For almost two months, due to Covid postpones, Tsmoki-Minsk did not play in the VTB United League. And finally, the forced downtime is over. Today, at the Falcon Club court, Rostislav Vergun and the squad met with Enisey Krasnoyarsk. The match ended with a brilliant victory for the Dragons, who showed their fighting spirit and fortitude — 72:68 (7:21, 17:26, 19:10, 29:11).
Starting fives
Tsmoki-Minsk: Uladzislau Blizniuk, Angelo Warner, Yauheni Beliankou, Aliaksei Trastsinetski, Darol Zinenko.
Enisey: Kasper Ware, Ivan Victorov, Timofei Yakushin, Alexander Gudumak, James Tompson.
Game scenario
It's funny that the previous game of dragons was just with the Enisey. Too long «game silence» of the team was embarrassing - after such a long pause (almost two months!) it is extremely difficult to maintain a balance in the composition, game rhythm, and fighting spirit. Moreover, recently many basketball players and coaches of Tsmoki-Minsk dropped out of the training process due to medical contraindications. Yes, and for this match our leader Evgeny Belyankov played with a leg injury.
The meeting with the Siberians was also interesting for the reason that 24-year-old American forward De’Quon Lake and 18-year-old Roman Shcherbakov made their debuts in Tsmoki-Minsk.
Enisey arrived in Minsk without head coach Drazhen Anzulovich - the Croatian specialist fell ill, and his assistant Pavel Dergachev replaced him. However, this had absolutely no effect on the attacking power of the team, who, unlike the dragons, had regular practice in the VTB United League and the European Northern League. The score began to grow too quickly in favor of the guests. Moreover, this was influenced by the bad game of the Tsmoki in defense, and the their low effectiveness in offense. For the starting quarter, we were able to score only seven points.
The second quarter began with three-point hits by Ivan Viktorov (3 «threes» in a row) and Kasper Ware. And the backlog of the hosts took a threatening shape — minus 27. Rostislav Vergun had to beat down the guest courage with a timeout, and at the same time look for more constructive forms of defense and effective attack. And it looks like they have been found. Daniil Borisevich and Aleksey Trostinetsky adjusted their aim when firing from behind the arc, D'Kuon Lake hit two dunks, and the team became much more aggressive on defense.
The third period proved that not everything is lost. Tsmoki-Minsk gave a great spurt 17:2, and most importantly - seized the initiative, showed a great desire to recoup. And now the Enisey coach had to request an emergency one-minute time-out. Alas, the pause really benefited the Russian team - they performed jerk of 8:0, and it indicated to the opponent that any relaxation was eliminated.
Denouement
The dragons started the final quarter with a good spurt 12:2. In those moments, Angelo Warner, Yauheni Beliankou and Jason Clark showed themselves great in offense, Clark hit ring twice from the perimeter. With 3.04 till the end, Yauheni Beliankou put Tsmoki-Minsk ahead for the first time (64:63), and after that Beliankou and Clark increased this advantage even further — 69:63. It's a pity that a few unfortunate dragons’ turnovers almost ruined the game. Enisey went all-in, betting on long-range shots, but our guys defended skillfully. The sharpest attack of Angelo Warner became decisive, he overplayed three opponents and hit the ball to the basket - 71-66. Jason Clark made the final "shot" from the free throw line.
The number
13 - assists were performed by Tsmoki-Minsk guard Angelo Warner.
Prominent roles
American legionnaires of Tsmoki-Minsk Angelo Warner, Jason Clark, as well as Yauheni Beliankou showed themselves great in the offense in the decisive minutes of the match and helped the team to make a comeback from "minus 27". Such a comeback is a record in the history of the VTB United League.
Scoring leaders
Tsmoki-Minsk: Angelo Warner - 16 PTS + 6 REB + 13 AST + 2 STL, Yauheni Beliankou - 15 PTS + 6 REB + 3 AST, De’Quon Lake - 12 PTS + 5 REB + 2 AST, Jason Clark - 11 PTS + 3 REB.
Enisey: Alexander Gudumak - 17 PTS + 3 REB, Ivan Victorov - 9 PTS, Rion Brown - 9 PTS + 3 REB.
Rostislav Vergun - Tsmoki-Minsk Head Coach:
Congratulations to all the guys, the team, the club. The game was very difficult for us, especially in psychological terms. After 49 days without any games, I can probably say that we did not even have the opportunity to train with a full squad, except for yesterday. Everyone fulfilled his role, gave himself completely to the common goal - victory. Probably the opponent also experienced some difficulties. The character came to the fore and I am very proud that my team showed it. And such a handicap is probably the biggest comeback in the club history. This is the mark of a good team. So thanks again for their work. We will prepare for the game and I hope that we will improve in quality, as we have added a player who I hope will be even more effective in the next games. Thanks for the support of the fans. We are waiting for them in a week on the February 17th. We will prepare and move on.
Next game
The next match of the VTB United League Tsmoki-Minsk will play on February 17 at the "Minsk-Arena" with St. Petersburg Zenit. The meeting starts at 19.00. Unless, of course, the damn covid does not bring another unpleasant surprise.