It will be found a perfect model of basketball 28 may 2013
PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban
The fourth VTB semifinal meeting between Loko and Zalgiris happened to be decisive one for Krasnodar team. Splendid team game of red-greens let them take the advantage at the beginning of the game and increase it to twenty two points. 84:62 – Lokomotiv-Kuban entered the Final of the VTB United League for the first time in its history.
Prologue
From one hand the red-green team was in a win from the desired final and the game was on the Loko home court. From the other hand the railwaymen risked relaxing at homestretch being conscious that they have the fifth match in Kaunas in reserve. Zalgiris in its turn wouldn’t have excused any slight relax. In a case of Lithuanian win tonight the semifinal series would have moved to Zalgiris-Arena increasing chances of Kaunas basketballers for the win.
Play by play
From the beginning defense of both teams was the best for all the four games. Neither Loko nor Zalgiris didn’t hasten to play in paint. If somebody dared for penetration he ran into aggressive defense. That’s why poor score 7:5 after first six playing minutes was achieved only by long-range (Kaukenas, Kalnietis) and middle-range-shots (Javtokas, Brown, Kalnietis). Then shots of Calathes, Jasaitis-Maric bunch in paint and Kalnietis triple let us lead the first quarter – 15:11.
The hosts didn't low speed after the break. Substituting Hendrix strengthened offense and defense. Likhodey was also a headache for the most powerful Zalgiris centers. Tonight Loko played well-arranged team basketball as never before. And it was fruitful, it was the moment when difference in the score was past ten points. But long-range shots of McGrath and Javtokas ceased Loko spurt – 32:37.
The railwaymen were in a splendid form tonight. Jasaitis stuffed opponent’s basket with triples, Calathes used his playmaker’s skills with all his might, Hendrix fought for every rebound. Derrick Brown proved his nickname “invisible dunker” – he appeared from nowhere and drove the ball in. At the result Loko prepared the breeding ground before the last ten minutes – 62:46.
Upshot
It seemed that Zalgiris didn’t believe that it could cope with encouraged red-green opponents. The Lithuanian club didn’t make attempts to reverse the situation or it was not able to make anything. The last minute was going to the deafening applause of the fans. 84:62 – the third consecutive Loko win over Zalgiris (series score 3:1) and entered the final of VTB United League. Since now it remains to wait for the result of the semifinal series between Moscow CSKA and Moscow region Khimki in order to get know Krasnodar vis-à-vis within the Final.
PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban president Andrey Vedischev:
— It’s a great pleasure for us to enter the Final. I am proud of our guys. It was hard series. We suffered crushing loss in Kaunas but then the guys managed to brace up. They displayed that they were stronger and deserve to play in the final. The guys have enough motivation to display splendid basketball and succeed in the final particularly with the basketball we display for the present.
PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
— I congratulate the club and the team. It’s a significant event for us. We have entered the Final of one of the strongest leagues in the European continent. I think it’s a great success. I thank club president Andrey Vedischev who organized club work on a high level. Lokomotiv offers battle to European basketball grandees. Surely it’s a great service of all Lokomotiv members. Tonight everybody showed his worth with a splendid devotion on the court. The guys got the very despairing balls. I think we will be able to do our best in the final because we are united strong team of the strongest players.
PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban forward Simas Jasaitis:
— According to the result it looks like a confident win. Thank to guys who displayed character. All of us were conscious that there was no way back. In a case of loss we would have had to go to Kaunas and nobody wanted to go because it’s very difficult to win there. That’s why everybody applied all the efforts the previous two matches.
From one hand the red-green team was in a win from the desired final and the game was on the Loko home court. From the other hand the railwaymen risked relaxing at homestretch being conscious that they have the fifth match in Kaunas in reserve. Zalgiris in its turn wouldn’t have excused any slight relax. In a case of Lithuanian win tonight the semifinal series would have moved to Zalgiris-Arena increasing chances of Kaunas basketballers for the win.
Play by play
From the beginning defense of both teams was the best for all the four games. Neither Loko nor Zalgiris didn’t hasten to play in paint. If somebody dared for penetration he ran into aggressive defense. That’s why poor score 7:5 after first six playing minutes was achieved only by long-range (Kaukenas, Kalnietis) and middle-range-shots (Javtokas, Brown, Kalnietis). Then shots of Calathes, Jasaitis-Maric bunch in paint and Kalnietis triple let us lead the first quarter – 15:11.
The hosts didn't low speed after the break. Substituting Hendrix strengthened offense and defense. Likhodey was also a headache for the most powerful Zalgiris centers. Tonight Loko played well-arranged team basketball as never before. And it was fruitful, it was the moment when difference in the score was past ten points. But long-range shots of McGrath and Javtokas ceased Loko spurt – 32:37.
The railwaymen were in a splendid form tonight. Jasaitis stuffed opponent’s basket with triples, Calathes used his playmaker’s skills with all his might, Hendrix fought for every rebound. Derrick Brown proved his nickname “invisible dunker” – he appeared from nowhere and drove the ball in. At the result Loko prepared the breeding ground before the last ten minutes – 62:46.
Upshot
It seemed that Zalgiris didn’t believe that it could cope with encouraged red-green opponents. The Lithuanian club didn’t make attempts to reverse the situation or it was not able to make anything. The last minute was going to the deafening applause of the fans. 84:62 – the third consecutive Loko win over Zalgiris (series score 3:1) and entered the final of VTB United League. Since now it remains to wait for the result of the semifinal series between Moscow CSKA and Moscow region Khimki in order to get know Krasnodar vis-à-vis within the Final.
PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban president Andrey Vedischev:
— It’s a great pleasure for us to enter the Final. I am proud of our guys. It was hard series. We suffered crushing loss in Kaunas but then the guys managed to brace up. They displayed that they were stronger and deserve to play in the final. The guys have enough motivation to display splendid basketball and succeed in the final particularly with the basketball we display for the present.
PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
— I congratulate the club and the team. It’s a significant event for us. We have entered the Final of one of the strongest leagues in the European continent. I think it’s a great success. I thank club president Andrey Vedischev who organized club work on a high level. Lokomotiv offers battle to European basketball grandees. Surely it’s a great service of all Lokomotiv members. Tonight everybody showed his worth with a splendid devotion on the court. The guys got the very despairing balls. I think we will be able to do our best in the final because we are united strong team of the strongest players.
PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban forward Simas Jasaitis:
— According to the result it looks like a confident win. Thank to guys who displayed character. All of us were conscious that there was no way back. In a case of loss we would have had to go to Kaunas and nobody wanted to go because it’s very difficult to win there. That’s why everybody applied all the efforts the previous two matches.
Source
http://en.lokobasket.com/news/775148.html
