Post-game Press Conference (Game 2)

Valdemaras Chomicius, PBC Ural-Great Coach

“First of all, I’d like to congratulate CSKA on the win. Regarding our team, we were asleep yesterday, but today we woke up and began to play. The run that CSKA went on in the middle of the game happened after a series of mistakes. And when CSKA is leading, it’s hard to catch them. They are too experienced a club but give up 10 hard-fought points. Alexander played very well, and Songaila pitched in at the end. These to players presented Ural Great with a lot of problems. But in general we are satisfied. And our attitude is great. We’re returning home and will once again look at our opponents’ weak spots. I think that we’ll give CSKA a good fight in Perm.”


Dusan Ivkovic, PBC CSKA Head Coach:

“I warned that the second game would be completely different from the first. And that’s how it was. Today’s game was very physical. But we controlled the tempo for the entire game, with the exception of the second quarter, when we allowed our opponents to score easy basket and beat us on the boards. Ural Great grabbed 11 more rebounds than CSKA. That is a very serious advantage. Valentin Kubrakov, who was barely noticeable on the floor yesterday, played surprisingly well. After a great performance yesterday from Victor Alexander, it was hard to expect the same outstanding effort in this game. After all, he is an older player. But Victor was able to lead the team once again. Unfortunately, Songaila wasn’t able to help him after picking up his fourth foul in the second quarter. Other than that, I would like to thank our captain Evgeny Pashutin, who played very well for the second time in as many days. Looking at the results of the first two games of the final series, I can say that CSKA has overcome the psychological letdown after the losses in Barcelona. And now we have an advantage going into the games in Perm.”