PBC CSKA held it’s first practice of the season tonight with all of the team’s primary players not preparing with their national teams. Remeber, six CSKA players (Zakhar Pashutin, Sergey Monya, Victor Khryapa, Alexei Savrasenko, Theodoros Papalukas and Mirsad Turkcan) are now preparing for the 2003 European Championships with their respective national teams. At the moment, the following CSKA players are practicing in Moscow: guards J.R. Holden, Anton Yudin, Yegor Vyaltsev, Georgy Tsintsadze, Marcus Brown; forwards Sergey Panov, Valery Likhodei, Nikita Shabalkin; centers Mario Austin and Alexander Bashminov (recovering from a leg injury).
After the two-hour practice, PBC CSKA head coach Dusan Ivkovic gave the following assessment of the selection process:
“We tried to choose the best among available players. First of all I’d like to praise Anton Yudin. I have a very high opinion of him. He’s a great player with lots of experience. He can play several
positions. I think Anton can really help our team.”
"We wanted to invite Marcus Brown last year. Finally we were successful. Without a doubt he’s a first-class shooting guard. Everyone knows that. The situation with our big men took a while to solve. We’re working with the Chicago Bulls, and thus were able to sign a contract with Mario Austin. He’s a young player with lots of potential. We kind of went against the grain. In the United States right now there is a lot of interest in European players, and we brought in a talented American player.
"For now that’s a general assessment of our selection process in the off-season. I will be able to say more after our camp in Yugoslavia."
Guard Anton Yudin gave his impressions:
"Practices with Dusan Ivkovic are different than with other coaches that I’ve worked with. He has a completely different approach. There >are more drills. There’s a lot of new and interesting information. You have to work a lot more with your head. CSKA plays smart basketball. I’m happy that I landed with this team."
On Sunday, August 24, the team will travel to a training camp in the Yugoslav town of Zlatibor, where they will play a series of practice games.
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