The ball is on his side: how Egor Demin started his first season in the NBA

A week has passed since the start of the National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season. Brooklyn Nets defenseman Egor Demin scored 26 points in his first games for the team, made the best debut among Russians in the NBA and received accolades overseas. For more information about the athlete's start and the prospects of other compatriots to break into the main squads of the tournament, see the Izvestia article.

Above expectations

Egor Demin started relatively well in the strongest league in the world. In the opening game against Charlotte, he scored 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists (136:117 in favor of the Hornets). It was the third result for the Nets after Nick Claxton (17) and Cam Thomas (15). This is the most productive debut match in the history of the NBA among Russians. Sergey Bazarevich had previously made the best start in the league, scoring 9 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists against Phoenix in 1994.

In the second game, Egor also showed good statistics — 9 points, made 6 rebounds and 4 assists, but his team lost again (to Cleveland in a tense ending with a score of 131:124). However, as in the third and fourth games of the season (Demin missed the match with Houston, as Jordi Fernandez said earlier, the coaching staff will carefully distribute the playing time and workload of the point guard after the injury).

Brooklyn is not among the best teams in the NBA this season. Even in the East. In many forecasts, the second New York team is in last place. Yes, a young and seemingly promising second-year coach, Spaniard Fernandez, is expected to improve last year's record of 26 wins. But some suggest that the Nets bosses are going to systematically drain the season in order to continue recruiting through the draft. At the last one, as we remember, the club "took under the hammer" five newcomers at once, including Egor.

Is this a good situation for a graduate of the Moscow Trinta to launch his overseas career? Yes rather than no. And here's why: betting on the draft, Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks emphasizes that he will actively recruit young people. The perfect setup for the club's newcomers. This is exactly the model of Brooklyn's game we see in the first matches of the season. Egor ran for 22 minutes against Charlotte, 25 minutes against Cleveland, and almost 19 minutes against San Antonio.

"Basketball is a team sport," Vladimir Gomelsky, a four—time USSR champion and well—known commentator, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — There are examples, from my point of view, negative ones, when a very talented person comes to the team, gifted from God, technically prepared, he starts to show incredible statistics, but the team loses. That's not the case with Egor yet. It shows numbers that exceed our expectations.

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According to him, Egor Demin is playing more effectively and more usefully than expected, but the Nets are not showing results.

— I know that Egor won't break down, he has character. It's very frustrating and boring to play for a team that loses everything. We need to make progress at Brooklyn, but I really feel for the fans of a team that doesn't win. It turns out to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, we are happy for Egor, we were not mistaken in determining the degree of his talent. On the other hand, when will there be a series of successes? Gomelsky added.

The thorny path

After Egor Demin's rather successful debut in the NBA, the careers of two more Russian basketball players went into the shadows. Center Viktor Lakhin finished last season playing for the University of Clemson, South Carolina. The native of Anapa was in the starting five and produced solid figures — an average of 11.4 points per game, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots. His compatriot, a 213 cm tall hero Vladislav Goldin, played even cooler (16.6 points, 7 rebounds, 1.4 blocked shots). A native of Nalchik, he was one of the leaders of the University of Michigan. In the NCAA championship playoffs, or, as it is called, in the "March Madness", this team reached the 1/8 finals. And Goldin himself was on the shortlist of candidates for the Karim Abdul Jabbar Prize. It is awarded to the best center at the end of the student season.

Despite playing consistently, none of the Russian centers were drafted by the NBA club in June of this year. Nevertheless, both signed contracts: Lakhin — in mid-October with the farm club "Oklahoma City Thunder", which is called "Oklahoma City Blue". And Goldin immediately after the draft signed a so-called two-way contract with the Miami Heat. After that, he more than successfully played for the Heat in the summer league. In five games, Goldin then scored 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and made 1 blocked shot.

—Vlad performed well in the summer league," Eric Glass, the head coach of the Miami summer team, commented on Goldin's game on the official G—League website in July. "He plays with incredible dedication and is very well prepared physically. I would like him to spend even more time on the court. We really like his style.

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Without going into all the details, we can say that two-way contracts in the NBA exist in order for young players (with less than four years of experience) to They could have played in the NBA main team and its farm club at the same time. In the case of Goldin, we are talking about performances first in the Development League. Or, as it is now called, the G-League. Miami Farm, as strange as it may sound, is not based in sunny Florida at all. It is called Sioux Falls Skyforce and represents the city of the same name in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Viktor Lakhin was a little more lucky in this regard. The Oklahoma City Blue team is located in the same city as the Thunder. The only difference is that Goldin signed a two-way contract (with the option of playing in the NBA). And Lakhin is still only with the farm team. But this, on the other hand, does not prevent Viktor from applying for one of the remaining two-way Thunder contracts (there are three in total for the NBA club).

Obviously, the road to the NBA will be a tortuous one for both of our centers. Goldin has a slightly better chance of reaching the top level. But it still needs to be earned. Everything will depend on the progress of the season itself. The progress that we are now really looking forward to from Demin at Brooklyn.

—We're unlikely to see Goldin in the NBA this season,— Vladimir Gomelsky continued. — To do this, the Hit must fly past everything. He doesn't have a high enough level of individual skill. I need to work in the Development League. If there is any real offer with minutes, for example, from the Euroleague, you need to return immediately. The main thing is to play, but they won't let you. And you can only be offended by yourself.

The G-League season starts on November 7th.