Russia (bbabo.net), - On January 23, the "Match of Legends" of our basketball and the "All-Star Game" of the Student Basketball Association will take place in Perm. They are dedicated to the birthday of the great player and coach Sergei Belov, dedicated to his memory. The Olympic champion of Munich-1972 twenty years ago, as a mentor, led the local "Ural Great" to the sensational "gold" of the Russian championship. The master would have turned 78 this year.
The name of Sergei Belov is forever inscribed in the history of basketball and sports. It was he who scored 20 points (out of 51 team points) in a dramatic victory match with the Americans in the final of the 1972 Munich Olympics, and eight years later he lit the fire in Moscow at the opening ceremony of the 1980 Summer Games. He became the first and to this day the only representative of basketball who was awarded such an honor.
As a coach, Belov led the Russian national team to two consecutive (1994, 1998) world championship finals and also twice in a row, in the 2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons, won the national championship with Perm Ural Great. It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to repeat these achievements in today's realities. Only Ural Great, led by Belov, was able to break the Russian hegemony of the army. In the next two decades, no one succeeded.
About the famous team from Perm, its fascinating path to the championship (from matches in the school hall to full houses in the seven-thousandth Palace of Sports "Hammer") and the heroes are written in a book with the symbolic title "Ural Great Comet". The author is Alexander, a well-known sports journalist in the past. Fedotov, who was a direct eyewitness of those events and was well acquainted with Sergei Belov, one of the main creators of the Perm miracle, publishes exclusive fragments of the book dedicated to Belov with the permission of the author.
With the arrival of Belov in the name of the team, it can be said that the same sonorous word from the English language, from which this whole basketball story began: "Great", has earned. The club from Perm became Great. Awareness and confirmation of this fact will happen later. But it couldn't be otherwise. Sergei Belov and Ural Great have found each other. Born for great things. Hungry for victory.
General Director, President of Ural Great, now President of the United League Sergey Kushchenko:
- He appeared just in time - when we were at the fork. The ambitious history of Ural Great could fade, as has already happened with other teams that fought and fought, but did not reach the victorious end. Sanych came at the moment of opportunity - there was a rise, there was a club. All he needed was a great coach, a basketball legend. Sergey Belov became this missing link. I agree: with him "Ural" became "Great". What changed? A man has come who knows what the highest level is. Here you just need to shut up, watch and perform. Which is exactly what we all did. At the same time, Sanych very quickly understood the design that we came up with at Ural Great. In the process of discussion, we came to decisions with him that made it possible not to destroy what had been created before him. As for the team, I noticed how the attitude of basketball players towards work has changed. Igor Zavyalov, one of the strongest specialists in the country, a close friend of Sergei Belov, was invited to consult on functional training. The guys that we had left - the same Shushakov, Sheiko, Pegushin - literally flew around the stadium at the first pre-season training camp in Zakamsk.
Ural Great guard Alexey Pegushin:
- With the advent of Belov, of course, a lot has changed. First of all, in the training process. We climbed hard under the bar, seriously engaged in "physics". It was such a Soviet approach: the strongest survive. Being an adherent of this system, Sanych acted as an evil genius for us. Strict, demanding, great. Monument Man.
Forward "Ural Great" Andrey Sheiko:
- I will never forget the first training camp under the leadership of Sanych. Fantastic feeling: we are a basketball legend. He is nearby - squats with a barbell, shows this or that element by personal example. I remember fiddling with me - explaining why the step-back throw, if performed correctly, is not a cover zone. For me, it was higher mathematics, because he showed the nuances that he passed through himself - you can’t read this in a book. Only the very fact that Sergei Belov came to Ural Great gave the team an emotional lift. He explained important things to us in very simple language. Made me believe in myself, convinced that nothing is impossible. It was cool.So much has already been said and written about basketball player and coach Sergei Belov, according to the autobiography "Movement Up", a film of the same name was shot that broke all records in Russian film distribution ... But you can talk about Sanych (as Belov was called in basketball circles) forever. He personified basketball. Was his torchbearer. As he ran in with a torch at the opening ceremony of the Moscow Olympics-80 on a living staircase from his hands, he continued to carry this flame of the game high. Despite all the obstacles and hardships that have already taken place in the coaching career.
And so the great Belov ended up in Perm. With their knowledge, authority and - where without it! - basketball fire. What came out of the cooperation between the coach and the Ural Great club is well known.
