The calendar of the main round of the World Cup in basketball was ruthless to the Russian team. On the very first day of competition, Sergei Bazarevich’s wards were to meet with the Nigeria team, their de facto main rival in the fight for leaving Group B, which the teams that won first and second could secure for themselves. A victory over one of the strongest teams on the African continent, of course, would not guarantee anything, but in the event of a defeat, the task of getting into the next stage of the competition would become extremely complicated. Still, beating Argentina “on order” is not a pleasant mission, especially considering that in a recent test match the Russians devastatedly lost to the Latin Americans.

Of course, they were well acquainted with the strengths of the Nigerians in the camp of the national team of Russia. Several active NBA basketball players, led by Al-Farouk Amin, a participant in the last final of the Western Conference, on the other side of the court and did not allow him to be treated as a passer, and the outstanding size and athleticism of the Africans promised problems for the domestic squad in contact wrestling. For example, in a confrontation over a three-second zone. It’s another matter that the coaching staff of Alexander Nvora still had to competently manage this wealth from a tactical point of view, and representatives of the African continent at prestigious international tournaments often have problems with such things.

The reporting game was not an exception, during which the Russians by two heads surpassed their opponent in absolutely everything related to well-coordinated teamwork. In the final protocol, this is evidenced only by the number of assists (20 among Bazarevich’s wards versus 13 among Africans), but visually the difference was enormous.

Objectively, domestic basketball players could not surprise with the variety of combinations in the attack - the absence of Alexei Shved, Dmitry Khvostov and Dmitry Kulagin in the application for the World Cup, of course, could not pass without a trace - but they managed to establish the ball’s movement and create a sufficient number of good shots from positions convenient for partners .

Nigeria, on the contrary, failed in the simplest situations and in the first half didn’t try to play on the defensive, watching indifferently how the Russians break into its ring, and Mikhail Kulagin, with 16 points in the asset who became the most productive player of the meeting, carries out a series of three-pointer hits.

Naturally, the Russian team could not spend the whole match in one breath, and difficulties arose exactly where they were expected - in the back line, with the choice of performers for which Bazarevich frankly would not envy. Grigory Motovilov made his debut for the national team in official fights, which impressed everyone during the training camp. His optional losses allowed the Nigerians to recover after a disastrous start (in the middle of the first quarter they were 11 points behind). Another representative of the Super League, Andrei Sopin, appeared on the site for only six seconds in the end of the third quarter, but managed to bring three free throws into his ring, overdriving in an attempt to prevent Josh Okogi's long-range shot with a siren. Let the judges have questions.

However, we repeat, there is nothing surprising in this: basketball players, who for the first time in their professional careers went to such an important match, are mistaken. Especially in the fight against the representative of the starting five “Minnesota Timberwolves” or Gabe Vincent of the Development League, which, with all the nuances, is clearly stronger and more competitive than the second division of the domestic championship.

But it was frankly difficult for the Russians not because of the mistakes of the youth who had gained the first experience of big battles, but after the notes of common sense began to appear in the actions of the coaching staff of the Nigeria national team. After a long break, the eminent 35-year-old striker Ike Diogu sat down on the bench for a long time, very authoritative in his homeland, but clearly not pulling the speed of the world championship. His “-13” in less than 16 minutes was the worst indicator of utility among all the basketball players participating in the match. In addition, young reservists like the 22-year-old Chimezi Metu from the San Antonio Spurs system got more freedom of action - and added dynamics and energy to the game of their team.

As a result of three free throws by Ocogi at the end of the third quarter, the score on the scoreboard was equal for the first time after a long break - until that moment the Russians constantly kept a shaky, but still an advantage in one or two possessions. At the start of the final ten-minute period of the Nigeria national team, the jerk 10: 2 was completely successful, which turned the match upside down.

Fortunately, the local success turned the heads of the players and coaches of the African squad so much that in the mess that was going on at the site during the backlog of the national team by eight points, Bazarevich did not have to invent anything extraordinary to save the situation. The Russians continued to do what they know best - aggressively defend themselves and patiently look for open throws in a positional attack. Opponent safely buried himself with unprepared attacks through four hands. Everyone wanted to be a hero, but Ocogi and the son of the head coach of the Nigerian team Jordan Nvora “succeeded” the most, flatly refused to share the ball with their comrades even in the most hopeless situations.

And all the fame went to Andrei Vorontsevich, who scored five critical points in a row in a critical situation, Andrei Zubkov, the real joker of the team, who gave out more than one powerful shot from the bench, and Kulagin, the youngest. In fact, it was his exact penalties for 31 seconds before the end of normal time and became victorious for Russia.

Nigeria turned the ending of the match into a parade of useless demonstration of individual skill (only Amin managed to do something, but his efforts were drowned in the abyss of compatriots' egoism), losses and gross fouls. At the same time, one of the violations, the mediocre team of arbitrators, was rightly regarded as unsportsmanlike.

Nevertheless, the starting victory of the Russians at the World Cup came out very nervous and fighting: the final siren recorded only a five-point advantage for the Bazarevich team (82:77). Now our basketball players need to beat the South Korean national team, which by no means even by the standards of the Asian region, on Monday, September 2. If this succeeds, then, with a very high degree of probability, a ticket to the second group round will be provided.