"We are not rock legends, but we can gather 35,000 fans for 3x3 basketball"
In the November FIBA window, the Russian women's national team will hold a sparring match with a strong national team, while the men's team will hold a training camp. Vladimir Dyachok, Executive Director and General Secretary of the Russian Basketball Federation (RFB), told Izvestia about this in an interview. We started the conversation with the Grand Final of the Russian 3x3 Basketball Championship, which took place in Perm on August 30-31. In addition to the strongest Russian teams, foreign clubs from Slovenia, Croatia, the USA and Madagascar took part in it.
The world of 3x3 basketball is somewhat more open than its classic counterpart.
— Has Perm once again confirmed its status as the basketball capital of Russia?
— Of course, other cities can argue with this thesis, but Perm continues to prove words with deeds. The day before the final part of the tournament, there was a concert by the Kino group on the square, which is said to have been attended by up to 150,000 people. Of course, we are not rock legends yet, but 35 thousand fans came to 3x3 basketball. I believe that Perm fulfills its obligations for the love of basketball with a vengeance. On the way from the airport, there were banners of the tournament, and after the awards were presented to the regional federations, we walked through the city center and every 300 m there was a banner advertising our tournament. I personally liked the words of the governor of the Perm Region Dmitry Makhonin: "There are projects and proposals for basketball — bring them and we will discuss them." Of course, we take these words literally and are always ready to offer tournaments for Perm.
— In recent years, we don't often see guests from the United States at tournaments in gaming sports. How did you manage to reach an agreement with New York?
— Actually, the very fact of the invitation does not cause any surprise. The world of 3x3 basketball is somewhat more open than its classic counterpart. We have long established good relations with representatives of 3x3 in different countries. The RFB 3x3 Basketball Department, as always, does a good job. We have a certain pool of teams that are always ready to come to us, but the schedule of international tournaments does not always allow us to gather the strongest opponents for Russian teams.
From a sporting point of view, the arrival of the team from Madagascar became more important for us. Antananarivo, in one form or another, are the winners of the AfricaCup 2022 and 2024, 3rd place at the Shanghai World Tour in 2023. This is a really important guest for us, who not only took second place, but also made the local audience fall in love with him.
We don't have a focus on inviting teams from certain countries, but good competition and a desire to come are what drives us.
— Is there any attachment to Perm, where a large number of tournaments have been held in recent years?
— I would even say that Perm could host more events (laughs). I like the organizational symbiosis of the Ministry of Sports of the Perm Region represented by Tatiana Chesnokova, PBK Parma and the Basketball Federation led by Sergei Boguslavsky. The region is investing in the development of 3x3 basketball and has a Bionord Pro super team and a team of local Bionord students. During this season, Permian teams won the title of national champions, winners of the Cup of Russia, Moscow Open, Red Square Cup. Of course, they also wanted to take the home Grand Final, but they couldn't.
— Who else is among the leaders of Russian 3x3 basketball among the regions?
— Tournaments in Chelyabinsk are very powerful and habitually loud. The Chelyabinsk Region Governor's Cup received good responses. Kurchatov's victory in the Grand Final is not accidental. The team has been playing at a high level for a long time, and this time it proved that it is time to be attributed to the favorites of any tournament. Plus, the regional federation, headed by Nikolai Sandakov, holds charity tournaments in the 3x3 format, which also attracts a lot of attention.
Magnitogorsk is not far behind the administrative center of the region, the "Master" has already been held several times, they are catching up with their neighbors. Traditionally, the Moscow Region and Khimki in particular have been working well in this area. They have held a number of Challenge tournaments this season. BC Moskovsky has a 3x3 basketball team this season. They immediately declared themselves and won a number of prizes. Emin Antonyan and the UBA League held three "Challenges" in their hall.
Yekaterinburg has traditionally been at the forefront of 3x3 basketball. A notable tournament was held for the City Day, and last year they took over the Grand Final. The local Stella Pro team won the Sirius Cup this year. The Ural trio — Chelyabinsk, Perm, Yekaterinburg — set the tone in 3x3 basketball.
