BC Khimki Head Coach Kestutis KEMZURA said he is satisfied not only with the victory but also that his team beat out the strong rival who was tenacious with their objective of not letting their opponent play, but Khimki demonstrated they were ready for anything.


— We practically don’t have time to prepare for games. When the opponent makes a zone press, and does not let any runs, the score does not grow as fast as the spectators demand.

— As a team, Spartak Primorie is strong beating us in the start of the championship, and could frazzle the nerves of any team. I think we armed ourselves and controlled the game course. Of course, I have my expectations for the boys, especially in the rebounds, and assists, but they didn’t have a bad defense: 61 points we let slip by for the rival, and almost one third of the shots launched by them seemed to have been good results. It’s possible the young ones came out too successful in the game, but I think Shved and Mozgov have a brilliant future in front of them.


In the end, a Russian line up played…

— Until the match, I had not planned it, but it turned out that way, our advantage was more than clear and I thought I could give them each a chance to play, to protect the leaders. In the defense, the reserves played well. It’s possible that they did not perform ideally in the offense, but the fundamental roster did not play as much. McCarty was on court more than anyone, but even Kelly played less than 25 minutes of game time.

How do you explain the less-than-fortunate second quarter?

— The opponent stuck to us and held us back.

The two first shots, from the arc, reached their target, but then after the break, only one in nine made the mark. How did that happen?

— You have to ask the players that question.


What did you tell the players in the halftime break, because in the third quarter the ratio of successful shots grew to over 50 per cent successes?

— I don’t have any magic words. I advised them to not attack in difficult situations. When the shots were being thrown, the boys got brave. All 3-pointers are fundamental tools for a zone defense.

Spartak Primorie Head Coach Sergey BABKOV considers that his players did not play the necessary basketball to allow them a man on man with the strong opponent. He thinks his players left the ball too open, attempting to shoot individually, and forgetting their team mates.

— The Muscovites and the Moscow Region Club showed us that we still have a lot of work to do. The three clubs against which we played this last time, showed a good defense, which is very hard to break apart individually. However it is not easy to develop a team game. Since October, we have played less than 20 games. Now I am focusing on the front line players, especially Tsypatchev, who, like Keirou, can’t find his game.


In what ways does Spartak Primorie differ in their performance when playing a home court game, to when they play an away game?

— I don’t think you can speak of an advantage in one’s own court. Of course, the fans help, but I think that they have already forgotten us in Vladivostok. At home games, we lost against CSK VVS Samara. Yes, at the beginning of the championship, we were able to beat Dynamo and Khimki, thanks to our commitment and to our center Thomas Nagis.