By Petro MARUSENKO, The Day
Snow in summer is more likely than Ukraine's strongest basketball players
coming together.
But precisely this rarest of events took place on July 9. The newborn
Kyiv BK (byk is bull in Ukrainian - Ed.) basketball club
played the Ukrainian national team. And, although only six of Volodymyr
Ryzhov's protОgОs were on the court, the expertise of Yevstratenko, Bazylevsky,
Yailo, Lokhmanchuk, Uspensky, and Ryzhov Jr. played the decisive role.
They won, but the defeated did not look at all look battered.
"Everything is OK," Oleksandr Volkov, the Kyiv BK coach, told The
Day. "Our club played after only five practices, and the players have
not yet got used to each other, but this will come with time."
The next day, Volkov and his boys set off to America. There they will
participate in a most interesting tournament, a virtual NBA mini-championship,
the so-called FILA summer professional league. The Kyivans' opponents will
be the US student national team, the national squad of Mexico, and the
NBA select team of free agents.
We think the Kyivans will put on a good show, for among them are such
promising basketball players as Stanislav Medvedenko, Hryhory Khyzhniak,
and Oleh Yushkin. It is worth noting that in America the team will take
in an outstanding rookie, American Curtis Maccants. This 23-year-old athlete
has been playing for Tel-Aviv's Hapoel in the past two years and scoring
over 20 points on average in each game, with five passes resulting in goals.
"Oleksandr, what are your club's plans for next season?"
"On September 15, we start in the Korac Cup, and will take part in the
Northern League next year."
Incidentally, there was a Korac Cup draw last weekend. Kyiv BK will
play AZOT-Rustavi from Tbilisi, Georgia.







