In the away game of VTB United League against Polish Zielona Gora our team was defeated - 64:96 (16:28, 24:23, 14:27, 10:18).
Staring fives
Tsmoki-Minsk: Angelo Warner, Yauheni Beliankou, Jason Clark, Tsimafei Paraliou, Robert Upshaw.
Zielona Gora: Branden Frazier, Nemanja Nenadic, David Brembli, Jaroslaw Zyskowski, Dragan Apic.
Game scenario
The start of the game was effective. The opponents attacked with a high percentage, almost each attack ended with the hit. On the 3rd minute, after 2 points by Stubeda, Tsmoki-Minsk took the lead 11: 9, but three-point hit by Brembli returned a slight advantage to the hosts. By the way, an unpleasant nuance for the Dragons was an impressive offensive plays of Zielona Gora from beyond the arc: in the starting quarter their shooters hit 5 out of 6 threes. The ending of the quarter was won by the Polish team: 9:0 breakthrough allowed them to got a 12 points gap - 28:16.
And in the next ten minutes, Fraser and Meyers were not going to miss from the distance - americans hit 6 three-pointers out of 9 command threes. No matter how hard Minsk team tried to close the perimeter, free zones did appear on it, especially after unequal exchanges in defense, to which Zielona Gora forced the dragons with its active movement of players and the ball. In the first half. Tsmlki-Minsk sometimes was managed to get out of the double-digit lag, but Nenadich hit the put-back throw with a siren after a partner's miss - 51:40. It is noteworthy that 39 out of 51 points of the Polish squad were brought to it by the trio of leaders - Meier, Frazier and Nenadic. In the Tsmoki-Minsk team Jankovic was the most productive with 8 points.
Unfortunately, the bet on the third period did not come true - our players finished it unsuccessfully. Zielona Gora continued to bomb our rim with radio-controlled threes with a crazy-high percentage, against which Tsmoki-Minsk could not find an antidote. The lag became critical, and the attempts of the Minsk team to minimize it, that were undertaken in the final quarter, did not work properly.
Coach comment
Today only one team showed up to the game. It's nothing much to comment. Unfortunately no leaders showed up for us tonight, and it's very naive to expect that something good would happen. Great job and good words to opponent. See you in Minsk.
Scoring leaders
Tsmoki-Minsk: Jason Clark - 13 PTS + 4 REB + 4 AST + 3 STL, Robert Upshaw - 13 PTS + 2 REB + 2 BLK, Stefan Jankovic - 10 PTS + 2 REB + 2 BLK.
Zielona Gora: Nemanja Nenadic - 21 PTS, Tony Meier - 17 + 4 REB + 2 BLK, Branden Frazier - 16 + 4 REB + 7 AST, Devoe Joseph - 15 + 4 REB, Dragan Apic - 9 + 10 REB + 3 AST + 2 BLK.
Next game
In the next round of VTB United League, on November 7, Tsmoki-Minsk will host Tallinn Kalev at the Falcon Club arena, the game starts at 15:00.