Translated material
CSKA and others
Army Club is the undisputed favorite of the Super League tournament
Last weekend, the majority of Super League clubs entered the fight for medals in the Russian Championship among men's teams. While the Surgut “University”, the Kazan UNICS, the Moscow region “Khimki” and the capital’s “Dynamo” have yet to play their first matches in the tournament this week, then the gold medal winner CSKA already has three victories to its credit. The Red and Blues made a long eastern journey. After the trip to China, the wards of the Italian specialist Ettore Messina showed a master class in Vladivostok, Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk without stopping home, where they were head and shoulders above their rivals.The army matches in China took place as part of a tour jointly organized by the ULEB Euroleague and the Chinese Basketball Federation. In the suburbs of the country's largest city, Shanghai Kunshan, CSKA defeated the Australian Sydney Kings (71:62) and then the Chinese team with NBA star center Yao Ming (he scored 27 points) - 83:77. After this, the official Russian debut of the 2005 champion of the Old World, attacking defender from Greece Nikos Zisis, took place in Vladivostok. The winner of the Euroleague 2007 (while still part of the Greek Panathinaikos), Lithuanian forward Ramunas Siskauskas and American Marcus Gorey were thrown into battle a day later in Krasnoyarsk.
By an extremely rare coincidence, both Spartak-Primorye and Yenisei were beaten by the army team with the same score - 89:63. The newcomers' acquaintance with the Far East and Siberia ended in Novosibirsk, where the local Lokomotiv could not oppose anything to the continental giants - 60:104. In the match with the “railroad” team, Zisis demonstrated an enviable free throw performance - ten hits out of ten attempts.
A damn dozen clubs are participating in the newly launched super league. “We understand that this is not the most optimal format of the tournament, it is more logical when an even number of teams plays, but in the off-season there was a merger between representatives of the Samara region “Standard” and CSK VVS,” the head of the department explained the situation in an interview with a Vremya Novostey correspondent RFB for organizing and holding the men's championship Maxim Astanin.
The well-known former forward of the Russian national team, CSKA and the capital's Dynamo drew attention to the most important innovations of the tournament regulations: “This season, basketball players who, although they have a Russian passport, have played for other teams and therefore cannot play for our national team, are equal to legionnaires. The entry passport of participating clubs cannot contain more than seven foreigners, and previously this number was not limited. During the first additional application period, until December 1, you can change any number of players, and in the second, that is, until February 15, no more than two. As for the quota for Varangians in relation to specific matches, they remain the same - no more than five foreign basketball players in the application for the game and no more than three at the same time on the court. There can be a maximum of two non-European foreign players in a team.”
In addition to the undisputed favorite of the tournament, CSKA, the circle of contenders for medals traditionally includes the capital's Dynamo and Kazan's UNICS. The Blue and Whites, having lost center Lazar Popandopulo (he went to Real Madrid), acquired playmaker of the Russian national team, newly crowned European champion Petr Samoilenko (ex-UNICS), center from Croatia Nikola Prkacin, his Lithuanian colleague in the role Robertas Javtokas, black citizen of Bosnia, defender Henry Domercant, and Serb Aleksandar Rasic. After Dynamo parted ways with Dusan Ivkovic, the team was taken over by his compatriot, Serbian Svetislav Pesic, no less famous in the coaching department.
At UNICS, it is worth noting the arrival of European champion Nikolai Padius (ex-Moscow Dynamo), Romanian center Virgil Stanescu, who previously played in St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, a native of the United States with a French passport, Tariq Kickrsey, and the 2007 Italian champion, American Joseph Forte.
“Khimki” and “Lokomotiv” from Rostov-on-Don are quite capable of fighting for medals; in the playoffs, the favorites, Perm “Ural-Great” and the Moscow Region “Triumph”, which previously played under the name “Dynamo”, can fray their nerves. Former Russian national team coach Stanislav Eremin, who last season served as general manager at UNICS, is now working in Lyubertsy, who has returned to active coaching.
For the winner of the Super League B of the 2006/07 season, Yenisei, which absorbed its neighbors from Togliatti, Samara CSK VVS, Novosibirsk Lokomotiv, and St. Petersburg Spartak, the very fact of reaching the playoffs will be a good result. The best Super League clubs in terms of the level of players and their budgets are noticeably superior to the teams that will fight to get into the top eight, so traditionally in the Russian championship there should be many matches ending with a difference of 25-30 or more points. Actually, this has already been proven by CSKA’s major victories in the Far East and Siberia.