PLEKHANOV: “Hawks have a fighting spirit”

Head coach of “Kharkov Falcons” Valery Plekhanov While commenting on the victory against Cherkasy Mavpi (80:60) in the GGBET Super League match, he also talked about the preparations for the next round.

“It is very good that almost all our players are back in the rotation. As of now, some of them have fully recovered from injuries and are ready to show their results and play long minutes on the field. At the same time, we also have players who are still trying to get back into shape after injury.

A new problem for us is the recurrence of the injury of our main point guard Andrei Khokhonik as a result of a play collision in the Kiev-Basket match. Unfortunately, we do not currently have a clear timeline for his recovery and there is no guarantee that Andrei will be able to return to training in the near future.

At the same time, I’m happy for the other guys. In addition to Dmitry Martynov and Nikita Bezyma, who played in the previous matches and recovered from injuries, we saw Dmitry Kleban on the field again in the meeting with “Mavpi” after a long injury. We played the game with Cherkasy using a full rotation of 12 players. It is important that our youngest player, Nikita Zmievsky, takes his time in such fights.

Coming to the match, it was clear that “Cherkassy” would have much more motivation and desire to win in front of their fans, compared to their last matches against “Rivne” and “Kyiv-Basket”, where “Mavpy” lost in the first quarter, lacking the desire and energy to come back.

“Cherkasy Mavpy” came into our match loaded with results, eager to prove to the fans that a streak of eight defeats was a temporary affair. I am happy that in this match, we were able to place the emphasis correctly, stop the opponent’s initial move, and extinguish Mavp’s energy with our tough defense and take full control of the game in the fourth period.

The matches of the next round are very important for us. In addition to Zaporozhye, whom we lost by one point in the second round, we will also face the leaders of the championship, Dnepr, who will play in their hometown with the support of their fans. Playing against Dnepr in Shinnik is always more difficult than in other halls. But the Falcons have a fighting spirit. “The most important thing now is that all players have the opportunity to participate in the training process, which has been planned down to the smallest detail.”

“Kharkiv Falcons” will play their next matches in Dnipro on January 31 and February 1, and will face “Zaporozhye” and “Dnepr” as part of the next GGBET Super League bubble.