One regular-season game will take place on Thursday.
Time: 7:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. Moscow Time)
Venue: Russia, Kazan, “Basket Hall”
Broadcast: Kinopoisk
UNICS: Kazan continues to delight fans with high-scoring play, having defeated Uralmash 95–84 last week. Their winning streak now stands at four games, and in each one, Milan Karakas’ team has scored at least 95 points. Now, MBA is traveling to the capital of Tatarstan; the team has lost to UNICS in all official matches (0-18). The result of the preseason Kondrashin and Belov Cup adds some intrigue, as the Muscovites won the final 96–92. The Kazan team is determined to get revenge.
MBA: After a hard-fought victory over BETCITY PARMA, the “Academics” found themselves in the same position, suffering a disappointing loss. Sergei Voznyuk’s team squandered a 22-point lead during their last game against Avtodor. Their road trip will continue with a game in Kazan. The Muscovites face a difficult task—containing UNICS’s high-flying offense. UNICS remains one of the most challenging opponents for MBA, but their recent victory over them has given fans hope.
UNICS Head Coach Milan Karakas: “We’re in for a very tough game. We’re already familiar with MBA from the Kondrashin and Belov Cup final in St. Petersburg, where they beat us, and we know the kind of basketball they play. They set a very fast pace, in my opinion, similar to the style of ‘Paris’ or ‘Valencia’ in the EuroLeague. We need to stay focused for the full 40 minutes against them.
We need strong defensive rotations and solid rebounding on our end. To get the result we need, we’ll require a concerted team effort throughout the entire 40 minutes.
They, like us, have injured players. Right now, we’re not sure exactly who to expect. For example, we don’t know if Maxim Ogarkov will play. But we’re preparing as if they’ll field a full lineup, and we’ll see how it goes from there.
MBA has many dangerous players, but Savkov is undoubtedly their most dangerous scorer. We also need to take into account the experience of Khvostov and Khomenko, sharpshooters like Sonko and Pevnev, and the rest of the team. We need to be ready for all of that.”
MBA Head Coach Sergey Voznyuk:
“UNICS has a very strong roster with deep rotation. Over the summer, Kazan significantly revamped its roster and signed some really talented players. After losing their first game of the season, UNICS went on a four-game winning streak; the team is on the rise right now, and we need to take that into account. They score more than any other team in the League; they have a magnificent offense that we definitely need to be wary of and contain. We fully understand the strength of our opponent. As for us, we’ve learned our lesson after the loss to Avtodor. We can’t let ourselves lose our way to the point where we completely lose control of the game. In the match against UNICS, we can’t repeat the mistakes we made in Saratov. The most important thing is to regain control and find our rhythm.”
