Youth team defeats CSKA-Junior in second match
On the first day, the blue-whites team led the score from the first to the third quarter, entering the final stretch with an 18-point advantage. However, the last ten minutes completely belonged to the army team. The match ended with a victory for the hosts 83:80. The top scorer for St. Petersburg in this game was Egor Evstafiev, who recorded 24 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.
The second game also unfolded at a high pace. By the end of the first half, Zenit U21 led by just one point, but the home team won the third period with a 10-point margin. In the final quarter, Roman Knyazev's players showed character, scoring 28 points and taking the game with a score of 75:79. Once again, Egor Evstafiev was the standout player (20 points + 4 rebounds + 1 assist), along with Dmitry Chikishev (16 points + 7 assists + 3 rebounds + 2 steals) and Pavel Logunov (11 points + 2 rebounds).
Head coach Roman Knyazev reflected on the trip to Moscow and highlighted the key factors that influenced the outcome of both games:
— How did you manage to turn the second game around? You were down by 9 before the fourth quarter.
— I can only thank my players. Both today and yesterday, they gave their all and executed everything we asked of them. Yesterday, in particular, was one of our exemplary games, but you saw how it ended. Credit to CSKA-Junior and their coaching staff, especially their leaders — Natsvlishvili and Sadikov. They showed great character, which broke us a bit, and we couldn't handle the pressure. Despite that, our game plan and execution were excellent. Today, the quality dropped because we lacked the same energy. Yesterday's game was very emotional. [Today] we lost a lot, and we had to come up with all sorts of ways to pull the opposite team back. There was practically nothing negative, the players showed character. Yes, the zone defense helped, as we lost two key frontcourt players and switched to a small lineup. That threw the opponents off, allowing us to break away. What we lacked yesterday — transition offense — we executed today. It was all about character, desire, and execution.
— Did you see Alexander Gusev's post-match interview about your jacket? You took it off early today.
— I was shocked by such analysis and scouting, even scouting my jacket. I take it off when I’m hot, not based on what’s happening in the game. Yesterday, it was cold in the arena, so I kept it on. Luckily, they didn’t scout our basketball game that closely. Otherwise, we’d have had no chance today.
— Did you prepare specifically for Kirill Grigory? He scored 20 points yesterday but none today.
— I also want to give credit to the CSKA-Junior coaching staff for letting such talented guys up and giving them time. That's bravo, that's basketball history. And Kirill Grigory, I know him from the U16 national team. He's a fantastic kid. I hope he has a long way ahead of him. Yes, he gave us such a performance yesterday. I was pleased with his mental fortress. He really made all free throws at the most difficult moment, two three-pointers in the clutch, which basically took the game away from us. Good man, I wish him development and thank the coaches for creating those minutes for the players. We didn't prepare personally yesterday or today. We just emphasised that there is a shot. He's very difficult to defend with if you look at it that way. Because he has a fanatical first step and he has a shot. Therefore, you have to think about what to give up. We talked it through. Today there were a couple of defences and in the end, we held back and there was no opportunity for him to give the same problems to us as yesterday.
— Do coaching strategies change when transitioning from CYBL to the VTB United Youth League?
— Yes. A little bit the level of the players is going up, because every stage by stage the guys are dropping out. The level of players, the level of defence is going up, therefore we need to execute our situations better, be quicker, make decisions quicker. But in general nothing has changed for me, because we played the CYBL with these players a few years ago. Just the final against these same players. We just lost a little bit, CSKA took some guys. I know them roughly, and there are no drastic changes or nervousness about it.
The youth team will play their next games at home at the Basketball Academy on December 10 and 11, hosting MINSK-M. Both matches will begin at 14:00 St. Petersburg time, and admission for all fans is free.
