“The centenary of the club is approaching – everyone wants to return the Belov Cup to the CSKA museum.” Interview with Semyon Antonov

– CSKA comes out of vacation the other day, but you are already training hard and strong …

— Yes, the gym and basketball halls are available to us. There are coaches who have been working since the beginning of August – Anton Nikolaevich Yudin and Pavel Aleksandrovich Gerasimov.

So the guys and I, in a free schedule, by prior arrangement, come to Krylatskoye and work. At the same time, we try not to do too much before the start of training camp.

I started training in mid-July, when I was at my parents’ dacha in the Nizhny Novgorod region on the Gorky Reservoir. There is a large sports base nearby – I have been going there for over a year. There are a lot of athletes on this base. I trained there just to keep in shape, without fanaticism, for fun.

– Where else did you go on vacation?

— We had very good domestic tourism this year. We went to Murmansk by car.

– Wow!

– Yes, we went through Karelia, St. Petersburg, Murmansk and then returned to Moscow. Well, for almost a month I was with my parents in Nizhny.

What do you remember the most from your road trip?

— Probably, the openness and responsiveness of our fellow citizens. Moreover, as banal as it may seem, our country is so multifaceted, nature is so different everywhere! You feel it a lot when you go by car from Murmansk to Petrozavodsk to Moscow itself. Interesting.

– Let’s go back two months ago, when the army team failed to defend the title of champion of the VTB United League final series with Zenit. How did you survive the tragedy?

Well, perhaps tragedy is too strong a word. But, of course, everyone was annoyed. The club is used to winning every tournament they play in, and I think for all of us it was kind of a new experience at the end of the season. Nevertheless, it seems to me that all our basketball has won since the victory of Zenit. After the games, I congratulated the guys from the St. Petersburg team for their success.

Now we are all waiting for a new story. This applies to both CSKA and Russian basketball in general. Based on the feedback I received from friends and fans, I realized that everyone was very happy that such an interesting seven-game final took place. More importantly, after an exciting streak, more kids are likely to start playing basketball. If many boys and girls come to basketball, it will be the most important victory for our sport.

– How did you survive the first days after the series finale?

“Of course it was sad. No one likes or wants to lose, but it’s a sport: Zenit were stronger at that time, so they won.

Of course, it was unusual and morally difficult. There was no particular analysis of the desire, and it was not necessary. Because I just wanted to let go of those thoughts and spend some time with my family, the holidays, recovering after the season.

It’s a sport – unfortunately it’s not always possible to win. The strong must accept defeat with dignity: after a fight, you should not wave your fists… Yes, after the final series, I answered the phone a little longer, but, in principle, my friends and relatives didn’t touch me. For several days we tried not to talk about basketball at all, we talked more about other subjects. I had to calm down, digest and accept everything.

– How did you react to the appointment of Emil Rajkovic as CSKA coach? Do you like his work?

— He showed very good results in Avtodor and Astana. So far, I haven’t really been able to communicate with Raikovich: there have only been a few text messages. We will start working soon and we will talk in person. I would like to know the coach not only on the pitch, but also in life, what kind of person he is. It is a very important factor. I believe everyone on the team is excited and looking forward to the first day of work.

– In the new season, CSKA and our other clubs will not play in Euroleague and Eurocup. How to live in new realities?

“We haven’t started training yet, so we don’t know yet how all this will go. Especially now, the VTB League has slightly changed the format of the competition. But, if I understand correctly, somewhere there There will be two games a week. That is, the number of games will be decent. But first you need to play a few months in the new season to give an evaluation.

– What is your attitude towards the new format of the United League, in which the championship will first be held in two rounds, then the participants will be divided into two groups of six teams?

– I can’t say anything definite yet. The format is probably interesting, but unusual. In terms of experience, of course, we can try like that, but for me, if we played four rounds on the principle of “everyone with everyone”, it would be fairer. I don’t know, the clubs voted for this settlement – it probably suited everyone. The main thing is to have more games. Now two new clubs have entered the league – Samara and MBA. I think it will be interesting.

– In pre-season training, CSKA will play with Turkish clubs Anadolu Efes, Tofash, Bursaspor. All meetings will take place in Turkey?

Yes, we will go there for about 7-10 days.

– Given that there will be no international matches in the new season, it should be interesting.

– Well, if I understand correctly, the club has agreed with these teams. And, probably, if we start now, at the pre-season stage, to play friendly matches in the country, then in the middle of the championship we will already “bore” each other. If before the start of the season we play 5-6 times with Zenit, UNICS, Lokomotiv, and then we meet them several times in the league, everyone will get tired of it.

And so we will fight with other opponents, the schedule will become more diverse. Moreover, there is an opportunity to test yourself against good Turkish teams, against the current Euroleague champion (Anadolu Efes. – ). It’s clear that they also have a pre-season and many European players will be busy in the national teams, but it will always benefit us.

– Will it be difficult for CSKA to regain the league title in the new season?

— It is also difficult for me to answer this question, because when I was on vacation, I did not particularly follow the strengthening of competitors. It is clear that this year our motivation will be even stronger than before: the club’s centenary is ahead of us. And, of course, everyone at CSKA wants to return the Belov Cup to our museum. But I think Zenit will also be very seriously motivated in the new season. I can say the same for Lokomotiv and UNICS. I think we’re all set for an interesting season.