Zaporozhye coach: “It was a serious challenge for our team”

Head coach of BC Zaporozhye Dmitry Shchiglinsky He summarized the results of the team’s last matches in 2025 against Krivbass (68:84) and Niko-Basket (78:67).

“Going into the last calendar bubble this year we clearly understood how important this was for us in terms of tournament position. “Krivbass” were right behind us in the table and “Niko-Basket” were playing at home, so both matches promised to be extremely difficult. We were also without our captain Anton Buts, who was injured, which significantly affected the preparations.

We had a bad start to our match against Krivbass, the opponent scored their first long range shots, became confident and kept control of the match for most of the game. We managed to reduce the difference to 4 points in the fourth quarter, but unfortunately we did not have the strength to do more. Krivbass’ last attack with 11:0 gave them an important victory. In the absence of Anton Buts, they had to use rotation and it was not easy for Vyacheslav Kiktev to counter the opponent’s big players.

Our expectations were also the highest for our second match against Niko-Basket. We recently met with this team at the Ukrainian Cup and made a comprehensive analysis. I would like to thank my assistant for her quality work. We analyzed the mistakes in the previous match in detail and focused on playing defense. Even though we made many interventions at the beginning of the match, we could not immediately gain the scoring advantage. The team added more after the first quarter. There were quick breaks, easy points and a more organized attack, and these ultimately brought results. We got the win we needed.

Overall, I am happy with the results of this dough. We maintained our place among the top four teams in the Super League, so I evaluate the performance positively. Playing without one of the starting five players is a serious challenge for our team. I thank the men for their character; “After the defeat in the first match, no one gave up and the next day we played a high-quality game, first of all, as a single team.”