Good basketball has arrived early this year. Top games come one after another at a time when schoolchildren haven’t got enough A’s yet.
We should thank the VTB United League for heating up interest in the Supercup to such extent that Russian teams give all to win this trophy. UNICS trailed Beşiktaş in the opening game, and Lokomotiv with CSKA showed the kind of intensity that we usually see in playoffs.
The Krasnodar coaching staff decided to start with a surprise: Isaiah Whaley and Vsevolod Ishchenko were in the starting five along with Andrei Martyuk, Patrick Miller and Antonius Cleveland.
Martyuk won the starting jump ball – and opened the score 15 seconds later. In the next attack, he tried to put in a 3-pointer – missed it. Both teams were very into a physical game, but the referees set a low bar, therefore fouls on both sides were registered faster than the points scored.
Young Ishchenko was soon replaced by much tougher Karvel Anderson. As for Whaley, he felt good at hard contact: fought back, blocked shots and even scored from outside the line.
When Miller and his CSKA colleague, point guard Casper Ware, crossed paths, it looked like a battle between two same Pokémon of different levels – and the Krasnodar one appeared to be more advanced: not only because of physical strength, but also of set of skills (Miller’s pass to Martyuk, when Loko took a 9:8 lead, is worth something).
The quarter ended with a long-range shootout: Anton Astapkovich scored for CSKA, Vladislav Yemchenko and BJ Johnson for Loko. 21:24 by the first break – the intensity offered by the champions was decently withstood by the red-greens.
In the second quarter, the teams pushed the tempo even more. Anton Kvitkovskikh scored from afar, then Martyuk brought the deficit to “–2” at the very end of the possession. At that moment CSKA added energy to the defense, forced the opponent to make several hasty throws, Tonye Jekiri score a couple of attempts, and here we go again at “–7”.
But no resistance could stop Miller from scoring. He had a brilliant run: made it in with a foul, made an alley-oop on Cleveland… This clearly encouraged his team-mates: Dmitry Uzinsky made a put-back after Yemchenko’s three – that’s how Loko came ahead, 45:44! CSKA took the lead back, but Uzi tied the score with a long-range shot (50:50). By the big break, the opponents scored 106 points in total – an impressive performance!
It seemed that the rapid scoring would continue in the 3rd quarter, especially after Anderson scored his usual three, and after another long throw from Karvel, Whaley put the ball back into the basket, putting Loko ahead again – 57:56.
But soon Martyuk and Yelatontsev got a bit too much fouls, and it affected the gameplay: the trio of CSKA bigmen Jekiri / Amath M’Baye / Livio Jean-Charles mercilessly took advantage of every mismatch under Loko’s hoop.
Still, the Krasnodar team produced some great episodes: when Yemchenko made a great assists – first to Cleveland, then to Uzinsky. But by the end of the quarter, CSKA was already ahead by 8 points, 71:79.
Loko added some extra grit: Yemchenko bravely scored with a foul, immediately made a steal, and Cleveland set the score to 76:81 with 7 minutes left to play.
But this hyperactivity also had a downside: the same Cleveland gave the Krasnodar fans a full range of emotions in a matter of seconds – firstly by great dunk, and then immediately by receiving a technical foul. Having scored a free throw and 2 more points in the next attack, CSKA led by 13 points in the middle of the quarter.
Miller continued to be unstoppable. Kvitkovskikh grabbed an offensive rebound and scored two free throws – but each time CSKA responded with scoring back. Somehow it turned into 85:101, with only 2:10 left to play.
The game broke up into short plays, like football. The Loko coaching staff held one emotional timeout after another. At one point it seemed that Miller and Melo Trimble would burst into fight, but no – they just exchanged meaningful glances. The Krasnodar players made a three-point shot in every attack: Miller scored, Whaley scored, Johnson scored – but in only helped to reduce the gap to 10 points.
Lokomotiv Kuban showed decent physical readiness and zeal. By adding some cool head, the good result can be reached on this base.
However, the next game for Andrey Vedischev’s guys is no easier – on Friday, September 13, Loko will face Crvena Zvezda. The start is at 5 PM.