Lokomotiv first in history reached the “final of four” Euroleague.

Russia in the Euroleague finale. Thanks to Lokomotiv and Krasnodar!

Today. Krasnodar. Lokomotiv – Barcelona – 81:67. Malcolm Dilani (No. 0) in the aisle to someone else's ring.

Lokomotiv defeated Barcelona and first in history reached the Final of four, guaranteeing Russia a place in the decisive fight of the tournament.

Lokomotiv – Barcelona – 81:67 (26:21, 24:18, 8:23, 23: 5)

Brockhoff

14

Peroperoglu

13

Claver

1

Dolleman

4

E. Randolph

9

Tomich

8

Dilani

17

Satranian

8

Voronov

7

Navarro

12

26 April. Krasnodar. Basket Hall. 7495 spectators.

Timur Rustamov
From Krasnodar

By and large, serious basketball in the Kuban is only gaining momentum. In 2009, when Locomotive He moved to Krasnodar from Rostov, hardly many in the stands could explain how the command fouls differ from personal. But over the past three or four seasons, during which the red-green demonstrated the seriousness of their aspirations in the elite, the fans seriously pulled up the “materiel”. And now to explain to the public what the fifth match of the play -off is not at all. It is clear to everyone that this is the quintessence of basketball drama, which in this particular case is also multiplied by a rare and largely unexpected club success for Kuban sport.

In general, there is nothing surprising in the fact that after the guest victory over Bars In the fourth meeting of the series, all tickets for an unprecedented attraction – a battle for a ticket to Berlin – were bought in a matter of hours. A quarter thousand tickets, additionally launched on sale on the day of the game, hardly satisfied the army who wanted to see firsthand the most important match in the history of Loko. After all, in fact, the Kuban with the Catalans were already in the finale of four. The defeat is equivalent to the collapse of championship hopes, the victory one step closer to the title, the contours of which are already looming in sight.

But in order to earn the right to play in the semifinals, where the opponent was already waiting CSKA, you need to win the fifth match. Not a single expert would undertake to predict his result. From the meeting of the teams, which over the season crossed six times, having divided the victory equally, you can wait for everything-and another overtime, and a 20-okay defeat. All tactical nuances are studied, redesigned, and the whole question is only who is hungry for success and who has stronger nerves.

In terms of excerpt, the advantage in theory was behind a “leopard”, without which the Euroleague playoffs have not been complete since 2006. Loko was on this territory for the first time, moreover, after the series returned to Krasnodar, the pressure could well move to the Kuban. Still, fear not to justify the hope of the full hall of crazy fans played a cruel joke with many teams. But the statistics of fifth matches nevertheless spoke in favor of railway workers. The format of up to three victories appeared in the Euroleague in 2009.Since then, it came to the decisive game seven times, and the owners of the parquet were invariably in the “final of four”. And how hell is nice that the Kuban did not violate this tradition.

Before the start of the season, no one was expecting an outstanding result in the Euroleague from Loko. The composition is unbalanced, the bench is short, it’s not like that, this is not so. Even the exit to the playoff teams was already regarded as a sensation. Well, what the Kuban people did now, otherwise you can’t call it a miracle. However, in Krasnodar they have long been considered Bardzokasa wizard. By the way, he already won the fifth match of the playoffs-in 2013 with Olympiacos. Remember what happened then? But let's not run ahead.

Today. Krasnodar. Lokomotiv – Barcelona – 81:67. Malcolm Dilani (No. 0) in the aisle to someone else's ring. Photo by PBK Lokomotiv

But now, with confidence, it can be said that thanks to the victory of the Krasnodar on May 15, Russia will be presented for the first time since 2012 in the match for the European Champion title. After all, one of the semifinals will be purely ours! Two Russian clubs in the final of four – this is still with difficulty. But somehow we realize. To digest this thought is much more pleasant than everything that has surrounded our basketball in recent years.

In Krasnodar, Georgios Bardzokas is a real hero who were ready to carry in his arms even before the playoffs. The stands meet him louder than the players, and if at first it was surprising, then it can now be considered a good tradition. However, the audience did not spare voices for anyone. Twenty minutes before the starting controversial under the stands, the rolled-up Loko-loko-loko thundered. An example for the rest was the President of Krasnodarsev Andrei Vedishchev, who was sitting close to the parquet at all in sight and regularly rose to their feet. Moreover,, as a rule, in order to “charge” their guys to defend.

If anyone forgot, it was impenetrable defense that made basketball Europe be admired by the game of the Kuban. She also became the key to their significantly prolonged (relative to pre -season forecasts) performance in the Euroleague. And it was precisely she was clearly not enough: Bars scored glasses not without difficulty, but with enviable efficiency.

However, the Kubans themselves at first enjoyed the attack. Anthony Randolph He laid the foundation for the execution of the Ring of the Catalans with a distant throw, and the first five minutes of the game, the hosts practically did not know the misses, having gone to the first timeout with a tangible advantage-17:10. Two three -point Ryan Brockhoff helped to get it, who had previously smeared all 10 distant attempts in the quarterfinals.

The attacking successes of the starting ten-minute were overwhelmed with optimism, but Barca quickly returned the Basket Hall to reality. Having performed a jerk 9: 0, the Catalans first came ahead in the match. Abrinese effectively left the bench, and those who returned from the infirmary Laval and Dorsie Added the locomotive of problems in the three -second zone. However, Kubantsev did not bother such a development of events at all. By and large, they did not even change anything.All the same at times gave slack in their half, but what they did for someone else's …

Protective team? Forget about it! Until a large break on the Parquet Basket Hall took place a parade of attacking basketball. And led him Malcolm Dilani, only for the second quarter, shot 10 points. And the partners acted to match him, over and over again, forcing the stands in ecstasy to jump from places. At the same time as Sirena, the end of the first half of Dilani realized his second three -point, bringing the gap to 11 points, and immediately received the five from Vedishchev, who again jumped to the floor.

But this time, joy was premature. The carnival ended as unexpectedly as it began. In the first four minutes of the third quarter, the owners got only two points, again letting the Barsa closely. The Catalans quickly carried out work on the mistakes, closing all the backlash in their redoubts. How could it be not to recall that in the first three games the Kuban never scored more than 70 points … Real D? J? VU: To score suddenly it became as difficult as then. Randolf and Dileney were silent at once. For a decisive quarter, the wards of Bardzokas came out as catching up.

On the faces of some viewers, notes of a sad understanding that the fairy tale was about to end. The vaccine from premature skepticism has become a three -point Singleton 8 minutes before the end – 62:64, while in favor of Barca. The Time out of the Catalans did not prevent the American from immediately repeating her mini-high, and now Loko stepped forward again. And the singleon was only a taste: in the next attack, he brought the owners three more points, however, according to the 2+1 system, then realized another pass, and finally made a discount for an accurate three -point Jenning. Jerk 15: 2 and +9 on the scoreboard. Apparently, the glory of Randolph did not give rest to his partner in the front line …

For the third for the match, the Barca was no longer found, she could not recover from this knockdown. The guests smeared the penalties, appealed to the judges, tried to arrange a brawl, but it was no longer possible to stop Lokomotiv, which was rushing into Berlin. In another hall – maybe. But not in the presence of a complete “basket hall”, which, after the final siren, a hail of confetti collapsed. The team took off under the stands for the stands, but soon the wards of Bardzokas as actors were asked for BIS. Streams of love and recognition poured from the stands for a long time. And the Kuban deserved it one hundred percent. The main thing is not to forget that all the trip done is only a prelude to what will happen next.