Sports day by day | Zvi Sherf, “Spartak”’s main coach: «I am satisfied with Babichev’s debut»

17.12.2009 In European cups “Spartak” is much more confident than in the Russian Superleague. In Belgium  the red-and-whites scored the second convincing victory over “Charleroi”, and it is the first time in European cups that our team can win in its group. The team’s main coach was having rest after flight from Belgium but he made an exception for the “Sports” journalist and answered some questions.

— We were good in guard play, — began Sherf. — We were much more confident than in the home match. Keeping the gap of fifteen points in an away game is a very difficult task, you can trust me in that. When we played with the Belgians at home we didn’t manage to do this.

— Judging by the score, “Spartak” was quite good in the attack as well, wasn’t it?
— I partially agree with you. We played very well in the third quarter but showed bad game in the last quarter. I don’t see why we failed to score several easy shots. In general our team play is becoming better and better, I had some reasons for optimism after match with “Dinamo”. Though after that game Zozulin injured his leg that is why he could not spend a lot of time on the playground in Belgium.

— Do you know when he is supposed to recover?
— He has gone to Germany to find out how much time he will need for his treatment. However, he is supposed to come back to Saint-Petersburg today. 

— It was the first game of Andrey Babichev. What is your assessment of his debut?
— In the game with the Belgians he managed what we had expected from him. He was good in guard play and in making rebounds. His shots lacked accuracy in attack however he scored foul shots. At the moment he is not in his best form but I am sure that by the middle of January he will improve it and will help us in achieving success.

— Do you know that under your guidance “Spartak” stands a good chance of winning in its group for the first time in the European cups?
— Yes, I am aware of that and I will be really pleased if it happens. Meanwhile we need to work hard to make it come true.

— Can we say that the level of the championship of Russia is higher than the one of the European championship?
— I don’t want to discuss it right now. We work and try to grow regardless of what game we are going to have next: in Russia or in Europe. In short, we will strive for winning in all the competitions. It is very difficult indeed but nobody loses heart.

— “Spartak” will play its next match against CSKA in Moscow – it will be quite a hard task to win…
— I will not dodge — CSKA is an absolute favourite in this game. I think this is the best Russian team. We will study our rival attentively, today I will watch their game against “Maccabi” and study their strengths and weaknesses. If all our players manage to show the best of their abilities, we will win. That’s what we are going to strive for. 

— We already know that Russia’s rivals at the world championship 2010 will be: Turkey, Greece, Puerto Rico, China and Cote d'Ivoire. They say that we’ve got the weakest group. Do you agree with that?
— Everything depends on Russia’s national team and the players that will go to Turkey. If they have Kirilenko – it will be one variant, if not – a different one. To put it simply – everything depends on your team and that is good.

— What can you say about the level of our rivals?
— It is still too early to speak about that. My contract with “Spartak” ends at the end of this season, by that time all the teams will announce the lists of the players. I promise to share with you all the information I will get.
Alexander Yakobson

|Note
«Spartak»’s away victory in Belgium was the biggest victory in European cups in Russian history. Until that Tuesday evening this team’s record was «+9», scored on November 27, 2007 in Athens, when the red-and-whites defeated local “Maroussi”. Having defeated “Charleroi” Saint-Petersburg team made a wonderful surprise for its fans. Previously in Eurocups “Spartak” was not very successful in away games: it won only six out of 19 matches, besides three of them were played in the qualifying round.
 
Results
Regular season. Men. Game 4. Group E.
«Charleroi» (Belgium) — «Spartak» (Russia) — 50:68 (15:16, 11:20, 11:22, 13:10)
Ch: Hamilton, Jacobson (both — 10 each), Broyles (9)
S: Fields (5 + 5 rebounds), Pashutin (7), White (20), Meshcheryakov (13 + 9 rebounds), Rakovic (12 + 14 rebounds) — starting five; Kolesnikov (6), Babichev (3), Zozulin (2), Dedushkin (0), Suton (0), Yudin (0)
December 15. Charleroi. Spirou Dome. 5000 viewers.
«Bilbao» (Spain) — « Turk Telekom » (Turkey) — 81:75
Teams’ positions: 1. «BILBAO» — 4 victories/0 defeats; 2. «Spartak» — 3/1; 3. «Turk Telekom» — 1/3; 4. «Charleroi» — 0/4
Game 5. January 5. «Turk Telekom» — «Spartak», «Bilbao» — «Charleroi»
Game 6. January 12. «Spartak» — «Bilbao», «Charleroi — «Turk Telekom»