema behind - 32:27. Ural Great lost the beginning of the second half. Zabrauskas made a long-distance shot and we were very near to have tie on scoreboard - 32:30, but that was all Sema was able to do. Smiljanic was left without guarding twice and added two three-pointers. Head coach of Sema took time-out at once. It helped and eight point difference was shortened to only two points thanks to Djoumbi, Dimavicius and Purlys in the middle of the second half (45:43). It happened much due to Ural Great players who could not hit the basket in extremely favourable situations, take for example Smiljanic... Though the final part clearly showed the difference in the level of the teams. With the score 47:43 his only one but very timely three-pointer shot Dvinyaninov. Next attack added three points from Bashminov. And Sema could not stand any more... Ural Great did not let its opponent to approach to more than 10 points... Final score - 66:53. > made by Alexei Urakov
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| Post-game conference |
Gintaras Leonavicius, Sema: - First of all I would like to thank Perm for the atmosphere of the game. We see, that Ural Great works a lot. It was for the first time that we took part in such show. It was wonderful! Perhaps in Lithuania only Zalgiris does something like that. Now about the game. We tried not to play bad like we did at home, when we tried to hold the ball long, but we could not and it caused negative emotions... - Do you agree that you had no chance to win? - Yes, I do. - During the game Sema had some good periods. Can you say Ural Great played worse at those periods? - No. Our team is formed of new people, different players. And two months together is not enough... - Your bench is very short. What's the reason? - The reason is finance. We have only six or seven well-paid players. We cannot afford such players as Ural Great. - You have already seen all your opponents in Korac Cup. What do you think of Ural Great? - It is strong because of big and powerful defense. As our good friend Chomicius says, you should have all connections: defense - offense, offense - center... It is clear you work at it and already can do much. - Who do you like in Ural Great most? - In the first game in Lithuania it was Chikalkin. He has got good hand, shoots at any distance... I like the way Smiljanic plays, he is a creative athlete. - Who will qualify to the next round in your opinion? - To compare all the teams in our group, I like Poland and Ural Great. I think they will qualify to the next round of Korac Cup. Sergei Belov, Ural Great: - After the first game in Lithuania it was clear the game in Perm would be hard. And it happened so. Many times I repeated the word defense. When something goes wrong in offense, defense helps. And against this team we found our defense. I tell the players that now Perm waits for not olny wins but beautiful game. Ural Great is different now from what it was a year or two ago. For many of them it means completely new demands... But during the last three months they have started changing psycologically. In Lithuania we managed fast game. But until we have pressing in the paint we will not succeed. It's a pity, Pacesas, Chikalkin, Pegushin lack stability... We have great problems with offense, looking for number 5. As for the American player, Chomicius and I do not see how we can use him. - Head coach of Sema said his team had no chance to win. Was Ural Great sure in its win starting the game? - Even in my thoughts there was no place for defeat. If I feel I am weaker, then why to play? Maybe it sounds a bit tacktless, but I must see fear in my opponent's eyes. I realised the game should be hard and set players to it. I also realised we would play worse in defense. But this game is more to my mind than against Krasnoyarsk with a lot shots... Perhaps today game was not so beautiful for spectators, but even when we had "gaps" in it nobody hesitated we would win. - Some words about future Korac Cup games... - We are able to win both in Kiev and Poland. Every man and every athlete must have positive anger. If we lost home game to Kiev, why not to get the points back in away game? Against Poland it will be more difficult. But the game will show what is what. > made by Olga Lukanina |
