February 10, 2012
Quarterfinals analyst: Sergey Bykov, Dynamo Moscow
Sergey Bykov - Dynamo MoscowAs one of the top young stars in Russian basketball, Sergey Bykov has tasted major success already in his career. He was part of the Dynamo Moscow team that won the 2006 ULEB Cup, the first continental trophy in club history. He also played a crucial role for the Russian national team’s gold-medal success at the 2007 European Championships under his current Dynamo head coach, David Blatt. This season, Bykov elevated his game to help Dynamo march through the Last 16 despite losing both of its point guards just beforehand. Even though he’s been sidelined by an injury lately, the Russian combo-guard hopes to play a role in a new success as Dynamo faces Hemofarm stada in the quarterfinals in Torino: "The Final Eight format forces you to approach the quarterfinals like it’s the most important game," Bykov told Eurocupbasketball.com. "There's no space for saving some of your energy for a potential semifinal. You have to give it all in that first game."

First, Sergey, update us on how you recovery is going and tell us about Dynamo's condition.

"I have sprained my ankle in a Last 16 game against Maroussi and have been sidelined for almost a month, but the recovery is going forward and I might be able to play already in the coming weekend. I must say that it's tough to watch your team play without being able to help yourself. Being sidelined has been unpleasant and boring, so I really want to get ready and help Dynamo, which had gone through a tough situation, when our point guards, Jannero Pargo and Hollis Price, left the team. But that challenge only united us, and we have been playing more as a team since then."

How did the team manage to handle the loss of the two point guards so well, actually performing better since they left?

"Before Pargo and Price left, much of our game went through them, as they are both very strong players. So without them, we had to find a new way to play, and I have to give credit to our coach for successfully changing our style and on personal level for trusting me to fill the point guard position for awhile, even though I didn't play at that position for more than a year. We started to play more like a team, looking more after our centers inside and I would say that we are a less predictable team now, because everyone on the floor is a threat. We also added a great playmaker in Brian Chase, who made our game faster and already proved to be a strong player as well as a good teammate and person, which is very important."

What do you know about you quarterfinal opponent, Hemofarm Stada?

"I must be honest and say that we didn't yet have our team session, where we are going to have a close look at how Hemofarm plays. Until now, we have been focused on getting the job done in our group – which we did, qualifying to the Final Eight from first place. But I can tell you that I expect Hemofarm to bring the best of Serbian basketball. I guess most of their players would be home-rown and young, because teams from that region are brilliant at producing young talents. Hemofarm has already proved its worth, qualifying to the Final Eight from a tough group, and I expect those young players to be extremely motivated."

Sergey, you are on of the youngest among Dynamo's experienced players, but you would have been one of Hemofarm's veterans. What do you think the age factor will mean for the game?

"This is going to be like a coin with two sides. On the one side, they have a young, aggressive and motivated team, where each player wants to show himself. But on the other side, we have experience, for example our big Lithuanian guys, Javtokas and Lavrinovic, have played a lot of games at the international level, and so have Hansen, Nachbar and other Dynamo players. I can tell you one thing about this game, though – anything can happen. As everything will depend on only a single game, I wouldn't name someone a favorite in our pair or in any other Final Eight pair. But one thing I know is that we, and I personally, will give all our strength to win."

What does Dynamo have to do in order to beat Hemofarm and advance to the Semifinals?

"First of all, we must play as a team. Of course we have leaders, who probably are going to score a big part of our points, but key roles are often played by other players. For example, Sergey Monya did a tremendous job on defense in our last Russian League game, stopping the other team's best player in the second half. So we have to play as a team, play with great desire and at the same time stay focused for the entire game. And of course let's hope that we'll avoid injuries prior to the Final Eight."
Friday, March 20, 2009
Eurocupbasketball.com
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