On August 20, the elections of the President of the Russian Basketball Federation (RBF) will take place. The last two times the head of the organization, the famous player in the past, Andrei Kirilenko, was elected on an uncontested basis. This time the situation may change. In an interview with Izvestia, Kirilenko spoke about his attitude towards possible rivals, responded to criticism from the head of Avtodor, Vladimir Rodionov, explained the situation with the contract of head coach Sergei Bazarevich and commented on the recruitment of Russian top clubs.
– Do you somehow prepare for the elections?
– We have created a working group that deals with all the necessary issues. I abstracted myself from this in order to avoid conflicts of interest as much as possible. I want all potential candidates for the post of head of the RFE to have equal opportunities to communicate their programs and goals to the regions. It is important that they have no fear. I understand perfectly well that in many areas there is some kind of downturn in this regard. People think this way: we have an acting leader, and if I publicly scold him, it will backfire on me. The situation in the RFB is different, I accept any statements. Better not populist, of course, but I’m ready for any criticism.
– Would you like to get an opponent? Not tired of uncontested elections?
– If there is an opponent – great, why not? The main thing is that he has his own vision, his own program, a sound message aimed at the development of basketball. In the last US presidential election, I saw a couple of Trump debates with Hillary Clinton. They did not come out with a program aimed at improving people’s lives, but each time they tried to convey to voters how terrible their opponent was. I do not understand this. That is, you go to a certain position to implement your program or to show how bad your opponent is?
Ideally, I want to have a situation when the RBF is headed by a new person, we would calmly sit down with him for a cup of coffee and I gave him all the affairs and projects of the federation. Believe me, I do not plan to be in office for many, many years. I don’t see such a scenario. There will come a moment, whether it will be in a year or four, when I leave. And I can say for sure that my successor will not receive the federation in the form in which I received it.
– Is it about debts?
– Okay, still debts, but we could not find many documents, accounting, all legal contracts were in a terrible state. Plus there was a precarious international situation, at that moment we could be completely deprived of our international status. We have done a tremendous job in this area. It seems to me that since 2015, I have circled the globe four times, dealing with international issues of RBF and basketball.
Ideally, I see that a strong leader should be responsible for the international activities of the RFE, who will deal with this 24/7. It is impossible for one person to conduct all internal affairs and constantly travel the world on FIBA’s business issues.
– What are you most proud of as the head of the RFB?
– We managed to do a lot. I understand that this is a vague criterion. Compared to the NBA, we haven’t done anything. Compared to what was in the RFE before my arrival, we have made tremendous progress. The truth is somewhere in between, and this is not enough for people to say: “With basketball in Russia, everything has become cool.” I think a certain amount of time will have to pass before our projects are overgrown with meat, a full-fledged system cannot be built in 3-4 years.
At the same time, I will say that we have a system in reserve teams. From year to year we improve our results and clearly understand what steps lead to it. Yes, they may not be the most impressive, but there are already victories. I’m not talking about the women’s team gold (U-19) at the World Cup. This happened in the first year of my work. But the fact that in 2019 our girls (U-16) won the European Championship, and the boys of the same age first came to the World Cup – this is a process of systematic work. The Ministry of Sports provides funding only starting with the U-16 national team, but we started collecting girls and boys for training camps at the age of 14 using our own money. Thus, they had two more years of international experience. It brings results. In addition to team results, we now have a lot of representatives in the NCAA. I have never seen such a thing and I am very happy about this fact.
– And many are in favor of strong universities …
– In fact of the matter. Gonzaga (Pavel Zakharov), University of Florida (Samson Ruzhentsev), Utah State (Zakhar Vedishchev), Cincinnati Bearcats (Victor Lakhin) … These are universities with a strong basketball program. I congratulate the guys on this. It is clear that this is only the beginning and not a reason to turn up their noses, but potentially all these basketball players are able to bring their skills to the top level. If two of them play in the NBA – it will be cool, if one of them becomes a player in the starting five of the overseas club – just fine. If after the universities they all return to play in the United League, that’s fine too.
Of course, the fact that they left for the USA is not our full credit. This is more likely the work of their trainers in the field, but we have been collecting these guys from the age of 16, working with them for about a month every summer. They showed a great game at the 2019 World Cup (U-19), when they hacked to death with the Americans, beat the Serbs, Lithuanians … As a result, they took the fifth place. Plus, this team included Nikita Mikhailovsky, who I hope will still be selected in the NBA draft in 2021. It can be seen that this generation looks like a galaxy of 1985-1986: Fridzon, Ponkrashova, Voronova, Kurbanova … They also looked great in juniors, and then painlessly moved to the national team.
