Vatutin – about Yuri Panov: “The fact that in the 90s our basketball did not become a lifeless form is the merit of such enthusiastic coaches”

Basketball coach Yuri Panov was a hard worker who “patiently and honestly did his job” and in difficult conditions worked “for an idea, not for money,” CSKA President Andrei Vatutin told Match TV.

On Thursday it became known about the passing of the honored coach of Russia, the father of Sergei Panov, Yuri Panov. Yuri Panov died at the age of 85.

– Any memory is subjective. My story about Yuri Ivanovich will be doubly so, because in the 90s, and at the beginning of this century, we were strong friends with Sergei Panov, and I knew, as they say, the whole family from the inside. Yuri Ivanovich was not at all a nationally famous coach. He was such an ascetic, a modest worker who quietly, without pomp and loud interviews, patiently and honestly did his job. The fact that in the 90s and subsequent years our basketball did not die completely, did not become a lifeless form, is the merit of such enthusiastic coaches who, despite everything, went to work every day and remained faithful to their work. Fans often like to remember the famous CSKA team, when the guys, without actually receiving a salary, fought in the Euroleague with rich giants. So, “Ryazan” of Yuri Ivanovich, of course, did not beat “Real” and “Olympiacos” and did not ring a bell throughout the country and Europe, but in the same living conditions “for an idea, not for money” it continued to play and remained faithful to basketball . Without Yuri Ivanovich this would definitely have been impossible.

Just because Sergei Panov, the best student of his father, made his famous pass for our basketball in Athens in the semi-finals with the US team – this already means that Yuri Ivanovich did not live his life in basketball in vain. May his memory be blessed,” Vatutin told Match TV.