The post-game press conference with both coaches managed to go for a record length. Both coaches spoke with journalists for more than a half an hour apiece.
Anatoliy Sukhachev, Head Coach, Lokomotiv:
Today’s game was a pleasure for me. And, I think, not just for me, but for the fans and people watching on TV as well. We saw two intelligent teams meet tonight, and they put on a very attractive show. The only minus was the officiating. In my opinion, there are two explanations: either the referees do not know how to officiate at all, or they were officiating in favor of one team. And to help CSKA right now is just absurd. There are good officials in Russia, so why aren’t they calling the games that are shown on
television?
- Who are you talking about?
Gorshkov, Davydov, Lebedev, and Bulanov refs well when he wants to.
- Don’t you think that Lokomotiv’s loss was due to a lack of depth?
Maybe. We’re trying to sign another player to play the off-guard or small forward. He will be arriving soon.
- In today’s game guard Vasiliy Karasev played very well. Do you think this had anything to do with his playing at his home gym, USK CSKA?
No. He plays the same way at Lokomotiv. I like Vasya as a player. He’s a true warrior. By the way, it should be noted how many people play well with Lokomotiv. Look at Kudelin, for example. He played well for us, and then he
goes to Kazan, and again problems arise.
- Once again there are many foreigners playing for Lokomotiv. Are you planning to begin focusing more on Russian players in the near future?
On whom? There aren’t enough Russian players to build a team which would compete for a medal in the Russian championships. We have good, young players at Lokomotiv. It’s too bad that Dmitriy Sokolov was a bit ill. He
could have gone out on the floor and shown how 17-year-olds play for us. Not too long ago an American agent came to us and offered a lot of money for three of our players: Babichev, Voronov and Sokolov. I turned him down. I
need those players for myself. The young players should progress, and that works better when they play together with experienced foreign players. And you can’t change that by implementing any sort of quotas on foreigners. It’s
precisely in the battle with foreigners for a spot on a roster which helps build solid players for our national team. And with the current approach promoted by the head coach of the national team Sergey Elevich, we finish
12th place in the European Championships. Well, maybe 5th or 6th if the stars come together and the players start hitting 80% from 3-point land. When he first took the job as head coach of the national team, there was a
lot of talk about bringing young players into the squad. And what happened in the end? The names are the same as before. You know, when they offered me the job as head coach of the national team, I said immediately that you can
forget about the European Championships and the Olympics in Athens, because you will only be able to get results in the next cycle. Around 2008. Right now we need to get a team together comprised completely of young players and
give them the chance to play in the most important games. As a result, the team will gain valuable experience and then be able to win. Sure, for a while they will be in over their heads, but better to play and know that you
can catch your opponent rather than accept that he’s getting further and further out of your reach.
Dusan Ivkovic, Head Coach, CSKA:
It was an excellent game tonight with a lot of good shooting. I think that the fans must have enjoyed it. Lokomotiv is a good, strong team. I have to commend Tanoka Beard, whom I’ve known for a long time, and Vasiliy
Karasev - without a doubt the best Russian point-guard, and Slovenian national team player Marijan Kralevic. In the first half we defended poorly. In the first 20 minutes we allowed our opponents to score 46 points-double the
amount that we gave up to the Polish team Slask in the entire game. It could be that most of the players are thinking ahead to the next game against Ulker, although the team will only start preparing for that game on Monday.
But players aren’t machines. Sometimes they come up short, and everyone understands that. The injury to Songaila has left us with only three players in the front line - Panov, Bashminov and Alexander. They are all playing a lot, plus Bashminov has a bad back. Yesterday he even had to miss practice.
We’re currently looking for players to sign for a month or two in order to give these three players a chance to recuperate.
I don’t like to point out this or that player of mine. But today Papaloukas played an excellent game. He was the one who was able to contain Karasev in the second half.
- Your colleague Anatoliy Sukhachev complained about the officiating in the game. What can you say about this?
It’s not my job to discuss the officiating. But I didn’t understand a couple of their decisions. I think that I know the rules of basketball, but I found myself having to consult the commissioner on a few plays. In general, the officiating wasn’t great today.
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