Sport Weekend, "Ahead, for Petersburg!" | Sergey Kuznetsov: «Spartak»’s team play is becoming better and better

10.12.2009 An expert today is Sergey Kuznetsov, a master of sports of international class and a 1975 USSR champion as part of “Spartak”. The “golden” shot performer that made the whole Leningrad happy tries not to miss a game of his home team and looks at the games from the point of view of a professional.
- As compared to the first matches of this season the changes to the better in the game with Charleroi hit the eye. You can feel that Tsvi Sherf, a new team’s main coach, tries to strengthen the discipline. Decreased time of Levans Fields’ possession of the ball positively influences the team play.
I am not one of those who denies this playmaker any prospects. Fields could have made a good match but in this case the team wouldn’t have been able to play. Now it is obvious that playmaker’s role in the modern “Spartak” is not so big any more. At the same time this is more favorable for the team.
Pay your attention to John Robert Holden’s play in CSKA. His periods of ball possession are quite short and he understands perfectly well that playmaker should not necessarily pull all the strings during 23 of 24 seconds of attack. Fields is yet to learn that. The same concerns Anton Ponkrashov, a Saint-Petersburg basketball player who is now playing for CSKA.
Yegor Meshcheryakov looked much better in the recent games and in the match against Belgian team he has already shown 80% of his last year potential. I don’t see why the previous coach disliked him. This Belarusian forward is one of the team’s cornerstones.
Another Atlas in my opinion is Milovan Rakovic. His physical abilities are incredible. He wouldn’t get lost even in the NBA. However he hasn’t managed to use them for several years.
“Spartak”s orchestra lacks a conductor. Just look at great UNICS and Locomotiv where this role is performed by Marko Popovich and Aleksander Chapin. Last year we had Andrew Vishnevsky who created opportunities for his partners and could skillfully adjust the game rhythm.  
Why was the match with Belgians so easy? «Charleroi» didn’t have a conductor either. When I played for “Spartak” we had Aleksander Belov who is still considered to be a phenomenal player. He could direct his partners and lead the game when it was necessary but the most important of all is that he could bring the coach’s ideas to the playground. 
I don’t see such players in the current team. Certainly, Anton Yudin and Zakhar Pashutin are very good players but they were kept on the benches of Russian clubs for too long.
We have seen new coach’s guidance in the match against “Charleroi” but will that be enough for the forthcoming match with “Dinamo”? The current Russian championship is so rapid that any mistake especially in a home match will result in the team’s missing play-off or meeting CSKA or “Khimki” in the first round..
A home defeat by “Locomotiv” and then by “Yenisey” has created a lot of psychological problems. The guys lose self-confidence and get constrained. Winning against “Charleroi” will not make them feel totally free.
Modern European cups differ a lot from the ones “Spartak” used to take part in the 70-s and 80-s. Then two, and later three, teams of one country could participate. And there were less countries either. The Cup Winners' Cup, the European Cup predecessor, comprised basketball elite of the Old World. It seems that today anyone who can pay an application fee may participate in such tournaments. It is becoming more a show rather than sports.
Of course the audience may be excited with some tricks of James White, but such attractions are more suitable for “Harlem Globetrotters”. When they came to Saint-Petersburg I was really bored as I am used to basketball being an intellectual game the main point of which is the winning score on the table.