VTB United League. BC Khimki vs. VEF-Riga19 october 2014
In the second in a row game vs VEF Riga BC Khimki did its best to beat very uncompromising and tenacious Latvian team — 96-87 (25-24, 20-23, 24-19, 27-21)! The next game our team will play in Eurocup on the road vs. Union Olimpija Ljubljana on Wednesday, October 22, 2014. The beginning of the meeting is at 20.00 msk.
BC Khimki: Lauvergne (18 + 6 rebounds), Popovic (15 + 4 assists, 1 rebound + 1 steal), Rice (14 + 5 assists + 3 rebounds + 1 steal), Honeycutt (12 + 7 rebounds + 2 steals + 1 assist), Koponen (11 + 5 assists + 5 rebounds + 1 steal), Davis (10 + 4 rebounds + 2 steals + 1 assist), Sheleketo (7 + 1 rebound + 1 steal), Monya (4 + 6 assists + 3 rebounds + 2 steals), Vyaltsev (3 + 1 rebound + 1 steal), Ilnitsky (2)
POST-GAME QUOTES
Rimas Kurtinaitis, BC Khimki head coach:
— I'm happy that we won, but I'm not happy with the way we played. This style of play doesn't suit us, because we got into a shootout today and it's always a matter of luck. We didn't control our opponent for three quarters. We let them score a lot and the result speaks for itself: we gave up 87 points, when our game plan is to give up no more than 15 points per quarter, in other words, 60 points per game. We couldn't do that today.
I'd like to praise VEF. They're a very young team and they play hard regardless of the result. On the other hand, this win should be to our advantage. We've got tough road games coming up against Olimpija, CSKA and Besiktas, where we'll need to know what it's like to play a tough game. We had issues with our focus; the players weren't prepared; and we didn't give our opponent enough credit.
Nikolajs Mazurs, VEF Riga head coach:
— I'd like to congratulate Khimki on the win. Today's game was the complete opposite of the game we played on Wednesday in the Eurocup. We had a pretty solid first half and executed the game plan step by step. In the second half, we didn't have enough strength. We got into foul trouble and our opponent's talent began to have an impact. In the last quarter, we couldn't handle the pressure. We made several stupid mistakes, falling behind by 6-7 points.
In the end, we didn't manage to get back in the game, but it is encouraging to see that we had 23 assists and won the rebounding battle, even if just minimally. We also forced 19 turnovers, which speaks to our work on defense. Unfortunately, we couldn't hold on for 40 minutes.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Rimas Kurtinaitis, BC Khimki head coach:
— I'm happy that we won, but I'm not happy with the way we played. This style of play doesn't suit us, because we got into a shootout today and it's always a matter of luck. We didn't control our opponent for three quarters. We let them score a lot and the result speaks for itself: we gave up 87 points, when our game plan is to give up no more than 15 points per quarter, in other words, 60 points per game. We couldn't do that today.
I'd like to praise VEF. They're a very young team and they play hard regardless of the result. On the other hand, this win should be to our advantage. We've got tough road games coming up against Olimpija, CSKA and Besiktas, where we'll need to know what it's like to play a tough game. We had issues with our focus; the players weren't prepared; and we didn't give our opponent enough credit.
Nikolajs Mazurs, VEF Riga head coach:
— I'd like to congratulate Khimki on the win. Today's game was the complete opposite of the game we played on Wednesday in the Eurocup. We had a pretty solid first half and executed the game plan step by step. In the second half, we didn't have enough strength. We got into foul trouble and our opponent's talent began to have an impact. In the last quarter, we couldn't handle the pressure. We made several stupid mistakes, falling behind by 6-7 points.
In the end, we didn't manage to get back in the game, but it is encouraging to see that we had 23 assists and won the rebounding battle, even if just minimally. We also forced 19 turnovers, which speaks to our work on defense. Unfortunately, we couldn't hold on for 40 minutes.
Last games
VTB United LeagueBC Khimki vs. Lokomotiv-Kuban — 85-92VTB United League
Lokomotiv-Kuban vs. BC Khimki — 89-80VTB United League
BC Khimki vs. Avtodor — 80-84VTB United League
Tsmoki-Minsk vs. BC Khimki — 65-81VTB United League
Kalev vs. BC Khimki — 91-84VTB United League
BC Khimki vs. Nizhny Novgorod — 64-69VTB United League
BC Khimki vs. Enisey — 89-83EuroLeague
Olympiacos vs. BC Khimki — 82-75EuroLeague
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. BC Khimki — 92-62
