“The Russian Cup has become a more prestigious tournament.” Kirilenko is happy with our basketball
Nikita Biryukov March 21, 2024, 18:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The president of the RFB spoke of the tournament without a significant number of foreign players.
Just a couple of days ago the Winline Russian Cup ended. In the Final Four, the victory went to Zenit St. Petersburg, which defeated the previous champion Paris Nizhny Novgorod. It’s time to summarize the results of the draw and see the comments of the president of the Russian Basketball Federation (RFB) and the famous former player Andrei Kirilenko. First of all, let us remember that “The Final Four of the Russian Cup was held in Yekaterinburg. In addition to Zenit and Nizhny Novgorod, the owners of the Yekaterinburg parquet, Uralmash and the Moscow MBA club took part in the tournament.
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Zenit won the Russian Cup for the first time in the club’s history. In the final match, Javier Pascual’s team beat Nizhny Novgorod 64:55. Uralmash won the bronze medal of the tournament, beating MBA with 82:70. At the same time, clubs cannot enter more than two foreign players in the Cup. Why is this an excellent opportunity for Russian basketball players to prove themselves? Famous former Utah Jazz player and current RFB president Andrei Kirilenko said the following in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Andrei Kirilenko
President of the Russian Federation
“I like what our guys play. I love that fans have the opportunity to recognize the players on their team. Most of them, by the way, come from the regions represented by their clubs. This makes a lot of sense, because many clubs exist thanks, in part, to the support of their regions. Yes, there is an MBA where only Russian players work. And there are clubs where foreigners bear most of the burden. This also has its advantages, because the younger generation has someone to learn from. Everything is going as usual. I am glad that the Russian Cup has become a more prestigious tournament than six or seven years ago. The cup was a kind of residual phenomenon that didn’t attract much attention. But now it has more and more prestige and for many teams it is becoming the salvation of the season.”
Zenit won its second trophy this season. Before the start of the regular season, the team from the banks of the Neva won the VTB United League Super Cup. At the same time, it was our players who played an important role in the Russian Cup: Georgy Zhbanov, Andrey Zubkov, Sergey Karasev, Igor Volkhin, Timofey Gerasimov. This is another chance for all Russian basketball players to prove themselves. It’s not just about Zenit, but about all the Final Four participants in general.
Opinion on the Final Four:
Anniversary gift. Zenit won the Russian Cup on the third try
Although the final of the Russian Cup was not so spectacular, since the teams simply had no margin for error. However, even through the prism of defensive basketball, fans of the orange ball game were able to witness high-quality action on the court. Russian basketball continues to develop and the Russian Cup is an opportunity for teams to prove themselves. Ahead of us is the final part of the regular season of the United League, and then the long-awaited playoffs, in which the teams will fight for the championship.
