Basketball
ELKINSON: “We have a dream: to return European trophies to Zaporozhye”
President of the Zaporozhye Regional Basketball Federation Valery Elkinson Summarized the results of the first part of the season for BC Zaporozhye.
– Valery, at the beginning of the season you made predictions about BC Zaporozhye’s performance in the Super League and the Ukrainian Cup. The second round is already underway. Are you happy with the results?
– Yes, I am satisfied. Many experts predicted that we would be ninth or tenth, but we need work, system and team for the result. We have a very small staff: club president Viktor Stelmakov, chief accountant Tatyana Kozachenko and media director Roman Polyachenko. These people have been working for the benefit of Zaporizhzhya basketball for years, and thanks to this, we achieved the current result.
– Which matches did you like the most? Where did the team perform at its best?
– First of all, both matches will be played against Kharkov Falcons. Unfortunately, we lost the first match in overtime and won the second match by one point. These are important matches as the opponent’s head coach is our former mentor Valery Plekhanov. The matches were quite challenging and interesting.
– What about the matches against Dnepr?
– “Dnepr” is the leader of the championship today and so far it is difficult for us to fight with them. Our main duty now is to protect basketball in such difficult times. We plan to compete for medals in the future as well. We have a common dream with the city and regional authorities: to return the European Cup of basketball to Zaporozhye.
– How do you evaluate the role of American legionnaires in BC Zaporozhye?
– The team has a very good microclimate, foreign players are very well integrated into the team. They are the leaders of the team today. At the same time, you must understand that times are difficult and communicating with strangers in such conditions is a particular challenge. But despite all the difficulties, the team works in unity and produces results.
Captain Anton Buts plays a big role; He is a leader not only on the field, but also in the locker room, helping young people and communicating with foreign players.
– Anton Buts plays a very consistent game. Was he given any special assignments?
– Anton has been in our club for many years and is playing better every season. He has a strong character and he shows it in his matches. He manages the team; This is very important.
– How do young people express themselves?
– We are satisfied. Ilya Lishchina is our student who returned home after studying on the Dnieper. Vyacheslav Kiktev is a hardworking player, although there are some difficulties. We also signed another student, Alexander Petrenko, which allowed us to expand our squad.
– Where is it more difficult to play; In the Super League or the Ukrainian Cup?
– These are different tournaments. It is a cup elimination match. For years we had no luck in the draw; We reached Dnepr early. This year the draw was more favorable and for the first time in ten years BC Zaporozhye advanced to the Final Four. In the cup, everything is decided by a single match, while in the championship, the distance is longer.
– How do you evaluate the work of head coach Dmitry Shchiglinsky?
– Dmitry actively participated in the formation of the team, has his own vision of the game and tactics. We can say that he did the right thing with the choice of actors, including foreign actors. We try to create conditions where the team can work safely despite all the difficulties.
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
True, his team was left without a victory.
Over the past year, fans have become accustomed to news about records coming from overseas. Until recently, their main supplier was hockey player Alexander Ovechkin. But in the 2025/26 season, successes in the NBA were added to the achievements of our athletes in the NHL. This became possible thanks to the play of Yegor Demin, who again played a great match the day before with the Brooklyn Nets.
If the Russian does not slow down, then in the future, like Ovechkin, he has every chance to go down in the history of North American sports.
On the way to a dream
Russian representation in the NBA has always been more modest than in the NHL. And even with certain achievements, and Timofey Mozgov and Alexander Kaun, by the way, became league champions, the thought does not arise to compare the successes of Russian hockey players and basketball players overseas. How many American basketball fans now remember Sergei Monya, Yaroslav Korolev, Pavel Podkolzin?
Only Andrei Kirilenko stands out from the general background – the Russian forward played in the NBA for quite a long time. I even once went to an all-star game, where I played side by side with people like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Allen Iverson. But how many star matches did our hockey players have overseas?
With all due respect to the AK-47 game, he still does not reach the level of a North American basketball legend. Time will tell whether Yegor Demin, who powerfully broke into the NBA at the age of 19, will be able to write his name into history. But for now, the Brooklyn Nets basketball player is doing everything possible to make his dream come true.
Prolific newcomer
Kirilenko was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the NBA draft as the 24th pick, and Brooklyn took Demin eighth. But these were still advances, which have so far been fully justified. The newcomer regularly appears on the court, and with the exception of the first couple of weeks of the season, in the starting lineup. At the same time, Egor is not just serving his number: in the last six matches he scored at least 14 points, in two cases he reached the 20 point mark.
In the next regular season game, the first basketball player in the league with the letter “e” on his uniform scored 23 points in the match against Golden State. Demin managed not only to repeat his best result, but also set a Brooklyn record for three-pointers among newcomers – seven accurate hits from behind the arc. True, the Russian team still lost with a score of 107:120, but in the context of the personal success of our basketball player overseas, this is a secondary issue.
Of course, to achieve sporting greatness, Egor needs to spend more than one season at this level, but at least a dozen and a half. Demin, with 275 points in the NBA, did not even reach the results of Sergei Karasev (287), although he can do this in the next game. And then new landmarks will appear: Viktor Khryapa (643), Alexey Shved (1349), Timofey Mozgov (3072) and, of course, Andrey Kirilenko (9431). When the Russian surpasses the results of the AK-47, then we can talk about an established star in the NBA. In the meantime, we can only wish our basketball player not to lower his demands on himself and avoid serious injuries.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has been writing for a news website since 2015. My work primarily focuses on sports news, but I have also written about other topics such as technology and the arts. I have an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before moving to a news website.
Basketball
Vembanyama’s double-double did not help San Antonio avoid defeat from Cleveland in the NBA match
San Antonio lost to Cleveland in a home game of the NBA regular season.
The meeting ended with a score of 113:101 (25:26, 24:29, 27:23, 37:23) in favor of the guests. The most productive player of the match was Cleveland basketball player Jarrett Allen, who scored 27 points. For San Antonio, Victor Vembanyama scored a double-double with 26 points and 14 rebounds.
Cleveland (18 wins/16 losses) is in eighth position in the Eastern Conference standings. San Antonio (23/9) is second in the West.
Results of other matches of the game day:
“Washington” — “Phoenix” — 101:115
“Charlotte” — “Milwaukee” — 113:123
“Toronto” – “Orlando” – 107:106
“Miami” — “Denver” — 147:123
“Chicago” – “Minnesota” – 101:136
“Houston” — “Indiana” — 126:119
“New Orleans” — “New York” — 125:130
“Oklahoma City” — “Atlanta” — 140:129
Portland – Dallas – 125:122
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has been writing for a news website since 2015. My work primarily focuses on sports news, but I have also written about other topics such as technology and the arts. I have an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before moving to a news website.
Russian basketball player Egor Demin set a Brooklyn record among newcomers for the number of three-pointers made in one match, the club’s press service reports.
In the NBA regular season match, Brooklyn lost to Golden State with a score of 107:120. Demin made 7 three-point shots, which is a club record among newcomers.
In total, Demin scored 23 points in the match, the Russian repeated his personal record for scoring in the NBA – he had previously scored 23 points in the November match with Philadelphia (103:115).
Brooklyn has 10 wins and 20 losses in 30 matches. Demin’s team is 12th in the Eastern Conference standings.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has been writing for a news website since 2015. My work primarily focuses on sports news, but I have also written about other topics such as technology and the arts. I have an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before moving to a news website.
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