Sergei Bykov is back on the court, recently signing a contract with Avtodor Saratov, where he was almost immediately named team captain. The Russian guard talks about his options in free agency, his favorite head coaches, and arguing with refs in an exclusive interview.
– Sergei, welcome back to big-time basketball! How did you stay in shape before signing with Avtodor?
– I talked about it before. I intentionally didn’t practice, but stayed in shape. I have a lot of friends in Moscow. They invited me to practices and I played with them when I wanted to. Let me repeat, I didn’t practice professionally because I dedicated the last two months to my family.
– Did you look at signing with Saratov in the offseason?
– No, not during the offseason. After the season started, Vladimir Rodionov got in touch with me and tested the waters. I didn’t want to at the time because I needed to recharge. Once my appetite came back, even with other options on the table, Rodionov was able to convince me that Avtodor needed me.
– What other options did you have to continue your career?
– There were options. Not powerhouse teams, but solid clubs. There’s no point talking about them now.
– If you hadn’t signed a contract, would you have retired?
– After playing for the national team, journalists forced me to say that I was ending my career, but I’m not someone who throws words around. I understood that I still really wanted to play. But a lot of people couldn’t understand one simple thing: I played far away from my family for five years and it was tough. I really love basketball and my desire to play hasn’t gone anywhere. I got recharged by my family. But the man in a family needs to work and do his job. I didn’t plan to end my career. I knew that I’d end up playing somewhere anyway. As a result of my decision, I probably missed out on a chance to play with a top club because there aren’t many moves being made during the season. Avtodor appeared on the horizon. I know the team isn’t in its typical spot right now, which is why I’m motivated to rise along with the team. There’s a lot at stake: We need to fix the situation!
– Talk about your first game for Avtodor in the Champions League. You recorded a double-double! How did you get back in the flow so quickly?
– The first game against Khimik went well, but the game against Kalev put things back in place. I was all over the place. Of course, in order to play at that type of level in the VTB League you need to be in good shape, if nothing else. My adrenaline carried me in the first game. I’d missed basketball. Plus, my teammates did their part: I didn’t think all of my passes would end up being assists.
– It’s said that a lot of players age well, just like win. Where have you improved in recent years?
– Reading the game. I’ve been lucky enough to play under strong coaches who understand that basketball isn’t about points and assists; basketball is making the right decision. I try to do that. I’ve improved at controlling my emotions. A lot of people think that when I argue with the refs, I’m out of control. In reality, I’m using my right as a captain. When I see inexplicable decisions against my team, I try to help out. It’s an effective tool. Inside, I’m very calm and control my emotions. I understand that sometimes they are needed. After all, we work in a field where they are prevalent. You use them to fire up the team. No matter how you look at it, we’re judged on wins in this field.
– You mentioned coaches. Who’s had the biggest influence on you as a player?
– I didn’t used to think about it and criticized any coach. It was internal motivation, proving he was wrong. Now when I look back, I realize that I’m lucky because I had so many top coaches and each had an impact. Of course, there were some eccentrics, but nevertheless…
Let’s think about it. Dusan Ivkovic gave me a shot at pro basketball. Not in the sense of playing for a pro team, but understanding how to play genuine big-time basketball without scoring, but helping the team and getting wins. He always defended me when people said that I didn’t score and wasted my time on the court. That’s why Ivkovic had a big impact on me. I’ve had good relationships with guys from the Balkans. I played well under Pesic and I connected easily with Malkovich, which was a big honor. He won four Euroleague titles and worked with big stars. Every time I’m in Belgrade, we managed to get coffee together. I have to talk about David Blatt. First of all, he believed in me and our entire generation. He was always teaching us something. We played secondary roles at our clubs, but he believed in us and you know what happened. Plus, he has a very different approach from Russians or Balkans, who put a lot of pressure on you in order to get the most out of you. Blatt wasn’t like that. He motivated. He also got a little lucky working with the national team, where all of the guys were incredibly motivated. Bartzokas, of course, is a talented coach, as he proved last season. I like his philosophy and agree with his vision. Trinchieri and I got along; we worked together four months. Trinchieri works you like a Balkan coach, but off the court he’s very friendly. He invited me to Bamberg so I could see what he was doing.
I have to say something about Bazarevich. Not because he’s the national team coach, but because he’s someone who took me to Dynamo after Spartak Moscow collapsed and was always a mentor. He wasn’t always objective, because he was a player-coach and we often got into arguments. But I like we both treat each other fairly despite a lot of conflicts in my career. Even though we aren’t friends, we treat each other with respect. Even when I was on loan at Surgut and wanted to end my career, he gave me a chance to play on the student national team, when I hadn’t earned it with my play. Plus, this year he reached out to me and told me that he needed me. That was really nice.
– You almost immediately were named captain at Avtodor. How was that decision made?
– To be honest, I fought it, because I don’t think it’s right. But it’s still nice that they see me as a captain. People forget, though, that it’s a big responsibility. I’ll put it this way: I went to Evgeny Kolesnikov immediately and told him that it didn’t matter to me who was captain. We’re going to achieve our goals together and answer for the chemistry together, too.
– Right now you’re 2nd on Avtodor in voting for the All-Star Game among Russian players. Would you like to play in the game, the VTB United League’s first-ever?
– It’s interesting. My name is working for me; after all I haven’t done anything for Avtodor yet. It’s great that we’ll have a game like this. We, the players, always said we could carve out two days on the calendar for it. It will attract more interest in basketball.
– Overall, how do you judge your new team’s chances? How comfortable do you feel playing Avtodor’s style?
– It’s not easy. We aren’t where we should be right now. Since we’re at the bottom of the standings, there’s a lot of motivation to do big things. When you are trying to do something difficult, being “comfortable” isn’t the right attitude. As far as my teammates, there’s no issue, because all the guys are mature, adult people. It’s easy to get along.
– On Saturday, UNICS visits Saratov: a club you know something about. What emotions do you have toward Kazan and the time spent there?
– The time I spent there under Trinchieri was very good. We were in two finals and just missed out on the Eurocup. I think the only reason we lost was because it was a two-game final and we didn’t take the right approach to the first game against Valencia. We played great basketball. As far as Kazan the city… Everyone knows, the center of the city is very beautiful and dripping with history. As far as now, everything’s simple with UNICS: The team has a lot of big stars and a solid budget for the VTB League. Kazan is losing a lot in the Euroleague, but playing well and competing with Europe’s top teams. I’m very happy that Panin, Ponkrashov before his injury, and Zhenya Voronov have found a role there. I’m looking at this game from Avtodor’s perspective. We know that our opponent just had a tough game in the Euroleague. It would be a sin to not take advantage. But let me repeat, they are the favorites and we’re the underdogs.
– What do you need to do to beat Pashutin’s team?
– What should we do? It’s no secret that Langford is the best one-on-one player in European basketball. Nobody in the Euroleague has been able to stop Langford. That’s why I’m not confident we’ll be able to do it. We won’t try to prevent him from scoring every time, but rather try to make him take as many attempts as possible. Everyone there is a threat. If Avtodor plays its game and the fans support us, anything can happen.