We are ready to work with all regions, share our experience and contacts.
— The United Continental League covers a large area of competitions throughout Russia. What role do you think they play in the 3x3 basketball ecosystem?
— ECL 3x3 has been confidently marching around the country with its tournaments for a long time. We should pay attention to the fact that the organization has established relations with traditionally close countries. At the Smolensk Region Governor's Cup, we saw teams from Belarus, Abkhazia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, China, Serbia and the Union of African Countries. They spent the final round of the Future division in Kazakhstan, where they played for a ticket to the FIBA Masters (the winner of the second ticket will be determined at the Superfinal in Kaluga on December 12-13. — Izvestia). Sergey and Alexander Fomin really break boundaries.
— The Sirius Federal Territory has been hosting 3x3 basketball tournaments for several years. Isn't it time for a professional team to appear there?
— Sirius has not only become another major sparring ground for our reserve teams in classical basketball, but has also confidently asserted itself in hosting 3x3 basketball tournaments. Elena Shmeleva is always open to projects from our side. SiriusCup, which has been taking place for three years, this time brought together not just a representative event in an absolute, as they say in boxing, category. The Junior Sirius Cup, held for the first time this season among U12 players, impressed a wide range of foreign teams: China, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Serbia, Brazil.
The Russian Cup lasted for three days and set a new standard for holding such events in Russia. I am sure that our colleagues are following the 3x3 tournaments held in Russia quite closely.
I think that soon a professional 3x3 basketball team will appear on the territory of Sirius. There will also be training events for talented basketball players from other regions of the country. Perhaps we can say that there are definite plans to create a professional team under the auspices of Sirius. I think that Dmitry Plishkin, the head of the federal territory Administration, implements all new projects competently and as quickly as possible.
— Who can be called the breakthrough of the season?
— Let's not do this. It is better to name a region that did not postpone all actions for the development of 3x3 basketball. There is such a prize — "The most progressive player", it could be awarded to the Tver region. In three years, two Street Basketball Centers have appeared in the region, and another playground has been built in Udomla. Two years ago, the local federation, headed by Maxim Dmitriev, held the national championship for the first time, and this year it was repeated.
— Can we say that the discipline, which has already passed two Olympic cycles in its history, is developing in all regions of the country?
— I would really like to answer this question in the affirmative, but everyone's development criteria are different. They are working very vigorously in the Ivanovo region, where the women's Super League team has moved to the Premier League this season. In general, I would like all the clubs of the United League and the Premier League to have professional 3x3 basketball teams. So that in the Bryansk region, where success in professional basketball is already visible, they began to work more actively on 3x3 basketball. I think that the duo of Sergey Sivolob and Vitaly Fridzon can do this. The Komi Republic this year signed a trilateral agreement on the construction of a national team center. I think that by that time Ruslan Semenyuk, as the head of the Federation, will have prepared a couple of high-level men's and women's teams.
There are traditionally many tournaments of all kinds in Moscow, from shopping malls to venues in historical centers. The luminaries of the movement, Streetbasket, hold some of the best tournaments for children and do not reduce the level of the legendary Moscow Open. The IBA is always ready to field several squads for any tournament. Krasnaya Pakhra is doing a good job. There are many tournaments in the Voronezh Region, and competitions in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. I expect that agreements with basketball leaders in the Vladimir region will be implemented in the coming year. I like the enthusiasm with which basketball comes to the fore in this region. However, there are also regions where 3x3 basketball is somewhat suspended in development. I would like to work more actively in the Republic of Tatarstan. There was a strong Bankers team there for a long time, plus the local federation held the Masters stage. There was a certain boom in the Samara region, but for some time now there has been a certain lull. There were good first steps in the Novosibirsk region. Traditionally, St. Petersburg could attract more attention in this regard. I would like to see work in the Saratov region, after all, basketball traditions are well-known there, there is a United League club. Primorsky Krai is generally the first in the country to host a stage of the World Tour, but recently there have been no bright events there, although we know the potential of the region. Pavel Rattner, General manager of the Obninsk CSP, is doing a very notable job. Now it has moved more into the niche of events in shopping malls. There is a simple pattern: where the TSUB (street basketball center) was built. — Izvestia) — active work is underway. This situation is clearly visible in the Kaliningrad region.
