Olympic champion Sergei Tarakanov shared his opinion on the results of the first round of the current season of the VTB United League.
— Overall, the championship is one of the most interesting in recent times. I would say that the level of the first teams has dropped slightly, but that of the second division clubs has improved. There’s more competition, there’s now a lot more unpredictability in the results, which means it should be more interesting for viewers. There are surprise teams like Krasnoyarsk Yenisei. For once, they were right with the legionnaires. The second time it works. The first time they signed Casper Ware, who then went to CSKA. Additionally, some teams emphasize their stable level and development, such as Lokomotiv-Kuban. They recently recovered 22 points in a match against current champion UNICS and beat CSKA. It’s also good that Russians play a big role among Krasnodar’s players.
— To summarize, what is the level of the United League championship compared to Europe, the same Euroleague?
— I comment on the Euroleague, I see the matches and I can say that it is very far from us, another world of basketball. Despite the fact that two or three Russian teams could certainly look very decent there. But today is not for us. If we return to the United League, our championship now seems very decent; there are not one or two clear leaders. It’s like in the best championships, where there are five or six teams who can easily beat each other. I repeat, there are many tense games, tense endings and unpredictable outcomes. This is what stimulates progress, interest, etc.
Our championship looks very good. There are not one or two clear leaders. Lots of intense games, intense endings
— The two or three teams you just mentioned are CSKA, UNICS and Zenit?
— “Lokomotiv-Kuban” would also be added here. But the question is how strong they will be, given current logistical difficulties. It is clear that if our clubs were now playing in the Euroleague, they would have a slightly different transfer policy. But this is out of the ordinary,” Tarakanov said, as quoted by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Watch live broadcasts of VTB United League matches on the TV channels of the Match holding company, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Russian newspaper
Source : MatchTV
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