| The match between CSKA and UNICS gathered full stands CSKA basketball players once again proved their absolute superiority over their competitors in the fight for the “gold” of the national championship. In a match with the current holder of the FIBA Euroleague title, the silver medalist of the national championship, Kazan UNICS, the army team won their 18th victory in a row in official meetings this season. Despite the small final advantage in the score - 76:71, CSKA's success in this match throughout the playing time was beyond doubt. Five minutes before the final siren, the hosts' lead reached 16 points (70:54), after which UNICS launched a belated chase. The “red-blues” had enough skill and composure to bring the game to victory, without particularly straining.
Despite the obviousness of the outcome of this confrontation, the match attracted almost full stands - 4,500 spectators. The status of teams and the magic of abbreviations excite the fan. In no country in the world is there such a situation that the names of the two leading teams in any game sport are abbreviated, but in Russia a similar situation has developed for several seasons in a row in both men's and women's basketball. The battles between CSKA and UNICS, UMMC - VBM-SSAU were key to determining the owner of the gold medals. Although, for example, for men, the mentioned abbreviations no longer carry the true meaning, but are a promoted brand. The CSKA basketball club has only a superficial relationship with the country’s armed forces, although it emphasizes it in every possible way, and the origin of the UNICS abbreviation is now known only to the most erudite and inquisitive fans, but certainly not to all the players of this club. The name of the team was taken from the name of the university sports complex in Kazan - UNICS, which means “university-culture-sport”.
“The match was not at the level that the fans expected,” CSKA head coach Dusan Ivkovic assessed the quality of the game. - There were a lot of mistakes, but we deserved the victory - we controlled the game in the first half of the match and defended confidently. It’s a pity that the referees-timekeepers did not work clearly. In a country with such a rich basketball tradition as Russia, numerous human mistakes on the referee's table are unacceptable. This makes my players nervous.” The most unpleasant thing in this match for CSKA happened to one of the team's main snipers, American Antonio Granger - he received a painful blow to his knee. It is not yet known how long it will take the player to recover.
The capital's Dynamo team successfully played its first match under the leadership of new head coach Valery Tikhonenko. In the home match, the “blue and white” defeated the struggling Perm “Ural-Great” - 102:69. The resignation of the previous Dynamo coach, Israeli Zvi Sherf, took place in the worst traditions of Soviet times. Rumors about a change in the “helmsman” in the club due to the muted performance of the Muscovites in the European arena have been circulating on the sidelines for more than one week, and the day before the game with the Permians, Scherf was relieved of his post as having submitted his resignation “for health reasons.” Thus, we can already talk about the emergence of a unique tradition among the “blue and white” teams - for the second year in a row, a coaching resignation occurs in the first half of the championship. Last season, we recall, after four rounds Lithuanian Valdemaras Homicius left Moscow.
Changes are also expected in the Novosibirsk Lokomotiv camp. At the RFB executive committee held at the end of the working week, it was decided to send the coach of this club and the national team, Sergei Babkov, for a two-month internship in the USA, to the camp of the NBA team “San Antonio Spurs”. Babkov agreed to leave his position in Novosibirsk. In all likelihood, the vacant position will be filled by senior coach Viktor Kukharenko, who headed Lokomotiv from 1984 to 2001.
In the evening on the day of the executive committee, a solemn ceremony of presenting prizes based on the results of the year “Golden Basket” took place. The ceremony was held under this name for the first time, and the tradition was established in 1998, when Sergei Belov was replaced as president of the RFB by Valery Kuzin. The current head of the federation, Sergei Chernov, has somewhat changed the format of summing up the results - now the laureates are determined not at the end of the season, but at the end of the year. The best basketball players in the country were Andrei Kirilenko (Utah) and Ilona Korstin (VBM-SSAU), the strongest foreign player was American Marcus Brown (CSKA), the best young basketball players were Dmitry Sokolov (Rostov Lokomotiv) and Marina Karpunina from the Moscow Region. Spartak”, who has already become a mother. Stanislav Eremin and Vadim Kapranov were recognized as the best Russian coaches of the year, and Ivkovic was recognized as the best club coach in the Super League. Among the media, the Sport TV channel (General Director Vasily Kiknadze) was recognized as the best in basketball coverage. Ilya TRISVIATSKY |
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