KNITU-KAI tailored specifically for team game 21.01.2012

— What were the criteria for choosing Rivaz Bikbov and Sergey Romanov in your team?

—If we speak about our team, the initial roster of the East team that I met with had no players of KNITU-KAI. There were a few players from Kazan, but they were from Kazan Power Engineering University and Academy of Physical Culture. Then I asked a logical question to SBA representatives, «We, KNITU-KAI, top the Kazan Division, I’m a coach of the East team, the match was initially expected to be staged on our venue, the KAI-Olimp Sports Complex, but none of KNITU-KAI players are called up to the team. How so? And the reply was that the candidates to the dream team are those players that demonstrate good results at the current championship. But, wait a minute, you cannot build the team that consists of top-scoreres only. Or of defenders only. Besides, our team, KNITU-KAI, lost none of its seven matches played in the Kazan Division, as it’s tailored for a team game where everyone is equal, rather than for a game, where one shoots and the rest just pass him the ball. As a result, two representatives of KNITU-KAI, Rivaz Bikbov and Sergey Pomanov, joined the roster of the East team.

— Even a shooting guard needs people that will be providing him with handoffs. Usually, a team is made up mostly of those who, so to speak, «carry the piano» and only few of those who actually «play it». I think that it’s obvious.

— Let’s say, it’s true, but not for all the teams. And I think that you, journalists, bear partial responsibility for this myth. I remember that when I was coaching UNICS, 20 years ago, I often came across such words of admiration as «Smolenkov scored 25 points!». But I say, OK, let’s look at the statistics. He scored 25, but he shot the ball 40 times, and he missed the rest of the shots. And another player, let’s say, Legonkov, shot ten times, but he scored nine times. His degree of efficiency is higher. And this factor must be a priority. And I’m glad that with my help KNITU-KAI is focused on a team game now. Although, no player of KNITU-KAI is named among best shooters or best passers, but our team always tops the podium and has never lost so far. Does it mean that it is made up of good players? I think so. They are players that can play a team game, that cooperate, and our rival never knows which basketball player is going to score.

— Do you know any other players called up to the national team?

— Unfortunetaly, I cannot help you here, I don’t know all of them so well. There are few reasons for that. The first one is that we play in different divisions and we almost never meet each other. And the second one is that I’ve been in university basketball for a year and a half only, as I’ve been coaching men’s, women’s and youth professional teams only.

— Is the Stars Match the first ever match of this level?

— Of course, not. The most pompous match was held in Krasnoyarsk and saw the participation of NBA players. As far as I remember, Moscow also hosted a similar event. And we held our own Stars Match in Kazan, when the winning team of Tatarstan’s university championship, that KNITU-KAI has been claiming for the past five years, played against the team composed of top players of other teams.

— Speaking of basketball in Kazan, I can say that twenty years ago all the strongest basketball players have been studying at the KSU faculty of calculating mathematics and cybernetics. Practically all Kazan basketball players of UNICS.  Then they started to enter the law faculty. In addition, UNICS had a few players from Kazan State University of Architecture and Engineering. There were no strong basketball players in Kazan Aviation Institute.

— Yes, that’s true. The situation in men’s basketball has totally changed in the past five years. Previously, the team was coached by Svyatoslav Ryabov who owing to his enthusiasm created a good team made up of local students. Under his careful guidance, they have been winning the university championships of Kazan for four consecutive years. Last year the KAI basketball team won the championship under my leadership.

— Fairly often young athletes are admitted to universities due to their sports talents. In this context, Kazan National Research Technical Institute (KNITU-KAI) is absolutely out of the way. The university itself is technical and not tailored for sports, so to speak.

— I agree with that. But a possibility to get the second higher education is of real help to us now. For instance, our team’s top players Rivaz Bikbov, who graduated the Academy of Sports in Naberezhnye Chelny, Sergey Romanov and Oleg Dmitriev, that are alumni of UNICS-2, are getting their Master’s Degree in Sports Management. And they study without our involvement, I should say. Because, the SBA championship regulations include such a paragraph as «academic performance».

— What are other peculiarities of the SBA Championship’s rules and regulations?

— The university championship regulations do not allow the participation of professional basketball players that have acting contracts with the teams of the Professional Basketball League, SuperLeague, Major League. And it’s logical. But the illogical part is the one that allows the participation of basketball players regardless of their age (!). For example, famous Vasily Karasev, the ex-captain of the Russian national basketball team, played in the SBA championship under the banner of the Russian State Academy of Physical Culture. The team from Cherepovets had the starting five composed of five former professional basketball players that were over 40 years old. We were told that all students are allowed to play, regardless of their mode of study: either full-time, part-time or distance programme. I made a joke: «My son is studying in the US, he plays for Dallas University. May I invite him in our team? And he also has a friend, his name is Jordan. Let’s invite them both, as ‘distance learners’?» (Laughs). But to be honest, this season the regulations were corrected a little bit, now only full-time and part-time students are allowed to play.

— Where do UNICS-2 basketball players study?

— Most of them are Kazan Federal University students, as before. However, they are not allowed to play in the SBA championship and its matches are counted against the university championship of Kazan, or so-called University Games of Kazan. That’s the reason that Kazan Federal University never takes first places at our championship. Besides, we’ve included an age limit in the University Games regulations, only basketball players under 27 are allowed in the competitions. Even if you are a professional player, but if you study at the university, you are welcome to play.

There is another section in the SBA championship’s rules that permits to reinforce the team by adding two schoolchildren playing in the Children and Youth Basketball League. Not necessarily school leavers. For some teams of the regions it’s a real strengthening, as these children are members of the national youth teams of Russia.

— And the last question, why does the men’s team of KNITU-KAI tops the standings at Kazan’s championship and the women’s team always finishes in the last place?

— The women’s team is weak, it has no strong players. So far I have no time and possibilities to train the team in earnest. Besides, there is no task set before us to lead each basketball team to the top of the podium.

Djaudat Abdullin

Special to kazan2013.com