We stocked up on emotions
The main game of the season's opening part turned to be fantastic. Our team pulled it out by the skin of their teeth and took home the victory from St.Petersburg...
Zenit Saint Petersburg – CSKA PBC: 84-85 (+1)
Zenit: Zhbanov (9 + 5 rb), Randolph (3 + 3 rb + 5 as + 3 to), Poythress (16 + 4 rb + 3 to + 5 pf), Vorontsevich (16 + 3 rb), Yemchenko (13 + 6 as) – start; Roberson (5 rb), Shcherbenev (21 + 3 rb + 3 as + 4 pf), Martyuk (3 + 4 rb), Uzinskiy (3), Zemskiy (DNP), Krivykh (DNP)…
CSKA: Cleveland (10 + 6 as + 4 pf), Ware (9), Ruzhentsev (3), Astapkovich (15 + 8 rb + 6 as), Jean-Charles (10 + 3 rb + 5 to + 4 pf) – start; Jekiri (6 + 6 rb + 2 as + 5 pf), Trimble (17 + 4 rb + 5 as + 4 to + 5 pf), Ukhov (7 + 3 rb + 2 as), Karpenko (DNP), Chadov (DNP), Antonov (8 + 3 rb), Kurbanov (4 rb)…
Andreas Pistiolis, CSKA head coach:
I'm very happy with the victory; we found an opportunity to win, even though we didn't play up to my standards. We mentioned many times in preparation for this game that when their leaders are out, many other players step up, and even then, we weren't able to execute our defense properly. We tried to give the win to our opponents several times, but in the end, we managed to take it back. There are many small details that need to be adjusted for the rest of the season. I'll add that for the first time in my career at CSKA, our opponents have a 33-14 advantage in free throw attempts. This means we're playing aggressively, and we'll continue to play men's basketball, without any tricks or shortcuts.
