“Kyiv” suffered its first defeat of the season

basketball

In the third round of the first group round of the European Cup, BC Kiev suffered its first defeat of the season, losing to Kalev in Tallinn - 64:75, and Mariupol Azovmash managed to defeat the Hungarian Atomeromu - 80:73.

It seems that the words of Kalev assistant coach Aivar Kuusmaa that he does not believe in his club’s victory over BC Kyiv turned out to be nothing more than deceit. The Estonian champions turned out to be quite a combat-ready team, with American striker Travis Reed setting the tone. The overseas legionnaire played the entire match without substitutions and turned out to be head and shoulders above his opponents - Grigory Khizhnyak, Oleg Saltovets and Alexey Pecherov. Suffice it to say that this trio managed to bring the guests only 16 points, while Reed scored 37 points - almost half of Kalev's points - and added 11 rebounds to this.

In BC "Kyiv" only one basketball player played at his level - team captain Artur Drozdov. The rest of the Kiev residents who came out onto the parquet floor of Tallinn's Saku Suurhall yesterday were just a pale shadow of themselves. So, although Lamarr Greer scored 18 points, he made only 6 of 17 field goals. And Alexey Pecherov, who returned to the lineup, was clearly minding his own business, attacking the Estonian ring nine times from long range. Naturally, this affected the fight for the rebound, and Kalev won the rebound with an overwhelming advantage - 47:32. It was this factor that the head coach of BC "Kyiv" Viktor Berezhnoy called the main reason for the defeat. At the same time, he noted that he has no doubt that his team will be able to overcome the barrier of the first group round.

The Mariupol Azovmash had a rather modest opponent - the Hungarian Atomeromu. Representatives of the Hungarian championship rarely reach the decisive stages of European cups, so only occasional meetings between Ukrainian clubs and teams from this country are understandable. The first games with the team from Paks took place four years ago as part of the FIBA Champions Cup. At home, the Hungarians celebrated their victory over BC Kyiv - 87:77, but in Kyiv the wolves took convincing revenge - 98:80.

The Hungarians did not allow the Mariupol Azovmash to easily defeat themselves within their own walls. The guests were confidently leading in the middle of the last quarter, but relaxed early, and a minute before the end of regular time, Atomeromu managed to reduce the lead to three points - 73:76. Fortunately, the tactics of deliberate fouls used by the hosts did not bear fruit, and Mariupol playmaker Khalid El-Amin, having converted four free throws, set the final result - 73:80. As Azovmash head coach Rimas Girskis admitted after the game, he was dissatisfied with the quality of the game, but the main thing is that he managed to earn two points. According to him, the game of the Mariupol team was again affected by problems in the position of the fifth number, which, most likely, will be resolved by attracting center Robert Gulyash, with whom the terms of a personal contract were agreed upon directly in Hungary.

ALEXANDER Kommersant-Nerush

"Kalev" saved the people of Kiev from zero