– Many thanks to the RFB for inviting me to participate in this training camp, – says Roman Semerninov, who, in addition to working as an assistant coach of Loko, also heads the youth national team of Russia (U20). – And, of course, I am also very grateful to the management of the club – for letting me go to Novogorsk. It is a great honor to participate in the preparation of the main team of the country. It was incredibly interesting to exchange experiences with the coaching staff of the national team.
My impressions are the most gorgeous. I saw the full picture of what the head coach of the national team Zoran Lukic and his assistants want from the youth players. In club work, I think this will also help me. A lot of players have recently started to be called up from Lokomotiv-Kuban to the Russian national team – we will bring them to the national team training camp more efficiently.
- What did you do during the gathering?
- – There was a lot of theory. We played one control game, divided into two teams. Lukich carefully looked at who was working how, gave a lot of recommendations, which should be given special attention. The emphasis was mainly on the offensive game: how best to put up barriers, play pick-n-rolls and so on.
- What kind of basketball does Zoran Lukic require from the U20 national team and from the players who move from the youth team to the adult national team?
- – His requirements are very strict – to all the little things, to every detail. The main thing that he requires is the most attentive game in defense. Russian Russian was the language of Lukich's training, and he also gave instructions in Russian. And he constantly stressed that he needed complete dedication and the fastest possible decision-making.
- How did Kirill Yelatontsev prove himself at the training camp?
- – In my opinion, he showed great – both in the test match and in the training process. I am very pleased with his dedication. He tried to show his maximum at every moment, he understood that it was a great honor to represent Loko at the national team level, to be called up to the main team of the country for the first time. I believe that Yelatontsev has a huge potential. I hope that the coaching staff of the national team also appreciated it.
From February 15 to 20, Novogorsk will host another national team training camp, after which the Russian national team is scheduled to travel to Serbia for two friendly matches – against Mega and FMP clubs. The expanded list of participants in the training camp includes six Loko players at once: defenders Zakhar Vedishchev, Vladislav Yemchenko, Alexander Shcherbenev, forwards Anton Kvitkovskikh, Andrey Martyuk and center Kirill Yelatontsev. Forward Egor Sychkov was also initially called up, but, alas, the player was injured and was out until the end of February.