Week 17 in review: Likhodey’s blocks, PARMA’s renaissance, Loko pacing up

Week 17 in review: Likhodey’s blocks, PARMA’s renaissance, Loko pacing up

United League live.

UNICS come back from -14 in Saint Petersburg

The Game of the week turned out to be quite a thing. Zenit seemed to recover from the bad start of the season, were leading in the first half and reached 14-point margin at some point.

But the things turned around dramatically after the halftime. UNICS added intensity to their defense after allowing 49 points in the first half as Zenit didn’t manage to get a single basket in the last 5 minutes of the third. Meanwhile, Kazan made a 18-0 run, took the lead and retained it.

Valerii Likhodey and his blocks are the best portrait of what UNICS’ defense was like in the second half:

After this win UNICS keeps on chasing the top 3: Khimki, CSKA and Loko.

Joan Plaza did not try to justify the loss, “You can blame the schedule, but this would be an excuse, not a real reason.”

PARMA one step away from the playoffs

PARMA were hot on the transfer market, but the start of the season did not match that level. Kazys Maskvytis’ side spent a great deal of time in the bottom of the standings. However, 2020 started well for Perm as they have 3 consecutive wins and need 1 victory to get to the playoffs zone.

On Sunday, PARMA outplayed Avtodor on the road. The guests held Saratov’s offense, were leading by 13 points and denied the comeback. The key role was played by PARMA’s centers: Mareks Mejeris and Artem Zabelin were flawless in field goals (15 of 15 and 36 points together).

However, the diamond of the night belongs to Avtodor’s Mouhammadou Jaiteh:

Loko paced up to get 6th straight win

Krasnodar currently has the hottest team of the League. Loko won all 6 games after Evgeny Pashutin’s comeback and almost reached CSKA ranked 2nd even being one game behind in the schedule.

On Saturday, Loko smashed Enisey. Loko had reached 10-point lead by the halftime, 24 in the second half, but the final result was softer – 94:79. Krasnodar matched its season best in points (94:89 at Khimki).

Evgeny Pashutin doesn’t hesitate to give minutes to young Russian players. 19-year-old Zakhar Vedishchev was in the starting five and was game’s top scorer by the big break:

Russian national team guard Grigory Motovilov got on court in the fourth quarter and alter Loko finished the game with all Russian five.

Astana ranked fifth

One could easily miss that, but Astana – heroes of the last regular season – climbed back to the top half of the table. Emil Rajkovikj’s team kicked Zielona Gora out of the playoffs zone last Sunday. Once again, Malcolm Hill led the team scoring 16 by the halftime and 25 in total.

Astana are still a challenge for Zielona Gora: the Polish lost all 4 games in VTB League.

With Drew Gordon absent, another Gora’s big man starred: Ivica Radic impressed the fans with a double-double of 29 points and 14 rebounds.

“You have to play much better to hope for a win over Khimki”

Tsmoki’s Rostislav Vergun was straightforward at postgame press conference. “You have to play much better to hope for a win over Khimki. Sadly, we haven’t done what it takes to win this one. Our fans were better than us tonight.”

Actually, Minsk had their chances to beat the leaders as Alexey Shved, Jeremy Evans, Anthony GIll and Chris Kramer missed the game in Belarus. But still, Khimki built a double-digit lead already in the first quarter.

Tsmoki erased the huge gap, but couldn’t make a miracle. Vitaly Liutich thanked the fans with a slam:

CSKA remain second

Loko are chasing, but Dimitris Itoudis’ side keep on going. Despite the losses over virus and injuries, CSKA won in Nizhny. The hosts fought during the first half, but couldn’t maintain the level for 40 minutes. Zoran Lukic spoke on losses over details, “Small details: missed open shots, wrong pass, misscommunication, sniper left in the corner – lead to lost games.”

And the coach is right as CSKA scored 18 of turnovers, while Nizhny only hit 7.

Roster difficulties gave a chance to young Daniil Kochergin. The forward made his debut in VTB League with a rebound and a block.

Team of the week

Standings

6 teams have 6 wins