Russia’s problems at the point guard are in the past now? At the very least, I wish it
What a great game it was. Spain looked amazing early on and for Russia it wasn’t Alexey Shved’s best day and Andrei Kirilenko struggled offensively, prompting David Blatt to rely on his other options.
Ponkrashov and Mozgov played well and Fridzon was just outstanding. Vitaly was instrumental during the two game-changing sequences. First, he scored eight consecutive points towards the end of second quarter to cut the lead to eight or six while torturing Sergio Llull in a variety of ways – coming off screens, shooting from the corners and making penetrations. And then, when the opponents went up by nine in the fourth, Monya countered with a lay-up and drew a foul on Reyes and Fridzon made two free throws to bring Russia back into game.
There’s also no denying that Victor Khryapa had a fantastic second half and generally everybody who came off the bench was able to contribute and make up for a so-so game of the two guys who’d been the leaders of the team.
At the same time, I’d like to point out that even despite the night off offensively, Kirilenko still managed to help in a number of ways. He played defense, hustled, got deflections, blocked shots, repeatedly went after offensive rebounds. Basically, he gave the team everything he could short of scoring.
It was a victory of togetherness and also a victory of the coaching staff. They made courageous and effective decisions, they did not panic during the spirit-killing first quarter and as a result Russia will finish first in the group and will probably play Lithuania in a classic quarterfinal match-up that could very well determine who’ll advance to the final game from this half of the bracket.
Hopefully, one can assume that Russia’s problems at the point guard position will become a thing of the past now. At the very least, I wish it on David Blatt and his team. We all saw what Shved did in the first games and I can say Anton has also been up to the level of these Olympic Games so far. Here’s hoping that playing to this level will become a norm for him from now on.
From Spain’s perspective, it’s often quite challenging to finish a game off after you jump to an early lead. I want players to understand that sometimes the most difficult scenario is when you’re up by eight to ten points. Here you let the opponents score two or three baskets – and all of a sudden it’s a tied game and you just have to start over again.
That’s what I told during the broadcast yesterday, by the way. Had Spain managed to carry the 15-point lead into the third quarter – it would’ve been a completely different situation. Instead, Russia scored several baskets to make it a wide open game.
Then came the third and Russia scored again. And this is when some of the Spanish players started thinking about the big lead they were squandering, rather than trying to find ways to win. No, they did not panic, they’re too good and experienced for that. But they got nervous and it affected their shooting percentage.
