Translated material
Saturday "nails"
Matches between the super league giants take place with enviable regularity
Every week there is at least one match from the “super” category. Under this motto, the second half of the first round of the Russian Championship among men's teams of the Super League “A” is taking place. And although the tournament calendar scatters matches on different days of the week, which is difficult to avoid due to the wide geography of the championship, a certain stability in the schedule still exists. The most interesting fights always take place on Saturdays. In November, the “highlights” of the weekends were the consecutive meetings of Dynamo (Moscow region) - CSKA, Dynamo (Moscow) - Dynamo (St. Petersburg), UNICS - CSKA and Khimki - CSKA. The first Saturday in December was no exception. The silver medalists of the previous championship, Dynamo Moscow, hosted the bronze medal winner Kazan UNICS and prevailed - 95:82.Last season, Kazan and Dynamo met more often than any other two Super League clubs - eight times. In the regular season, both matches were won by the “blue and white” team; they also prevailed in the five-game series up to three wins in the semi-finals of the playoffs. However, it would be wrong to assume that Dynamo emerged victorious from the confrontation between the two clubs throughout last season. UNICS dealt a very painful blow to its opponent on the first day of the Russian Cup Final Four. The organizer of the final was the “blue and white”, which of the three main tournaments of the year must win at least this one. It didn't work out! The host side suffered a shocking defeat from UNICS, and the next day they lost to the capital's army team in the final.
Many players of Saturday's opponents - and even more so the fans - knew all these pre-match layouts. Therefore, the basketball players did not need to be additionally tuned into the game, and the spectators did not need to be invited to the stands. An uncompromising fight and packed stands were guaranteed. The main reason for the guests' defeat was the sloppy defensive play of their American manager Travis Best, who has extensive experience in the NBA. In the second period, he picked up four personal penalties and was replaced by Petr Samoilenko. After a long break, the American playmaker was not in the starting five; he entered the court in the sixth minute of the third quarter and very quickly received his fifth foul, completely leaving the game. In 16 minutes of net time, Best showed an effective game - 16 points. The American, who was not shy about going under the opponent's defense, was fouled six times by the hosts, and he made seven out of eight free throws.
Both teams relied on shots from beyond the six-meter arc, and they attacked the ring from close and medium distances not much more than from afar. The players of the two clubs made a total of 11 three-point hits, and the most successful in this were Kazan Sergei Chikalkin and Muscovite Mair Chatman - four well-aimed shots each. The tall UNICS basketball players played poorly on the front line, completely losing in the fight on the backboard - only 21 rebounds, while the “blue and white” took into their hands two dozen more balls that bounced off the backboard.
Ivkovic's team made the main winning start in the second quarter. Trailing by four points (26:30), they made a long push and by the end of the period they had a double-digit advantage - 46:36. Subsequently, only once, after a long-range hit by Martin Myursepp, did the Kazan team come within six points of the Muscovites. Dynamo quickly regained a relatively comfortable advantage; head coach Dusan Ivkovic confidently controlled the game of his players throughout almost the entire second half of the match. The most productive for the winners was Finnish center Hannu Mottola - 18 points, the guests' top scorer, Lithuanian Krzysztof Lavrynovic, scored two more.
“Our philosophy is to act as much as possible under the basket, but in the match with Kazan this did not work out,” Ivkovic summed up the meeting. - Chatman helped the team a lot. He played solid defense and attacked accurately from the perimeter.” UNICS coach Stanislav Eremin explained the reason for the turning point in the game: “In the second quarter, we couldn’t cope with the opponent’s zone defense. We lacked concentration, so Dynamo made eight out of ten attempts to score from behind the arc. After the forced departure of Best, the clear leader of the team, it was difficult. “Alas, we made many stupid mistakes and losses.”
There were no fights in the other two matches on Saturday. CSKA defeated Rostov's Lokomotiv at home - 87:57, St. Petersburg Dynamo in Vladivostok inflicted a painful defeat on Spartak-Primorye - 83:57. In the championship in terms of lost points, Khimki and CSKA are leading (one loss each), followed by three Dynamo teams, and UNICS, with three defeats, fell back to sixth place.