Basketball Chernomorets will again fight for the Bulgarian Cup after a 49-year break. The current runners-up won Rila athlete with 75:73 V Arena Burgas. Burgazlii guaranteed a place in the Top 4 after a day earlier they prevailed over CSKA with 92:66.
Chernomorets will be the opponent in the final Spartak Pleven, who eliminated Balkan in the first semi-final. The gold match will be played today (Sunday) from 18:00.
Hristo Zahariev did not play in the match due to a calf injury. The captain also misses the trophy match against Spartacus Weed today. The basketball player will be out for the next few matches of the Sesame NBL team.
The match turned into a breathtaking thriller, especially at the end when the basketball players of Lubomir Kirov caught up by double digits but Alex Ouandie stepped into the role of savior and stamped the ticket of the reigning runners-up who will contest for the trophy in question after a 49-year hiatus.
The opening minutes proved subservient to the fast pace and attraction. The presence of John Florvius and the aim of Chavdar Kostov turned the “Skiers” into sole leaders, and the strong inclusion from the bench of Alan Arnett increased their offensive power. The tournament hosts got on the rails quickly through Sean Smith and Milen Zahariev to take an early lead, but Miroslav Vasov’s long shot stole the show at the end of the opening period for a 2-point lead for Samokov’s side.
Despite fruitless attacks from both sides, attractive performances by Travis McConico, Andrei Ivanov and Smith put the token visitors in the lead at the start of the next ten. The defense of the “Sharks” worked at other frequencies, and the short burst of Tony Trosha and Evgeni Hadjirusev provided them with the opportunity to retire to the locker room at 37-30.
The Burgas team continued to rely on its familiar weapons in the course of the third part – the fast game and the defense, which gave the prerequisites for the first double-digit lead, already built by Smith and McConico. Efforts from Michaelyn Scott, Kostov, Florvius and Arnett leveled the scores, but Laderion Griffin and McConico had the final say to give the Sharks a 5-point lead after 30 minutes of playing time.
The reigning runners-up again found their way to double figures in the opening moments of the closing quarter as Alex Wandier, McConico and Smith burst onto the scene. The “skiers” did not give up the idea of keeping their heads down, as they melted their deficit to minus 7 with the assistance of Alexander Yanev, Kostov and Scott. Arnett’s three-pointer and Yanev’s basket reduced Samokov’s deficit to 2 points with less than 2 minutes left on the clock. Griffin responded with two accurate penalty kicks, but Scott shined with an accurate shot behind the arc.
Subsequently, Griffin was on target just once from the foul line, after which a fruitless drive followed from both ends. 21 seconds before the end, Smith blocked Arnett’s shot, and an attack later a powerful dunk by the former threw the hall into ecstasy. Kostov responded coolly with a three-pointer, and Hadjirusev made no mistake from a foul attack later for plus 3 in favor of the Burgas team. In the final 13 seconds, Scott fumbled once on free throws, but Florvious controlled the offensive contest and put the tie on the scoreboard. The deciding word, however, was for Wandier, who after an alley-up pass scored in the final chords. Rillezzo had 1.4 seconds available, but Scott’s desperate attempt was wide of the mark and that was it.
„In general, there is almost no energy. I won’t lie to you, the ending won’t be one of the prettiest. It’s going to be ugly basketball, I’m warning you right now, because when you play a third game in three days and the way basketball is played nowadays, it’s extremely difficult. Today, the thirstier team and the one that shows more heart will win.”
“The heart that I have and the people who know me, I want to transfer this emotionality to my players, to give them confidence. I give the example of Alex Wandier, when I brought him on at the very beginning of the match, he was not ready to play, but I believed until the end.
Who among you can tell me that he would have been the man to win the match? No one, but I believe in my players and I tell them that all the time. I don’t even know if there is a coach who believes in them as much as I do. Sometimes this is very difficult for them to understand, especially for Bulgarians. You can see they want to win and that can only make me happy“, explained the mentor.
“At half-time I told Wandier to listen to me, but not that much because I’m emotional and it shouldn’t affect his game. My words to him were more – I want you to be the best version of yourself. If one day I kick you out and I don’t say anything to you, then my faith in you is over. – He and Andrey Ivanov are the players I probably argue with the most, but I really care about both of them, because they are very important for our team team.
You saw that Wandier listened to me, in the morning we did the systems for 1 hour and not once did he make a mistake. In my head he was ready to play. When he came into the game and got it wrong two systems ahead, he wasn’t ready to play. I want him to understand this because he can play at an even higher level, not in Italy’s second division. The boy has talent, scary qualities. To become more professional, he must listen to me.“
“When I walk back into the hall one day with a cane, I want people to remember that I did something for this city. I will do my best, I did not come back to Bulgaria to prove myself, but to help my native basketball, because I love my country very much. I could be a coach in another place, it’s just that the roads led me to this city. Sooner or later I will make the fans happy as we are making a terrible effort. This is my fourth year as a coach, with each season we move forward.
Sooner or later this work will pay off. 49 years without a trophy is a lot. Spartak has not won a Cup for almost 30 years, that is also a long time, but we have to use this hall, where miracles are clearly happening, as happened in the fourth semi-final of the championship last season. You saw then what a drama it was about, this is my favorite game as a coach“, he also said.
„When people chant my name, it makes me happy. It means I’m doing something that people like.
Understand that it is not easy because every year I have almost a new line-up. Foreigners are hard to keep, I won’t lie to you. When they say that my foreigners are one of the most expensive, it is not so. I want to keep them for a longer period, but the financial part does not allow me to do so. Every season I work with new players. It’s not easy, but I won’t give up and we keep fighting.“
„All the people in my team are important, from the massage therapist to the flight driver. For a team to be successful, everyone must know their role. I’ve told the players that I can’t promise they’ll all score 20 points, but if they do their best, the team will keep winning. This is the most important.“
„I want to tell the audience that I look forward to their return tomorrow. I hope the fans were satisfied with the show we brought them today. I want them to come back, to continue to support us. I promise that we will fight to the end and with a knife in our teeth to make them happy“concluded Evtimov.
Sean Smith gave wings to Chernomorets with his 17 points and 14 rebounds. Travis McConico scored 15, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, Laderion Griffin followed them with 14 points.
Alan Arnett and Chavdar Kostov scored 15 points each for Rilski, with the first going home to the locker room with 5 rebounds. Michaeline Scott realize 13, John Florvious distinguished himself with 12 and 6 controlled balls under both baskets.
#BIG #VAS #Chernomorets #reached #final #Lets #support #match
