Zvi Sherf: "We have very intensive schedule of preparing for the season"

The head coach of Spartak Zvi Sherf said about preseason team preparation which our team started this week.

“We have very intensive and good schedule of preparing for the season. For me season will start in September 29 with the game with PAOK. We have to be ready to this date as so good as we can. We have a lot of problems now. Some our players are in National teams. Though we congratulate every player who is in National team – Russian, Slovenian and Bosnian. If players are there they play good. Even though we suffer from their absence. We can’t start to practice by all the team together. Players will come to the team in different time and we have to help them to be in system, to know each other, to be in a good shape. Also you know if a player comes from National team he has 10 days off.
Let’s speak about Russian team. Now 2 our players are in National team and one left it because of injury. I don’t know how many of them will be in 12 and come to Worlds. I believe two will be there. We don’t know when the team will finish World championships. If the games will finish only in September 12-13, then players will come to Moscow and it will remain only two weeks before the game with PAOK. It will be almost impossible to put them in the team. And Ponkrashov and Kolesnikov also as Zozulin play very important roles in our team.
We want also Domercant to come and to join the team. He is a very important player for us. But he didn’t have a rest. He finished to play in Italian league in the end of June. In 10 days he started preparation for games in Bosnian team. But we need him. What to do? We have athletic coach, we have medical staff, we have my knowledge of basketball. We want him to be ready.
Immediately after these games against PAOK we have start in Professional basketball league championships. And we have a very tough schedule - 3 away games in the start of the championships – against UNICS, CSKA and Khimki. We have to be strong, to be ready mentally and to try to win.

In Finland we work now with players who are not in National teams to bring them one level of shape. In three days after returning from Finland we go to Bormio where we’ll have 8 practice games. I believe that when we return from Bormio we’ll be a better team. Up to this moment players from Nationals will come to the team. After Bormio we’ll have a very good tournament in Turkey.  We return from Turkey in St.Petersburg in September, 21 and all players are will be here and we’ll have Kondrashin and Belov’s Cup and we’ll start to prepare for games with PAOK”.

-    Many people ask if all the players that are in the team now are here according to your agreement?
-    No player is here without my agreement for sure. I’m involved in all processes in the team.
-    Will be else some new players in the team?
-    We need one or two more Russian players. We do some try outs now but there is no a great choice in the market now. We give some chances to some young players now and we’ll see. May be somebody of them will be in the team. Let’s see after the camp in Finland.