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In the VTB United League game, which took place in Krasnodar«Tsmoki-Minsk» lost to “Lokomotiv-Kuban” from Krasnodar 87:92 (18:19, 15:20, 21:28, 33:25).
Starting five
“Lokomotiv-Kuban”: Darius Thompson, Andrey Martyuk, Vladislav Emchenko, Stanton Kidd, Johnathan Motley.
“Tsmoki-Minsk”: Angelo Warner, Yauheni Beliankou, Aliaksei Trastsinetski, Benjamin-Pavel Doodo, Robert Upshaw.
Game review
After the unsuccessful opening match with CSKA, "Tsmoki-Minsk" passionately wanted to prove that it does not reflect the current readiness of the team. And that's why the Dragons started the meeting in Krasnodar with a score of 7:1. Aliaksei Trastsinetski fired from a distance, and Angelo Warner masterfully opened the defense twice and threw from under the ring. The Head Coach of the "railwaymen" Evgeny Pashutin immediately requested a time-out to rebuild the actions of the players. To do this, he let Eric McCollum come to the floor and also obliged his men to play as hard as they could against the “Tsmoki-Minsk”. Darius Thompson set an example: On three occasions he robbed his opponents on the wing, which led to fast counterattacks. The home team overtook its opponent in the 8th minute, and Eric McCollum seized the initiative and brought his team ahead 17:16 from the free-throw line. He answered in the final seconds on a shot by the Dragons' most active player, Angelo Warner, giving “Loko”the lead 19:18 to start the quarter.
The beginning of the next period was left to the Krasnodar residents. The same persistent Darius Thompson not only scored in the pass, but also covered the Minsk point guard, forcing Angelo Warner to receive an unsportsmanlike foul. The gap between the hosts increased to "plus 7", but they failed to increase the comfortable advantage. Warner used the opponent's tactics (steal, breakaway, hit with a bonus penalty), and Robert Upshaw again reduced the distance between the teams to a minimum with an accurate penalty — 26:25. "Tsmoki-Minsk" built a "zone" in defense, which also made it difficult for the "railwaymen" to score points. However, the Minsk residents also made a lot of mistakes in the attack, which did not allow them to regain parity. It is especially unpleasant that they threw only every second ball from the penalty line. On the eve of the break, the opponents increased the pace and exchanged a series of successful combinations. Unfortunately, „Loko” had more of them — 39:33.
Interchange
The first half of the third quarter was the key. The trio of leaders of "Loko" Eric McCollum, Jonathan Motley and Stanton Kidd organized a spectacular breakthrough 17:4, thanks to which the hosts of the hall raced ahead by 19 points. Minsk residents hardly managed to cope with power passes under the Motley shield and especially with throws from behind the arc of McCollum. And although "Tsmoki-Minsk" immediately responded with their jerk 7:0 (Darol Hernandez-Zinenko tried), it was extremely difficult to overtake the opponent who played. The Dragons managed to organize another emotional acceleration at the equator of the final quarter 16:4, and yet the Russian club tried not to let the guests get close to it. The end of the match turned out to be very nervous, Minsk residents approached the enemy at a distance of only two long-range hits (88:82), but they failed to eliminate him. Thanks in large part to Eric McCollum's great performance.
Prominent roles
Angelo Warner played an excellent match as part of "Tsmoki -Minsk": the defender not only threw a lot on his own (scored 29 points), but also worked effectively for the team, making 6 passes and 6 rebounds. Two years ago, it was in a duel with “Tsmoki-Minsk” that Eric McCollum, then playing for UNICS, set a personal performance record in the VTB United League - 33 points. And here again in the meeting with the "dragons", the American scorer exceeded his own achievement by as many as five points.
The most effective
"Lokomotiv-Kuban": Eric McCollum - 38 + 8 pass, Jonathan Motley - 19 + 9 rebounds , Darius Thompson - 13 + 5 rebounds + 6 pass + 3 assist, Stanton Kidd - 13 + 6 rebounds.
"Tsmoki -Minsk": Angelo Warner - 29 + 6 rebounds + 6 pass, Yauheni Beliankou- 15 + 7 rebounds, Darol Hernandez-Zinenko - 11 + 7 rebounds.
Next game
In the third round of the VTB United League, „Tsmoki-Minsk“ will host Perm Parma- Parimatch on October 10. The game starts at 13.00.
Rostislav Vergun is the head coach of “Tsmoki-Minsk”
- After the debut game a week ago we had a lot to think about. It was too sluggish and unsuccessful. We had to find a way to rehabilitate ourselves in front of the fans and play better. We definitely played better today. Basketball is a game of small details. We committed seventeen turnovers and missed seven free throws, all of which certainly affected the outcome. With all due respect to Erik McCollum, who scored 38 points, you can't have one player dominate the game that much and make a difference. We missed some cuts. It's very difficult for a team of this level and with these players to score twenty points. Our chance was for forty minutes to be extremely focused, to execute the plan clearly, to look for weaknesses in the opponent's defense, to make him perform his attacks the way he didn't like. That's how we played for twenty minutes, but it wasn’t enough.
Evgeny Pashutin is head coach of “Lokomotiv-Kuban”:
- We won, it's good. But there's a lot of work to be done on team defense - cooperation, chemistry, one-on-one. The defense is in its infancy: we were able to shoot in fragments, but missed almost ninety points. We need to improve our defense and our rebounding ability to play better all game. On offense we looked much better today, but still had fifteen turnovers. Thanks to the fans for their support. I want to be happy for Stas Ilnitsky, who returned from a serious injury. In this game he showed his best in some episodes.