After being appointed head coach of the MINSK men's team, Aliaksei shared with the club's press service the stages of his professional career and personal development in basketball, and also talked about building work in the current season.
About the start of a coaching career
When I was in Kazakhstan in the 2011/12 season as a player in BC BARSY ATYRAU-2, the coach left the team. The club knew me and offered to involve me not only as a player, but also as a coach. I took on this job responsibly. The team was a youth team, I spent 2 hours every evening preparing for training, trying to improve the quality and pattern of the game. There I realized that this is a creative process that requires a lot of knowledge, a huge amount of time, and a coach should give his all to his profession.
When I returned to Belarus and joined the non-professional basketball league, I got a good experience working with guys who had completed professional performances. Summing up my work of that period, I can say that in three years our amateur team has become one of the best and most stable. There, the director of the MINSK Sports School noticed my work Peter Leonidovich Ivashkov suggested that I try myself as a children's coach. Although I saw myself more in working with adults, I remembered the phrase of the outstanding honored coach of the USSR Alla Georgievna Vergun. She said that every coach definitely needs to work with children.
About working with young basketball players
I came as a coach to a group of children born in 2003-2004 who had already been playing basketball for several years. I spent 4 years with them, a super interesting experience. During the first two years, it seemed to me that we were doing a huge amount of work, but there was no desired result. Yes, the guys improved technically and tactically, but physically it was more difficult. To understand: we participated in the European Youth Basketball League, and in the first year there were 0 wins and 15 losses. We won only a couple of games next season. There were thoughts that I couldn't do it, maybe it wasn't mine. I was looking for ways to help the guys, because their eyes were very bright. Somehow we decided with the director of the sports school about the need to attract a physical fitness coach who will develop the guys correctly, since basketball players are not only about the ball and the ring, they also have to become athletes.
Our classes were held on the outskirts of the city, not in the best hall, I was worried that it would not be easy for children to get there, the training on the OFP was difficult, and this could cause skips. As I remember now, Roma Shcherbakov's dad (a player of the men's team of BC MINSK) said that Roma came home super tired, but very happy after these classes. The guys endured, trusted their coaches and worked hard. At the end of the year, we all felt a strong leap forward. The children have grown up, become stronger and, most importantly, more confident. In the Republic of Belarus, as a result, we did not know our equals – we won both the DOUBLE and the Spartakiad, and very confidently. The following year, which was the last year with the children, we participated in the second division in the EUBL and fought for getting into the Final Four. Literally one victory was not enough for us. Of those guys who trained with me during a certain period, there are now players in the main team and in MINSK (reserve), they also play for the Belarusian 3x3 basketball team (Ilya Milashevsky, Ivan Terekhov, Alexey Yudkin, Alexey Bochkar, etc.). The rest successfully represent their universities in student competitions. It was a great experience for me, which also allows me to see some mistakes from the players now, and going back, sometimes you can make adjustments and fix them.
About responsibility and interaction in the men's team
Speaking about the current state of affairs in the team: we said goodbye to one of the most productive players Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, Zach Smith was injured, Daniel Kosko is recovering. Literally 10 minutes before the start of our last game against Astana, Daniil Barysevich got a sprain in the warm-up. There was no panic in the situation with Jarred, I understood that the team was able to rebuild and become stronger in defense, the players had to rally. Marina Vasilevskaya, the first female cosmonaut of Belarus, flew to the ISS recently, an example and a landmark for all of us. Therefore, we realize that nothing is impossible. When someone drops out, it opens up opportunities for another basketball player to prove himself. It's an emotional and psychological boost for him. But you need to be able to use it properly. Specifically, before the match with Astana, we understood that Zach would not be there. But we believed in our players that they are ready to cope with this difficult task. Unfortunately, this did not work out over the previous months. We have been close to winning duels many times. But it was the firmness and the masculine character that they showed the day before yesterday – that's what the guys lacked twice in the matches against IBA and Runa, in the games with Uralmash, Pari Nizhny Novgorod. We need to look at the situation honestly – we are in plain sight, and we can talk a lot, but our job on the site is to show this character. Everything worked out yesterday, and I would not like to single out anyone in particular - everyone was charged, ready and completely devoted to the game.
About further actions and motivation
Indeed, a lot of players have dropped out now for a number of reasons. How should we act in this situation? It is important to be able to make decisions based on what each next hour brings. Now there are 10 people, and this is the minimum that I expect, and with whom we can play. I am sure that the guys will be able to show a good fight. The medical staff works very professionally and restores the players. We already have a tentative timeline for when the injured will start to return. Hopefully, this will happen soon with Danik Kosko. For the remaining 5 games in the VTB United League season, it is important for us to properly distribute the load.
About the fans
Our fans are a big part of the team because, like us, they worry and believe. The most important thing is that they always stayed with us and came to the games. It is the faith and support of our fans that gives energy and an incentive not to give up. As a player, I remember these emotions from the support of the stands, there is nothing to compare them with, and I have not yet experienced an alternative to such feelings. The support we receive is never too much, every moment will remain in the heart of the players. The louder the stands, the more the team gives.