The first slap in the face of the Americans was inflicted by the USSR national team at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich (Germany). The Americans turned the other cheek to Soviet basketball players during the 1988 Games in Seoul (South Korea). It was after this that the United States began to bring the Dream Team to the Olympics.
The arrival of the NBA’s strongest basketball players at the Olympics coincided with the collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia. The Americans did not have a worthy competitor, and at the beginning of the 21st century they again began to bring “passengers” to the largest international tournaments.
But the Russian team, after the collapse of the USSR, due to inertia, was able to twice (1994, 1998) reach the silver medals of the World Championship, after which it suffered greatly from the results. The most resounding signal was the omission of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens (Greece). And that’s not to say this team didn’t have stars. Andrei Kirilenko had already shone for the Utah Jazz, Sergei Monya and Viktor Khryapa showed great promise and were drafted in large numbers in the NBA. However, the team did not fare well…
The turning point can be called the date March 9, 2006. On this day, the Russian Basketball Federation (RBF) announced a contract with David Blatt. The American-Israeli specialist agreed to lead the Russian men’s team.
Photo source: RFB
Blatt’s first meeting with Russia took place in the 2004/2005 season, when he managed Dynamo from St. Petersburg. In his first season, David led the Russian club to victory in the FIBA Euroleague (not to be confused with the ULEB Euroleague, the main club competition in European basketball). His success with the team from the northern capital did not go unnoticed and a year later he left Russia, signing a contract with Italian Benetton, the strongest team in Italy at the time.
Another important milestone in the history of Russian basketball can be considered the summer of 2002, when defender John Robert Holden, the future legend of the red and blue and all Russian basketball, joined CSKA from of Greek AEK. In the fall of 2003, CSKA initiated the issuance of Russian citizenship to Holden. This was done on the initiative of the military team, because at that time the number of foreign players in the Russian championship was limited. However, the 185-centimeter American, after serving the required quarantine (two years after accepting citizenship, the player could not play for the national team of his new country), unexpectedly for many, agrees to be called up to the Russian team. Holden made his national team debut at EuroBasket 2005, but he flourished precisely after David Blatt took over as head coach of the national team.
Photo source: Reuters
The Russian national team, already led by David Blatt, successfully completed the qualifying tournament for the 2007 European Championship. EuroBasket then took place in Spain, and the Russians participated in this tournament as underdogs. No one could even suggest that the Russian team would be able to compete for medals. The main task of the national team was to qualify for the qualifying tournament for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (China). To do this, the Russians had to be among the six best teams in the tournament.
David Blatt called 12 people to the tournament. The team captain was Andrey Kirilenko. Nikita Morgunov, Zakhar Pashutin, Pyotr Samoilenko and Alexey Savrasenko went to the tournament with the rank of veterans of the team. One of the main stars was John Robert Holden. But most of the team members were young people – Viktor Khryapa, Sergei Monya, Sergei Bykov, Nikita Shabalkin, Anton Ponkrashov and Nikolai Padius.
From the first match, the Russian team had to face a strong Serbian team. The Serbs were considered the favorites of this meeting, but the excellent play of Andrei Kirilenko (a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds) and the excellent teamwork of the other basketball players helped the Russians start the EuroBasket 2007 with a victory – 73: 65.
Then, in the first group stage, the Russian team crushed Israel (90:56) and sensationally beat the Greek team, the reigning European champions (61:53).
During the second group stage, David Blatt’s men had to face Portugal, Spain and Croatia. The Russians finished the first meeting with the Portuguese with a confident victory (78:65), but then suffered their first and (as it later turned out) only defeat in this tournament. The Russian team could not cope with the host of the European Championship and the reigning world champions, the Spanish national team. The Russians played an excellent match, leading several times during the match, but the Spaniards, with the help of more calibrated team actions and a long bench, managed to put pressure on the Russians, s imposing with a score of 81:69).
In the last match of the group stage, the Russian team defeated the Croatian team (83:70) and was able to avoid meeting the formidable Lithuania in the quarterfinals of the tournament. This was extremely important, because reaching the semi-finals allowed Russia to get a ticket to the qualifying tournament for the 2008 Olympic Games. Missing the Olympics for the second time in a row was definitely impossible.
