Translated material
Prototype
The implementation of the United League project began with the Promotional Cup
In the capital's universal sports complex CSKA, for three days, club teams from five countries competed for the main prize of a fundamentally new tournament - the VTB United League, created on the initiative of the Russian Basketball Federation and supported by our neighbors from Eastern Europe. In the future, it is planned to raise the competition to the level of a serious multinational league with a long regular season, but for now it was decided to test the idea in practice in the test mode of the Promo Cup. It turned out to be a good Christmas tournament in terms of the level of competition and the quality of organization, of which there are few on the continent. CSKA added another trophy to its collection, defeating Khimki in the decisive match - 70:66.The organizers of the United League, even in the process of developing the project, clearly outlined their position: the tournament will not be any alternative to either the current European Cup system or national championships. “The idea of creating such competitions has been incubated for the last two seasons,” said the head of the RBF Sergei Chernov. -- We are organizing an international league with a consistently strong lineup of participants in the Eastern European space. Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv is also showing interest. In the process of its development, our tournament will not replace the Russian Championship; rather, it will become a kind of its highest division. Country quotas should be distributed strictly according to the sporting principle; we intend to strive for equality of all project participants.”
In this regard, one cannot help but recall that in the early 1990s the International Professional Basketball League (MPBL) already existed, and at the turn of the century another, larger-scale project was being implemented - the Northern European Basketball League (NEBL), the main ideologist of which was the Olympic champion of Seoul 1988 as part of the USSR national team, Lithuanian Sarunas Marciulionis. Moreover, the geography of NEBL participants went far beyond the post-Soviet space. Over time, the Northern League itself organically entered the European Cup system under the auspices of the continental branch of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA-Europe), but ceased to exist as an independent tournament.
The long-term plans of the United League organizing committee include holding a series of tournaments in the “Final Eight” format in different cities of Eastern Europe and the decisive stage in the 2009/10 season, and the transition to the third stage of the project’s development is scheduled for 2012-2013. Ideally this would be a two-round competition with 16 clubs plus playoffs. In their championships, teams are exempted from playing in the preliminary stages. In principle, according to approximately the same scheme, the Adriatic League now exists, uniting representatives of the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The problem so far is that even an influential sponsor, in the context of the emerging financial crisis, is refraining from long-term guarantees to ensure the life of the United League.
Be that as it may, even in the form of a Promo Cup held in a short time, the tournament was of some interest. It’s just a pity that for CSKA winning another trophy came at too high a price. In a match with the Latvian ASK, Croatian defender Zoran Planinic received a concussion after an elbow from Kaspars Kambala, and in the same game there was a conflict between center Alexei Savrasenko and the head coach of the army team, Ettore Messina, which led to the player’s expulsion from the club.
The Latvian Kambala is familiar to our basketball fans from his performances for UNICS Kazan. From there he moved to the Turkish Fenerbahce, where two years ago he was caught using a prohibited substance, which turned out to be banal cocaine. Having received a two-year disqualification, this powerful athlete, in order not to sit idle, decided to try his hand at the professional ring. The heavyweight boxer, converted from a basketball player, managed to fight four times - three wins (including two by knockout) and one draw. Moreover, all these fights took place in 2008, the last of them in July, when already at the 3rd minute. in Las Vegas, a certain American Ronnie Weaver was sent to the “groggy” state.
Planinic hardly knew about such vivid details of Kambala’s short boxing career, otherwise he would have tried to stay away from him. The unfortunate blow was unintentional, but this did not make it any easier for the Croatian. He lost consciousness and was carried out of the hall on a stretcher. Zoran soon came to his senses and, just in case, he was kept in the hospital overnight. Doctors promise that Planinic will be fine by the New Year.
It’s much more difficult with Alexey Savrasenko. Going to the bench in the game against Riga, the center expressed his extreme displeasure with Messina’s actions. The mentor did not allow the player onto the court anymore, the conflict developed after the match in the locker room. CSKA did not make peace with the rebel, and the next day it was announced that Savrasenko would not play for the army team, at least until the end of the season, and would be loaned out. Not an easy decision for the “red-blues”, because CSKA, even with Savrasenko, often experienced problems with Russian players in national championship matches, where there should always be at least two basketball players with our passports on the court.
Even without Planinic, Savrasenko and the still injured Matjaz Smodis, the army team easily defeated the Ukrainian BC Kiev and did not give the Moscow region Khimki a chance. The final score of the final match (70:66) is somewhat deceptive. CSKA kept the opponent at a distance of 7-9 points throughout the last quarter, and a few seconds before the siren, Vitaly Fridzon from Khimki scored with a long-range throw. Moreover, the army team finished the meeting without Siskauskas, who pulled the muscles of the back of his thigh. In fairness, it should be noted that Khimki does not have the injured 2006 world champion, Spaniard Jorge Garbajosa, with foot problems (he will return to duty in a week), and Maciej Lampe is still in the hospital.
After the final, Messina thanked center Alexander Kaun, who doesn’t get much time in the Euroleague, for his good play. The CSKA coach also praised Viktor Khryapa for his motor skills and energetic actions throughout the meeting. This forward became the top scorer of the decisive match, scoring 15 points.
The performance at the Promo Cup of the capital Dynamo left an extremely unpleasant impression. Based on the selection of performers, this team is capable of winning, if not the entire Russian championship, then at least such short tournaments. The spectators saw the apathy and lack of will of the “blue and white”, especially for the legionnaires. There is talk behind the scenes that the delay in wages at Dynamo has reached a critical time scale. But you still need to respect your profession. The defeat of the Muscovites by BC Kiev in the match for bronze and especially the failure in the third quarter (15:33) smacks of an overt demarche.
The tournament organizing committee determined the best basketball players of the Promotional Cup in five playing roles and the most valuable player. The main title went to Ramunas Siskauskas (CSKA), the best point guard was John Holden (CSKA), the defender was Anton Ponkrashov (Khimki), the light forward was Manuchar Markoishvili (BC Kiev), the heavy forward was Kenan Bayramovich (“ BC "Kyiv"), center - Mike Wilkinson ("Khimki").
Results. VTB United League Promotional Cup. Quarterfinals. BC "Kyiv" (Ukraine) - "Zalgiris" (Kaunas, Lithuania) - 74:67, "Khimki" - "Azovmash" (Mariupol, Ukraine) - 74:54, CSKA - ASC (Riga, Latvia ) - 80:67, "Dynamo" M - "Prokom" (Sopot, Poland) - 75:54. Semi-final. "Khimki" - "Dynamo" M - 67:61, CSKA - BC "Kyiv" - 88:58. Match for third place. BC "Kyiv" - "Dynamo" M - 86:73. Final. CSKA - Khimki - 70:66.