Evgeny Gomel biography

The legendary coach Yevgeny Gomelsky recalls the main Olympiad in his life “You are in a hurry to bury us. Do not rush. " Gomel - about the victory at the Olympics on August 4, Moscow time to share comments of the monologue of Yevgeny Gomel to the summer anniversary of our last basketball victory at the Olympic Games. From the editors: It’s scary to think, but Russia never won basketball at the Olympics.

The last medal in this sport occurred three decades ago - August 7. You can call the Russian team, but with a stretch and reservations. The fantastic victory of our female team at that Olympics remained in the shadow of Drim-Sima, led by Michael Jordan. The Americans first brought professionals and said loudly about themselves. But their female team was also considered invincible, and the fact that the team of Yevgeny Gomelsky and Vadim Kapranov defeated them - the sensation is akin to that if Jordan, Pippen and Barkley would have left without gold medals.

The background should start with the fact that the two coaches, Vadim Pavlovich Kapranov and Evgeny Yakovlevich Gomelsky, went to Barcelona already released from the posts of the national team coaches. In fact, they were unemployed in the national team. Because our colleagues, although I would not call everyone colleagues, considered that we are already old, little. And, having gathered in the bath a small feast, they decided that they were shining in Barcelona little.

And now you need to hope only for your so -called homegrown personnel, as they said. I think this is a good incentive for each coach. Especially for such coaches who have already won something in their lives. We were buried ahead of time, and we decided for ourselves. We are different people, we have different views on a lot, but now a team has gathered with us that is able to win the Olympics.

We decided to make this a complete direction of our movement. Only one goal is to be able to become champions of the Olympics. This will raise our mood, and, of course, it will be necessary to endure all the hardships that can fall on us during the Olympiad itself. No less than six months. We held fees, held a lot of friendly control matches in different countries. We left, we fought.

Indeed, when a pre -Olympic tournament took place, we looked very, very decent at this tournament. The main feature of these girls was self -confidence. Although there, of course, there were no Americans. They have already staged a place for themselves as the champions of the past Olympic Games. And the Spaniards as the owners of the Olympics. But we must admit that the people who gathered with us gathered with us were very worthy.

And everything that concerned the performance as such was perceived by girls only with a victorious mood. We did about 25 or 27 losses - enough for three games. This slap in the face was beneficial for us, and not to the detriment. But this is already at the Olympic tournament itself. When we said that we would beat the Americans, skepticism was in everything. I said: “You are in a hurry to bury us.

Do not rush, let's get the end of the Olympic Games. No need to rush and assume that failure will be comprehended. ” Well, I must admit, at that time there was a change in the country. It so happened that a lot has changed. Firstly, the attitude to the word "team" changed. When was it so that someone refused to go to the national team? When was it that some republics, especially the Baltic Republic, have decided that there can be no CIS team and not a single candidate will go as part of the so -called CIS team?

The problems were with Georgia. The problems were with many Soviet republics who counted - here is our freedom, here is our position, we will not play along with anyone. Therefore, there were only representatives of the three republics in our team: these are Ukraine - Tkachenko and Zhirko, Belarus - Sumnikova and Schweibovich, and Kazakhstan - Gerlitz. Well, Russia is undoubted.

The main one was Russia. Do not rush, let's get the end of the Olympic Games. ” In all versions, of course, it was necessary to admit - it would not be sweet. And we recognized it. But the people who have shown itself for a long period of time were very strong. I think that players such as Zasheskaya, Khudashova, Sumnikov, Tornikid, the same Zabuluev, Bunatyants, Zhirko showed their face much earlier than preparations for the Olympic Games.

And they showed very decent results, being part of the national teams and as part of their clubs in which they played leading roles. I do not want to offend today, but such a team is unlikely to be. How to play with the United States? The way we will play with America, we knew already in the spring of that year. We must admit the main line of such a team as the United States of America.

To beat the Americans in high jumps, in the speed of movement with the ball, even in the ability to score and choose no sense and there is no interest. The naked eye shows that they perform a lot of technical elements at the level of men.The Wendel, who owned two hands, could jump out, hang in the air and throw three -points from a distance with which it is unlikely that a woman can voluntarily voluntarily.

But we must admit that all these Americans fall in a difficult situation when they play positionally with them. They value the ball, are in no hurry to attack, play somewhere at the limit of their own capabilities. What was the main thing is to drag them into positional basketball and on counterattacks be sure to play the way we can. And, of course, a selfless game in defense. I repeat and say many times and now that it is quite difficult to surprise someone with tactics.

They also know how to do a lot. The collapse of the country is the most important side of today's victories is a character. This is the ability to psychologically tune in, believe in yourself and not be afraid of any enemy. And, of course, “chemistry” is a beautiful word. There was “chemistry”, where every girl performed for each other, helped, understood and fought.

I think we saw it. And, probably, this was the good agreement between the coaching staff and the players that allowed him to play. I repeat, no matter how the coach is seven spans in the forehead, a connoisseur of everything that is and what is not, without players, without performers, it is unlikely that something can be achieved. To have in the composition of such girls that I have listed is happiness.

It is just a joy when there are players who are able to perform a lot on the site, and maybe a little more, and jump even through themselves. What was before the trip, otherwise you can’t call a small nightmare. We did not know until the last minute whether we will fly or not. When it concerns the work of simple things-equipment, let’s suppose some questions-“Wait, now it’s not up to you.” When we talk about the real management of the national team of our country, it was somewhat lost.

I do not want to offend those times in any case, but I just remember the Soviet Union well. With what trepidation in the Soviet Union the leaders of our sport reacted to the name "The national team". It is clear that this was the relationship, I would say, friendly, very demanding and, of course, responsible. It seems to me that we got into a period of certain scatter, loosening.

Who will be, who will not, how will he play, who will go? There were many questions that did not give a happy moment and fun joy. Despite all this, I think that in sports and in life difficulties, of course, help a certain hardening. But, no matter how strange it may sound, I really liked that they were in full force to our game with Cuba, when we played worse, you can’t imagine.

And I really liked that Teresa Grenz said after the game: “There is nothing to do with the Russians. We will deal with them, once or twice and there will be no problems. ” As for the installation, there was no trick. The defeat, of course, was joyless. The Cubes came to the congratulatory telegram of Fidel Castro about how they greatly beat the team of Russia or the Soviet Union, how they called it.

All this, I think, benefited us. Because there was no shutter, there were no super-tragedies, there was no recluse that everything was a failure, and since they lost the first match, it shines little. It is probably good that the Americans were together with the coaches in our match. They buried us before everyone else. Seeing this game with Cuba, it was clear to them that there could be no enemy at all.

Well, on this they burned.