Sports day by day | «Spartak»’s guard Zakhar Pashutin: «We are looking for a play»

04.12.2009 Despite an away defeat by Spanish “Bilbao” — 65:82, «Spartak» still stands a good chance to win in its group in the European Cup. We have talked about the reasons of defeat, Spanish basketball and his career prospects with Zakhar Pashutin, the most titular Russian basketball player in “Spartak”.

— In the first quarter we played even, — says Pashutin. — In the second one the Spanish team gained an eight-point advantage and managed to keep the gap. We looked for different ways to break in their guard, but the Spanish players played in a very aggressive manner, they quickly gained the lead after our missed shots. We acted quickly, hastily, in a hurried manner, that is why it did not work. 

— Was it the influence of your distant flight?
— Partially. The thing is as I have already told that Spanish team plays in a very aggressive manner, they often interchange using all the twelve players. They concentrated on their guard, that’s why they could quickly move forward three on to two or two on to one. We should have prepared the attacks more thoroughly, put more people in the guard. It turned out that many attacks were hasty which resulted in our loosing the ball. When they gained an eight-point advantage every player from the bench felt comfortable and scored. That is why it was especially hard to play in the second half of the match. 

— You are unaccustomed to play in front of ten thousand people, aren’t you?
— Yes, we are, it is really disturbing when you stand just one meter away from your partner and cannot hear what he says. There were no shows during the match, people came just to watch a basketball game. I have already played against Spanish teams and it has always been like this. By the way, at the hotel we were met by Spanish basketball lovers. They had our photos with names – so we only had to sign them. We were pleased.

— «Bilbao» occupies 14-th place in its championship. Does that mean they have the strongest league in Europe?
— Yes, I think this is true. In each team there are experienced league players and skilled Spanish players – this balance makes their league so strong and basketball quality so high. It is still early to speak of «Bilbao»’s place: if they win a couple of matches they will move up in the table. And besides their three top-clubs -— «Real», «Barcelona» and «Taugres» (currently «Caja Laboral». — «Sports»), are the strongest clubs in Europe, — they are in the top six.

— Tell us please a little bit about Belgian championship and our future rival – “Charleroi”.
— I know that four or five Americans play for this team. They must be quite strong separately. But it can be different if we speak about the team as a whole. I do not think it is as strong as “Bilbao”. But we should treat all the rivals equally, then we will have the results. At the moment we are looking for our play, that is why we cannot relax yet.

— How do you feel being a captain?
— I am a temporary captain, hence we need not discuss it. I encourage the guys, sometimes help them show one hundred percent of their abilities. That is all.

— Your contract with “Spartak” terminates at the end of this season. What are your plans for the future?
— I try not to think about it now because I need to solve current problems. I will think about it when spring comes. I have luckily managed to avoid injuries that’s why I want to play some more games. All I need is offers.

Alexander Yakobson