On the eve of the start of Euroleague regular phase BC Khimki head coach Sergio Scariolo answered the questions of the correspondent of the Euroleague official website www.euroleague.net. We offer you a fragment of this interview. All the video can be viewed on Euroleague TV.

Sergio Scariolo:
– We have entered Euroleague after qualifying rounds. We are very happy, but the real battle is beginning now. Initially, the club's goal is to get into TOP-16. Just reaching this result, we will think about new problems.

This summer we had an impressive selective campaign. The departure of Timofey Mozgov overseas to NBA we have compensated by highly qualified players – Kreshimir Loncar, Aleksey Savrasenko and Benjamin Eze. Also Sergey Monya, Thomas Kelati, Zoran Planinic and Vadim Panin came to BC Khimki. All the newcomers have valuable experience of playing in top different teams.

This season we are working to be a good defensive team. For this purpose we have developed a special program, which should help all the players to communicate and understand each other on the court better. In the meantime, we are far from optimal conditions, and we have something to strive. In every meeting we have to look as a unit, as a TEAM in in the full sense of the word.

– We know Asseco Prokom quite well, – BC Khimki captain Vitaly Fridzon said. – It turns out that with this team BC Khimki has played quite often in recent years. And this season we'll meet in the group stage of two tournaments – Euroleague and United League VTB. I think it is not bad: Prokom is a great rival, and the fans will see beautiful basketball. Maybe during this time we will get used to each other, but that does not mean that we will not be able to surprise the rival. As BC Khimki as Prokom are the teams of a very high class. We know that our opponent has been the champion of Poland during last seven years. In addition, the team managed to preserve the backbone of the leaders: German forward Jan-Hendrik Jagla and ex-BC Khimki players – a center Ratko Varda and a point guard Daniel Ewing. Their capabilities are well known to us. And a young coach Tomas Pacesas, played in Russia, has proved to be great on the “captain bridge”. So at the start of Euroleague we are preparing for a serious fight.

Watch a live broadcast on NTV Plus Sport at 19:30 Moscow time.

VISITING CARD

Asseco Prokom Gdynia (Gdynia, Poland)

Leagues: Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK), Euroleague
Founded: 1995
History: Prokom Trefl (1995-2008), Asseco Prokom Sopot (2008-2009), Asseco Prokom Gdynia (2009-present)
Arena: Gdynia Sports Arena (capacity: 5,000)
Location: Gdynia, Poland
Team colors: Yellow and Blue
President: Przemysław Sęczkowski
Head coach: Tomas Pačėsas (since December 1, 2007)
Achievements:
Polish Championship (7): 2004-2010
Polish Cup (4): 2000, 2001, 2006, 2008
Website: www.asseco.prokom.pl

RECENT RESULTS

Polish Supercup. October, 6
Asseco Prokom – AZS Koszalin – 89-78 (26-26, 21-19, 25-8, 17-25)

Polish Championship. October, 8
Zastal – Asseco Prokom – 76-61 (22-18, 17-22, 27-8, 10-13)

VTB United League. October, 10
Azovmash – Asseco Prokom – 80-76 (22-12, 22-26, 14-18, 22-20)

Polish Championship. October, 13
Asseco Prokom – Polonia – 81-53 (15-11, 28-11, 21-16, 17-15)

VTB United League. October, 16
VEF-Riga – Asseco Prokom – 63-76 (15-21, 17-23, 12-16, 19-16)

TEAM ROSTER

№	Player	Position	Height	Birthday .	Nationality
5	Daniel Ewing	G	191	1983	USA
10	Michael Wilks	G	178	1979	USA
11	Bobby Brown	G	188	1984	USA
13	Mateusz Kostrzewski	F	201	1989	Poland
14	Jan-Hendrik Jagla	F	213	1981	Germany
16	Adam Łapeta	C	217	1987	Poland
18	Robert Witka	F	205	1981	Poland
41	Iwo Kitzinger	G	183	1985	Poland
20	Piotr Szczotka	F	196	1981	Poland
21	Ratko Varda	C	213	1979	Bosnia
30	Ronald Burrell	F	204	1983	USA
34	Adam Hrycaniuk	C	206	1984	Poland
8	Filip Videnov	F	196	1980	Bulgaria
4	Justin Ray Giddens	G	196	1985	USA