– You are actively engaged in the construction of basketball complexes “3×3” in the regions. Are you preparing new discoveries?
– For 2021, we plan to build seven street basketball centers with the support of one large bank. Like those that we have already opened in Kaliningrad, Ryazan and Moscow. With an area for outdoor fitness, six or seven courts where you can play basketball. Plus another big project will be implemented in Orenburg. There is a reconstruction of the embankment and one segment will be devoted to basketball “3×3”.
– That is, the sponsors are gradually drawn to basketball?
– It is important that we managed to restore the image and reputation of the federation. Under my predecessor, the RFB was associated more with scandals and courts. And not a single sponsor wanted to work with us, they looked at the RFB like lepers. People were negotiating with Andrei Kirilenko, not with the federation. Three or four years passed, and partners began to come to us themselves. I can’t say that we are getting some sky-high contracts, but this is a great sign that with our work we have shown the ability to implement interesting projects.
– President of Avtodor Vladimir Rodionov criticized you for saying that without injuries and in full strength, our men’s national team is among the four best European teams. In his opinion, we are outside the top ten.
– It seems to me that I said this after Eurobasket 2017, where we took fourth place. It is not clear why everyone is now discussing this quote. As for Vladimir Evstafievich, I sincerely like him. He lives on basketball, spends his personal funds on it, but his statements sometimes contradict his actions. He says that we need to develop young players, but legionnaires mostly play at Avtodor. Every summer the Saratov club recruits new foreigners for the first roles, and the pupils get very little playing time. If Rodionov showed by his own example that the team really relies on their guys, it would be really strong.
– Rodionov believes that we are inferior to Germany, Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Turkey …
– We are definitely not weaker than these teams. Speaking specifically about Italy and Turkey, it’s ridiculous. They have been playing badly lately. Dragic left the Slovenes, Randolph no longer plays for them. Of the stars, only Doncic remained with them. Yes, they are the reigning champions of Europe, but they could not come out without their best players in the world championship. And we played in China. We beat the Croats in the Eurobasket playoffs. This only underlines that any such opinion can be easily broken.
I understand that the Olympic qualification can assess the current generation of the national team. God grant that we will be able to collect all the strongest for the mini-tournament in Split.
– Stanislav Eremin, head of the RBF coaching council, believes that Sergei Bazarevich should be given a new long-term contract. What do you think about it?
– We have been working with Sergei Bazarevich for four years. From the composition that we had at our disposal, he always squeezed the maximum. Sergey Valerianovich is able to deliver a competitive game, for which our fans are not ashamed. In every match we have a chance to win, this is the most important thing for me.
Therefore, I have no thoughts that someone else can become the head coach of the national team now. Perhaps at some point something will change. He will come to me and say that he is tired of the national team or something else. But today there are no prerequisites to talk about the possible departure of Bazarevich. And the extension of the contract is already a technical matter. When the agreement comes to an end, then we sit down, negotiate the terms and prolong it.
– CSKA signed two stars of European basketball: Tornike Shengelia and Nikola Milutinov. Will the army team now skate all over the VTB United League?
“I don’t think they will tear everyone up. CSKA has remained at about the same level as last season. Their task is to beat everyone and everything in all tournaments. And if they had signed not Shengelia and Milutinov, but, for example, Tomich and Wilbeckin, then nothing would have changed.
Also, do not forget that, having acquired Milutinov, the army team lost Hines, who was a very important player. He gave tremendous confidence to the team. Vorontsevich has personified CSKA for many years and, of course, from this point of view, this is a loss. Also gone Koufos, Misha Kulagin, Saint-Ros, Baker … These were not the defining players, but the roster has decreased. CSKA has a very busy schedule, and it will be more difficult for the coach to distribute the load.
– Maybe the young guys – Andrey Lopatin and Alexander Khomenko – will receive playing time?
– I would not have hoped for that. As practice shows, our top clubs do not rely on young players. With very few exceptions.
– What do you think of CSKA’s main competitors in the United League – Khimki and Zenit?
– “Khimki” is improving pointwise and doing it very competently. With the arrival of Mika, Monroe and Voronov, the Moscow Region club will be even stronger, once again able to compete on equal terms with CSKA in the domestic championship and fight for the Euroleague playoffs. It’s hard for me to say anything concrete about Zenit. The team has changed dramatically again, and they will need some time to find their game. Let’s see how long this process takes.