The opponent of the Russian team in the quarterfinals was France. The French take 3rd place in their group, but constitute a very formidable force. The leader of the San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, and the attacker of the Phoenix Suns, Boris Diaw, shone in the “tricolor” team at that time.
Photo source: AFP
The first half of the quarter-final match ended with a score of 42:39 in favor of the French. Almost the entire match of the opponent of the Russian national team was built thanks to Parker and Diao, who allowed their team to lead in the score. This fact was noticed by David Blatt and in the second half of the meeting he managed to disable the interaction of the two main opposing stars of the match. As a result, the Russians, having won in the fourth quarter with a score of 22:15, won the final victory (75:71) and reached the semi-finals.
In fact, the main task of the tournament was accomplished: a ticket for qualification to the Beijing Olympics was obtained. However, as you know, appetite comes with eating.
In the semi-finals, the Russian team’s opponent was Lithuania. The Russians were once again not considered favorites in the match, which only worked in their favor. David Blatt’s players were not pressured by the need to win at all costs, which allowed them to play for their own pleasure. And I must say that the Russians already took advantage in the first quarter, beating the Lithuanians with a score of 25:12. The teams entered the long break with a smaller gap in scores (40:33), but in the second half of the match the Russian team calmly led the affair to victory (86:74) and reached the final ! In addition to a ticket to the final, the Russian team was guaranteed participation in the 2008 Olympic Games (only the finalists were directly selected there).
In the decisive match of the tournament, the Russian national team had the opportunity to take revenge on Spain. On September 16 in Madrid, in front of 15,500 angry Spanish supporters, the Russians had to submit to a real test. In the first quarter, the situation greatly prevented the Russians from showing their game. The 10-minute period ended with a score of 22:11 in favor of Spain. However, the Russian team had its main weapon – David Blatt. He succeeded in bringing his protégés back to their senses, calming them and instructing them in the continuation of the fight. It paid off and thanks to the big break, the Russians reduced the gap to three points.
Photo source: FIBA
In the second half of the match, things started to move, which was to the advantage of the Russian team. David Blatt has learned lessons from his group stage defeat against Spain. The Russians managed to drag their opponent into a tricky game, thus consolidating their three-second zone. From the second half of the match, Andrei Kirilenko began to play the role of center, who personally played against the legendary Pau Gasol. On rebounds, the more adaptable Gasol outright beat the Russian captain (14 to 5), but could not attack normally under the ring and was forced to actively move all the time in search of the ball.
The teams faced each other and came to the last minute with a score of 59:58 in favor of the Spaniards. After a timeout, 43 seconds from the final siren, the Spaniards put the ball back into play. A hit even from medium distance (2 points) guaranteed them at least an extension. The ball was brought to the tired Gasol, who, having attracted two opponents on him, entered his favorite turn. However, he did not expect that John Robert Holden would suddenly jump behind him and manage to knock the ball cleanly out of Pau’s hands. There were 28 seconds left before the end of the match.
Holden himself will launch the decisive attack. The Russian American will “kill” 12 seconds, counter with Zakhar Pashutin and, in a confrontation with the legendary Juan Carlas Navarro, will be able to beat him on a false momentum and perform an incredibly difficult throw with a deflection, putting Russia ahead in the partition. There are 3 seconds left before the end of the match.
The Spaniards will take a time out, but that won’t help them. In the last attack, the ball will again be brought to Pau Gasol, who will take advantage of the fact that Andrei Kirilenko slips and falls unexpectedly, turns around and, in the struggle with Sergei Money, still shoots. Gasol would find himself in a similar situation more than a thousand times during his career, but that night, luck would not be on his side!
The Russian team became European champions for the first time in history (after the collapse of the USSR). Andrey Kirilenko was recognized as the best player (MVP) of the tournament. The future president of the RBF showed an incredible game at EuroBasket 2007 and was deservedly one of the best basketball players on the planet at that time. However, he could not have reached the gold medals at the European Championships alone.
It is very symbolic that one of the main creators of this success are two Americans, David Blatt and John Robert Holden. After the victory, Blatt will receive the title of Honored Coach of Russia. He will be the first foreign specialist in the history of Russian sports to receive this honor. And John Robert Holden will forever become “one of us” in Russia and will shame many skeptics who opposed any naturalization in Russian sport.
Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic
Source: Sport
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