It would be worth having a separate conversation about the women's part of 3x3 basketball. We have very distinctive teams and development programs in the regions. The same Khimki, Krasnaya Pakhra, Yekaterinburg, IBA, Ivanovo. 3x3 has always been and remains a more democratic type, which is why it is so popular. It would be possible to go through each region, but the task of the RFB is different. We are ready to work with everyone, share experiences and contacts, suggest, meet with the top officials of the regions, invite business to cooperate, but this interaction should be at least bilateral. I would like to say that we are ready to update the existing communication on work in the 3x3 segment. The doors of the Russian Federation are always open for any projects.
The legionnaires have to come and show a high level of play.
— The traditional question. When will we play at the international tournament?
— The situation is identical to that in 5x5 basketball, in general, and noticeably better, in particular. There are noticeably more teams from other countries coming to us, but don't forget that in 5x5 we play with national teams, and here it's just teams. But, as Sergey Monya said recently, we must be ready to return at any moment. We have a lot to grow in 3x3 basketball, that's for sure.
— The announced Premier League Cup among women's teams in classic basketball did not take place. Can you name the reasons?
— The training schedules of the teams were very different. Plus, some teams have had organizational changes. We are by no means abandoning this idea, it is well-founded and has been asking for a long time.
Instead, we saw several other pre-season tournaments. The traditional Governor's Cup was held in Kursk. Orenburg organized the Chernomyrdin Cup, very good reviews. A tournament in memory of K.P. Litvinov was held in the Ivanovo region. I think the teams got their pre-season practice.
— What do you expect from the new season of the men's Super League and the Women's Premier League?
— I expect more intense competition in the Premier League. Igor Kocharyan (head of the IBA) correctly noted that five teams can show very good results. Kursk, I hope, has gone through difficult times, and the season will show how they are rebuilding. Dynamo Moscow is intriguing with its transfer campaign. Orenburg has been significantly strengthened. Yekaterinburg retained its winning line-up. The MBA, as always, goes its own justified way. Syktyvkar begins a new campaign for medals. Vologda has long earned a place in the Premier League, and they should have a great time this season. I heard that Spartak changed its leadership in St. Petersburg and headed for the Premier League. There are enough people willing to work. I would like the teams to pay more attention to the fans. They certainly deserve it.
I expect even more competition in the men's super League. How CSKA-2's game will change after Anton Yudin's departure, whether Temp-SUMS has stagnated, and what Zenit's farm will look like are all questions in plain sight. It is important for the Russian Football Federation to see the development not only of these teams, but also of those in the middle of the table. The collaboration between Bars-RSEU and Lokomotiv-Kuban looks interesting. The Ufa Dynamo is striding powerfully. Their namesakes from Primorsky Krai and Grozny made a lot of noise in the market. I think there are already six or seven teams that can claim medals. In the super league, again, we want to work more with the fans and improve the marketing field.
— Are there any games planned for the national teams in the November window?
— We are guided by the fact that the players will have a very busy schedule at this time, but we would also not like to hold training camps. It is likely that the men's national team will hold a training camp for the nearest reserve and, possibly, will hold a number of meetings with Russian teams. We need to coordinate these plans with the teams themselves and determine the venue. The women's national team is planning a good sparring match with a strong national team. Let's wait for the final confirmation and announce.
— Legionnaires continue to come to almost all leagues. How do you feel about this?
— It seems to me that the foreign players should come and show a high level of play. It looks very strange when foreign players leave a month or two after signing a contract. Over the past three years, clubs have adapted to conduct scouting more carefully and take into account all possible consequences, but this also does not always work. The situation is the same with the coaches. I liked Zoran Lukic's words that it's all a matter of trust. If there is trust, there will be a result.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
