Anton Samara biography

Tell us how your path in the world of basketball began - why did you love this sport and chose it for themselves, how and when they started to study? Dad brought my brother to a sports school. And maybe from five years I already went with my brother to street platforms. He taught me basketball baskets: how to take two steps, how to take a ball. And we often went to deal with him together.

And then the man who played with my brother in the sports school - Jonas Polishkis - became a coach. Mom and I came to the first training session, and that’s it. I stayed and began to train there. In addition to the championship last season, what do you consider your main achievement at the moment? But if you choose from those that were, I would note several. This is probably the European Championship - division B, where we played in the national team U still significant - the VTB youth league.

Well, if you call the third, this is not a championship, but just what I managed to play in the Olympic qualifications for the main team of Russia. How did you meet in the club after returning? We met everything joyfully, everyone was glad - including me - that I am returning. I also have many friends who work in the club - in the system, in the office. And some players also stayed with whom I performed.

Therefore, I am glad to return and I hope that everyone in Samara will also be happy to see me. Still, you were born and grew up in Moscow, and this is a great contrast. Before I started to leave Moscow, it seemed to me that this is the city where I want to live, that it was an ideal place for me. But with the move to Samara, this city sunk into my soul.

I met a girl in Samara, maybe this also influenced. And I can say now that Samara will be one of those cities where I would like to continue to live after a career. Did this affect your decision on the transition? We wanted to be together and did not even look at any other options. That is, while there was an option with Samara, we tried to bring it to life. And already if it did not work out, then maybe other options for continuing the career would begin to consider.

But yes, I’ll say that this factor was one of the key. Maybe this also affected? Are you happy to reunite with a friend? He asked about Samara, since I already played there - about the organization and in general. And I already knew that he would play for Samara. Probably, this factor did not strongly affect my decision, but I am glad that we will be together.

And, I hope, we can, as in the old days in the youth league, play in an adult single league. It is clear that the team has high competition in your position. Do you think there is another reason why you could not gain a foothold in the rotation? There is no need to choose. And there are not so many chances. If you have a chance, then you need to use it. Maybe somewhere I did not use my chance.

Maybe something else has happened. But, as you said, the competition was very serious.

We can say that this was the best team in Russia this year. And in my position were very strong players. Therefore, it was difficult to gnaw for some minutes. However, even in those moments that they gave me, I tried to make a maximum. I think it turned out somewhere. It is clear that it was possible to do more, and you always want more. But I am satisfied with what I did. Because at CSKA everyone is tuned differently.

This is such a red fabric for a bull. And even when I played for other clubs, I was on rent - it is always felt. Other teams want to beat CSKA. It's complicated. Yes, this is not good for someone. Because it is such a brand, a club with a huge story. And the pressure is always present. We can say that you have no right to make a mistake and you should always be better than others.

Emotions are the ones that everyone would want to experience. Although I did not play a particularly big role there-I participated in the playoffs only in games with the Yenisei, and then did not fall into the application. However, I still think that every player in the team is important. This is not visible in the game, but in training we had the third five of those guys who played less.

And we gave that competition for the main guys who, perhaps, helped them somewhere in matches. Therefore, emotions are the most beautiful, and God forbid to test them again. Because now it's hard to get some minutes. He said what to work on, and offered me an option with rent. We began to work out this, and in the end it turned out that I did not go on rent, but on full rights. Now I am a player of Samara.

And I will say that I would like to gain experience and return to CSKA in a few years. I don’t know when it happens and whether it happens, but I will be glad to return. But paramount, yes, there was an option with Samara. And only with them we were negotiating. That is, you were sent from the team to gain experience, but after a few years they are waiting back? CSKA is trying to educate its players.

I was one of those who climbed the youth team, went up and ended up in the main one. But it did not work out to win some big role. And I would like to thank Andrei Vladimirovich Vatutin and the whole leadership - Natalya Valerievna Furaeva, the coach of Andreas - because they gave me such a chance.We agreed with Samara, let me go. It was very pleasant when he saw an interview with the president, where he said that he would like to work with me.

I wrote him a message with words of gratitude and said that I hope that it would still be able to work together. This is such a situation in my head. But now I am a Samara player and concentrated only on the game for this club. I have a contract for three years. Maybe then I will last more - maybe I will spend 10 years in Samara. It will be visible there.

Now I am concentrated only in the next season. Rebich left, Robergson - do you set the task of gaining a foothold in the starting five? I think they will take a few more players, and it will already understand what the situation will be. But I always set a command goal to the fore - to fulfill, or maybe to overfulfill it. Well, I set myself the task of getting stably playing time and only progress.

This time, I think, the main task is to gain a foothold in the top 6 and compete for medals. Already managed to talk with him? What do you think about this specialist? But we called up, talked. And last year, Samara showed a good result. I think this speaks of the competence of the coach. And I am sure that this season we will achieve the highest goals - maybe you can even talk about the championship.

What do you think, what the team will have to work on in order to enter the number of favorites? Maybe not only teams and players, but the whole club, management are still gaining experience in such a strong championship.