In the Kyiv Palace of Sports, the Ukrainian national basketball team
defeated England 66:60 in a regular game of the European Championship prelims.
Murzin with 15 points, Volkov and Bazylevsky with 13 points were our top
scorers. We could have been happy with the victory, but then our neighbor
Russians in the other group played a nasty trick on us - their lost to
the deliberately weak team of Hungary 59:60. Now it is not enough for Ukraine
to win the two remaining games against Belarus and Denmark to advance to
the finals. We also need the Swedes to win the first game against the Czech
Republic and then to lose to Latvia. This is not an easy scenario.
By Oleksandr HONCHARUK, The Day
Oleh Blokhin's debut in the Greek tournament as the Athens AEK head
coach was bright. The club coached by our fellow Ukrainian demolished Aris
in a home game by scoring six unanswered goals and now ranks first in the
Greek tournament. The Day learned that Blokhin received an invitation
to work in Greece last Monday and that he took up his duties on Friday.
Blokhin is facing a difficult task - to advance his team to the League
of Champions. Let us recall that Blokhin coached Piraeus Olimpiakos, Athens
Ionikos, and Thessaloniki PAOK (twice.) His last trip to Greece from July
to September was not successful and Blokhin left PAOK after the club's
inexpressive play in Greece and abroad. Blokhin did not even managed to
resign his seat in Ukraine's Parliament. And this time? According to the
law a People's Deputy cannot combine his office with any other job.






