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Legionnaires from the Old World helped Samara take a step towards the Final Four
The current national champions, the basketball players of Samara CSKA (formerly VBM-SSAU), took a serious step forward on their home court on Tuesday towards the Euroleague Final Four. Igor Grudin's team on the banks of the Volga in the first match of the quarterfinal series up to two wins defeated the Hungarian club Euroleasing - 75:62.The team from Sopron has already met with representatives of Russia five times this season. At the group stage, Euroleasing, which won the 1998 Ronchetti Cup under the name GYSEV-Ringa, lost twice to Spartak near Moscow. But in the first round of the playoffs, the Hungarian team defeated Ekaterinburg UMMC in a best-of-two series - 86:76, 69:71 and 80:70. The basketball players from Sopron failed the exam on a visit to the strongest club in Russia.
The experience of the Samara team’s performances once again confirms that at this stage it is much more profitable to use the services of legionnaires from European countries than American ones. Yesterday, the best player for CSKA was Belgian center Anne Wouters - 23 points and 10 rebounds. She even surpassed Maria Stepanova, who was recognized twice in a row as the best basketball player of the Old World, who scored six points. The Volzhanka team's second highest scorer was French back row player Edwidge Lawson (13).
As for the American women, their presence in Russian clubs, with the exception of the enchanting play of Delisha Milton and Yolanda Griffith several years ago for UMMC, which achieved the title of Euroleague champion, no longer brings tangible benefits. And the most striking example of this is the capital’s Dynamo, whose leaders blindly place their main bet on the Varangians for more than one season in a row and cannot squeeze any serious sporting dividends out of this.
The trend was confirmed by yesterday's crushing defeat of Spartak near Moscow from the 2006 Euroleague champion Czech Gambrinus. Yes, last season, with the help of American superstar Lisa Leslie and her other compatriots, the “red and whites” won the FIBA European Cup, but this tournament, in fact, is only the second echelon of continental women’s club basketball. Having reached a serious rival in the Euroleague, Spartak, even with the help of the third sniper in the history of the WNBA, American Tina Thompson, saved at home - 58:73. There was little help from two other Olympic champions from the United States - Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi. "Gambrinus", whose core consists of basketball players from the victorious squad of the Czech national team at the 2005 European Championship, confidently dealt with the "red-whites". The best scorer of the meeting was Eva Vitechkova - 33 points.
As for Taurasi and Bird, these are the most typical “shabby girls”. They did not bring particularly tangible benefits during the time they earned a lot of money in Dynamo Moscow, and even now they are not ready to help Spartak achieve fundamentally new heights in the Euroleague for more than solid contracts. Although it has long been noticed that in the NBA and in their national team, Bird and Taurasi play much more usefully and selflessly than in Russia. It seems that completely different standards of attitude towards business have become firmly established in their minds. One is at home, the other is as an away model. It’s a pity that not all club managers understand this feature of American women.
The quarterfinal matches of the Euroleague were preceded by quite interesting events in our championship, where two sensational results were recorded. The Novosibirsk team "Dynamo-Energia" unexpectedly defeated the "blue and white" from the capital in Moscow - 70:69, and a day earlier, the former coach of the Siberians Leonid Yachmenev led the Kazan NUR to a stunning defeat of UMMC in Yekaterinburg - 85:66.
The significant success of “Dynamo-Energia” was an excellent gift to the president of the club, Korney Gibert, whom the Russian Basketball Federation (RFB), in honor of the 100th anniversary of the existence of this sport in our country and for his great contribution to the development and popularization of the game of millions, awarded a certificate of honor and an anniversary gold medal icon. In mid-January, Guibert was also awarded another prestigious sports award. On behalf of ROC President Leonid Tyagachev, he was awarded a diploma for his significant contribution to the development of domestic basketball and the Olympic movement. Having become the president of the Dynamo-Energia women's basketball club in 2001, which invariably plays in the "A" division of our super league, Korney Gibert raised Novosibirsk basketball to the European level, putting a lot of effort into preserving and enhancing the glorious traditions of the team. Thanks to his constant support, Dynamo-Energia became the bronze medalist of the Super League and Russian championships in 2003. Today the club is gaining new breath, young and promising basketball players who have already proven themselves in international competitions are growing up next to experienced players. It is worth noting that the forecasts of authoritative experts seem quite realistic, according to which next season we should expect at least fourth place in the national championship from the Dynamo-Energia girls.