Pavel Astakhov:
Khimki have the strongest roster in the recent years

The last year’s VTB League finalists Khimki had only gotten better in the offseason. Aleksey Shved, who’s been the key addition to the team in the Summer is still looking to fit into the leader’s role on the new team, while the other newcomers already were able to make their presence felt.

In an interview with VTB-league.com Pavel Astakhov, the club’s general manager, talked about the similarities between Khimki and the San Antonio Spurs, discussed the contribution of Rimas Kurtinaitis, club’s transfer selections, and admitted that he’s a fan of his team’s spectacular style.

Tell us what were your goals going into the offseason?
We had to improve at a couple of positions, which we were able to do. We got the best Russian playmaker Aleksey Shved, improved at the four and five spots by signing Marco Teodorovic. Everyone knows what kind of player Zoran Dragic is, he spent a year in the NBA and will make us better at the two-guard and the small forward, especially at the defensive end, which was key for our team. All three of the players I’ve mentioned are fairly young in their careers and have plenty of room left for improvement. All in all, going into the offseason we wanted to save the core of the team that won the Eurocup last year and improve at the positions that I’ve mentioned.

How well did your new additions playe in the preseason games?
I think Zoran is struggling with the fatigue, because of the games he played for Slovenian National team, where he was a leader. He’s just starting to find his place on offense and build his relationship with Rimas Kurtinaitis, so I think the best is yet to come. As for Shved and Teodorovic, I think the stat line speaks for them nicely. They have played exactly how the coach wanted them to play, scored a lot of points, but didn’t forget to do the other important little things. So far we’re very pleased with them.

Rimas Kurtinaitis will coach his sixths season with one team, a VTB United League record. Would you say that this roster is the strongest one you’ve had during his tenure?
Without a doubt this is a very strong roster, and we’re lucky that Rimas Kurtinaitis has been with the organization for this long. If I had to use an NBA analogy, I would compare Khimki to the San Antonio Spurs and their long-time head coach Gregg Popovich, who turned them into an NBA dynasty. We hope for the same kind of success in our League with Rimas Kurtinaitis at the helm. The best is yet to come.

Last year Egor Vyaltsev (along with Rice and Monya) set the League record for most games – 40. What effect will your valiant additions in the backcourt have on the player who’s considered a leader in both the club and in the National team?
I think the effect will be of a positive variety. Egor is a true competitor who strives on challenges. When he is pushed he shows his best qualities as a basketball player and a leader. I think all competition is beneficial to our team, especially for a player like him.

Khimki are perennially among the League’s team leaders in points scored and assists. Have you ever thought what it would be like to change the team’s style into a more defensively oriented and slow the game down a little bit?
Determining the team’s style is strictly a coach’s prerogative. Personally I think our playing style is attractive to most basketball fans, it’s exciting, exhilarating, but nonetheless effective. I don’t see any reason why anyone would want to change that.

Khimki made it a habit to continuously beat CSKA in the Regular Season, only to come up short against them in the Play-offs one year after another. Why does this keep happening?
There’s no single reason that you can point to, each season was different and has to be reviewed as an individual case. Right now we’re on the way to being successful in the Play-offs, that is our ultimate goal. That was the reason behind the acquisition of such valuable players, increasing the depth and toughness of our team so that we get where we want to be in the Spring and achieve the goals we set as a team.

Give us the amount of the effort percentage your team needs to give to win the VTB United League?
We need to be at 200% - this way we’ll win it all.