Sergey Kushchenko:
- Two people, two great coaches helped me more than others as a person - they brought me to the level of a decent basketball manager. These are Sergei Belov and Dusan Ivkovic. Without them, I am nothing. Never would have achieved high results. If we talk about Sanych, he gave me and Ural Great a completely different impetus. Learned from him every day. Having no experience in big basketball, I just sat and listened - why is this the way it is and what else we need to do. I turned on only when I understood that I, as a leader, needed to make decisions, and this was important for Sanych. After his arrival at Ural Great, everything changed. It was already another level.
Ural Great center Mikhail Mikhailov:
- I don't think that "Ural Great" would have become the "Ural Great" that we are talking about now, if two Sergeys - Belov and Kushchenko - had not met in one place and at one time. Thanks to their joint work, a critical mass was formed that "blew up" not only the city of Perm, but the whole of Russia. Sergei Alexandrovich and Sergei Valentinovich are two pillars, it was on them that everything rested. One was responsible for basketball, and the second, let's say, for the administrative part. Only with a combination of these factors, these different, but equally dedicated people, an optimal result was obtained.
Forward "Ural Great" Igor Molchanov:
- "Ural Great" became the champion team thanks to Belov, his character. I may have a different attitude towards him as a person, but when we talk about the athlete and coach Belov, there are no questions at all. He knew what he wanted, when and how to do it, and, accordingly, demanded the maximum return and performance. Yes, it was not without difficulties, and sometimes, as they say, sparks flew. Each athlete believes that he knows a little better than the coach. Until he becomes a coach himself.
Ural Great guard Thomas Pacesas:
- Of course, I'm not a good boy - with character. But he preferred not to conflict with Belov. I really believed and trusted the coach. Sanych had a very strong charisma, his leadership qualities and ability to convince were amazing. There was simply no reason not to trust him and doubt the correctness of his words. He made decisions and took full responsibility for them, which caused even more respect.
Ural Great guard Doug Gottlieb:
- I remember my first game for Ural Great. Sergei Belov turns to the bench and says: "So." I thought he said "Doug". I got up, went to the coach, but he patted me on the shoulder and said: "Next time I will call you Gottlieb." I never came on as a substitute - went back to the bench. Seriously, Sergei Belov was an amazing coach. Cool and fair. He knew what really intense training was. I'm even a little sorry that I didn't speak Russian. Although he felt: he said something tough when the basketball player deserved it.
Greater authority than Sergei Alexandrovich Belov in those years in Russian basketball simply did not exist. The players respected him, feared him and strictly followed everything he said. Who will argue with the legend of the game, whose achievements and exploits you and your generation knew about as a child from the stories of a coach at a sports school! Once in Belov's team, these matured and already skilled masters were regularly convinced of the correctness, intuition and basketball magic of Sanych.
Andrey Sheiko:
- I have always admired in Belov his ability to explain complex things in simple words, intelligibly and efficiently. It is common for young people not to listen to their elders - they say, what does he understand, now is a different time. But Sanych's words did not differ from reality and were confirmed after some time. This, of course, added greatness to his figure. Did you think: how did he know that it would be like that?! Belov motivated the players perfectly. After talking with him, we involuntarily thought: but really, why did someone decide that this cannot be done when it is not only possible, but even necessary?
Ural Great defender Sergei Chikalkin:- About the role of coach Sergei Belov. I recently watched the third match of the final with UNICS. After all, we played zone defense almost all the time. In many moments, it did not work out at all - we were scored two “trulyniks” in a row. Well, what coach can stand it! Sanych, on the other hand, bent his line, calmly said: "Guys, everything is fine with us, under control." That is, he inspired confidence so much that we are doing everything right. Any other coach, after a series of accurate three-pointers by the opponent, would have long ago changed the "zone" to personal custody - but not Belov with his inner core and unshakable confidence, which was transmitted to all of us. We didn't do anything special. They stood as a "zone" in defense and twisted their 2-3 combinations in attack. If they did not pass, then an individual game was turned on - the skill of specific performers. That's all. It only remained to convince the team that there is no other way, taking responsibility. This could only be done by a strong coach and a personality of Belov's level.
Ural Great forward Sergey Panov:
- Belov's coaching philosophy was that basketball is primarily a one-on-one game. If you can beat your opponent, then you get an advantage. By the way, in the team at the same Belov, Misha and I carried the piano to a greater extent, and in Ural Great we had to not only wear this piano, but also play it a lot. In general, we had such basketball enthusiasts. What detailed analyzes, scouting and other technologies are there! Give Mikhailov a deeper ball, and leave space for Chikalkin, he will figure it out himself. However, all this does not mean that in modern realities our team under the leadership of Sanych would not have a chance. With his ability to motivate. Would have beaten. Someone definitely took a bite out of something.
bbabo.Net