Translated material
Throws of the Year
The playoffs began with an extravaganza in Lyubertsy
The first day of the knockout tournament gave basketball gourmets a miracle match. The ending of the meeting "Triumph" (Lyubertsy) - "Dynamo" (Moscow) was simply fantastic in its drama and beauty of the game episodes. Although the end of the Russian championship among men's teams is still very far away, this battle will probably be recognized as the best match of the season. There really was something to see here. The hosts won - 88:86.The “blue and white” played their first game under the leadership of the new head coach (more precisely, acting) Sergei Bazarevich, who replaced the Serbian Svetislav Pesic in this post, who had not achieved anything with the team. The personnel change came at a very opportune time. Yesterday Dynamo appeared as a completely different team: loose, confident, inventive and combative. While losing in the opening of the match, the Muscovites managed to find their game and during the third period achieved a 16-point advantage. However, Triumph, led by the master of the Russian coaching department Stanislav Eremin (our Basketball Federation recognized him as the best mentor for three years in a row), was not going to give up. A series of three-point shots by Mairi Chatman and Terrell Layday allowed the hosts to reduce the gap to four points, but then Dynamo's Sergei Monya answered with a long-range hit.
The former NBA player under Pesic was not a bright figure for Dynamo, but on Tuesday he seemed to be transformed. It seems that Bazarevich, having moved from the role of Serbian assistant to the position of head coach, in a matter of days was able to establish good contact with the players, understand the nuances of their psychology and himself took seemingly unconventional moves. Already in the first quarter, another former basketball player from the overseas league appeared on the Dynamo court - Yaroslav Korolev, who under the previous mentor mostly sat on the bench. At the beginning of the fourth period, the same Monya made another accurate shot from behind the six-meter arc, and the guests again gained a ten-point advantage.
The protracted pursuit of the Triumph bore fruit. Vyaltsev hit the target from a distance, Toporov converted the free kicks, and nothing remained of the guests' advantage. The Blue and Whites were already losing one point, and they had 15 seconds left for the last attack. From that moment the most interesting things began. After Vujanic's inaccurate throw, there was a fierce fight under the basket. American Dynamo player Henry Domerkant, finding himself almost at the very end line and already behind the plane of the shield, jumped out for the ball and sent it skyward along a vertical trajectory. The ball flew over the top edge of the backboard and, to the surprise of Triumph fans and the wild delight of Dynamo fans, hit the ring.
It immediately came to mind that in the Russian Super League, ex-Dynamo player Sergei Antipov managed to score a similar ball ten years ago, but it happened in a simpler situation, when the fate of the match did not hang in the balance and the nimble playmaker simply decided to experiment. In Lyubertsy, Domerkant's desperate throw could have turned into the best throw of the year, if not for further developments. The Triumph basketball players, shocked by what had happened, had 0.3 seconds left to somehow correct the situation. Eremin quickly brought his charges to their senses, and a miracle really happened. The hosts put the ball into play, it was addressed to Sergei Toporov, who, as a result of the screen, found himself alone on the three-point arc in an excellent shooting position. Since time was short, everything had to be done instantly. Toporov managed it. A quick movement of the hands, and the ball is in the ring! Moreover, the siren about the end of the game sounded as soon as the game projectile came off Sergei’s fingers. It took Eremin’s players a few seconds to believe in the reality of what happened, and I’m frankly sorry for the grief-stricken Dynamo players.
Results. Super League. Playoffs. Quarterfinals (up to two wins, scheme 1--1--1). First matches. "Triumph" - "Dynamo" M - 88:86, CSKA - "Spartak-Primorye" - 72:66, UNICS - "Ural-Great" - 78:81, "Khimki" - "Lokomotiv" -Rostov" -- 92:74.