We just beat Krasny Oktyabr last week. It was an up-and-down game; we led by many points at halftime, they came back and took the lead, but we finally won. We played really well in the beginning, but relaxed in the second half and of course, Krasny came back. We managed to recover in time, made it happen and won at home. I believe this win will be enough to take us to the next round, but we want to keep winning, of course. We are looking forward to the next three games. Being realistic, we have to play much better if we want to beat AEK at home.
Victor Rudd played really well against Krasny. This is his first season in Europe; off the court, he is a nice, quiet guy. On the court, he is a very athletic, very strong player, who can do whatever he wants and helps us in many ways. I think that if he plays like this, he is young and has a lot of potential, so there are no limits for him.
We managed to beat Hapoel in Jerusalem, which is always very difficult. We had lost three consecutive games and really needed a win. We were on a bad losing streak and had been unlucky in some of those games. We couldn't find our rhythm once Evgeny Baburin got injured. It was hard to find our way, but we did that in Jerusalem, and then at home against Krasny. Dmitry Khvostov hit 7 three-point shots against Hapoel and thanks to that, we had a chance to win at the end. I believe this was our most important win in the tournament until now this season. By the way, Hapoel's arena is brand new and very, very nice. Their fans gave Hapoel great support. It is not easy to play there.
I am not satisfied with my personal performance. I don't know how to explain it, but the truth is that I am not satisfied, because I really believe I can do more for my team. We still haven't played well for all 40 minutes. We cannot connect everything and have a lot of ups and down. Our shooting percentages are sometimes better, sometimes worse. I am really expecting that better games will come soon for me and my team. We have good Russian players and good foreigners. We’ve had someone doing great in every game and now that we will play at home against big teams like Galatasaray and AEK, we have to step up and prove we are one of the best teams in this group.
I really believe this is the toughest group in the Eurocup Regular Season and if you see the roster and the budget, the experience and talent of their players, Galatasaray is the best team in it. We were really close to beating them in Istanbul, but were very unlucky in the final minutes. Everything can change in our gym, we hope! Before that, we will host AEK, who handed us our biggest loss until now, when we played in Athens. We are ready for our sporting revenge, but have to play much better than we did against Krasny. AEK is a more-experienced team and we will have to give our best. I am always looking forward to playing against Loukas Mavrokefalidis.
We probably need one more win to make it to the next round. Baburin has to come back and we are working to change some things, some plays, and to adjust our defense. Maxim Grigoryev and Eric Maynor are also out, so we don't have their shooting power anymore. We have to find different ways to score and to put players in the best situation to score. We have to play as a team, now more than ever. Grigoryev is a great three-point shooter and was scoring a lot for us, but he is not available now. We have to find different ways to score and our coaching staff is working on it. We have to survive the Eurocup Regular Season and adjust our team to a new situation.
We will play two of our last three regular season games at home. If we qualify, we will come out of a very strong group, so the Last 32 cannot be much more difficult than this is. Of course, it will be nice to rank as high as possible and get a better group for us. I am looking forward to seeing which Euroleague team we will have to face, I am sure it will be a good one. Actually, I really hope that we finish second in this group. That would be great, and I believe we are the best team in this group after Galatasaray. We will need our fans to help us in these two games, and I am sure they will be there for us.
I hope I can talk to you early in 2016, because that will mean Nizhny made it to the Last 32. Let's hope!
Nizhny Novgorod landed Sean Denison
BC Nizhny Novgorod signed a one-year deal with Canadian bigman Sean Denison (211 cm, 111 kg, 32 y.o.). Last season he spent in Romanian CSM Oradea, participating in the national championship and Basketball Champions League. From 2011 till 2013 he played in Russian clubs Spartak-Primorye and Ataman.
Nizhny Novgorod terminated the contract with American forward Erik McCree who’d joined the team this august. The decision was made by mutual agreement. At the moment Nizhny is in search of a new player for the vacant place.
BC Nizhny Novgorod signed Erik McCree
BC NN signed a two-year contract with American forward Erik McCree (23 y.o., 203 cm, 102 kg). From 2013 to 2017 he was playing for Louisiana Tech in NCAA. Last season he showed his best statistics averaging 17,7 points, 8,9 rebounds, 1,3 assists in 33 games.
Sterling Gibbs joins BC Nizhny Novgorod
BC NN signed a two-year deal with American point guard Sterling Gibbs (188cm, 84kg, 24 y.o). In his college years he played for Seton Hall Pirates and Connecticut Huskies in NCAA. In 2016-2017 spent his first season overseas as he joined Hungarian team Kormend. He helped the team to semifinals in Hungarian Cup and Hungarian League averaging 14,4 points, 2,1 rebounds, 3,3 assists in 27 games.
