Minsk, Moscow and Kazan will host regular season games on Saturday.
MINSK (Minsk) vs. Zenit (St. Petersburg)
Time: 15:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Belarus, Minsk, Falcon Club
Broadcast: Start Triumph, League website
MINSK: The game against a tough Astana gave the Minsk team fans reasons for optimism. Although it again ended in a loss, MINSK had the best game of the season and was very close to the first win. Rostislav Vergun was generally satisfied with the players, although he admitted that it’s frustrating to lose a game in which you lead 3 quarters. Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson came off the bench for only the second time this season. Grigory Motovilov, Jakub Cebasek and Uladzislau Mikulski led the offense.
Zenit: However, no matter how the Belarusian team played in the previous game, it will be extremely difficult for get the win on Saturday – they will face one of the main favorites of the season, gradually gaining momentum. After a loss to UNICS, Xavier Pascual team has 2 very solid wins over PARMA and Avtodor. Both times, Zenit literally kept their opponents’ heads down, and in the game against Saratov, the team also set their own season-high in the current regular season – 89 points. These wins are especially important because Zenit is still playing with an extremely short roster – without Heurtel, Zhbanov, Toropov, and now Moerman. Despite this, Zenit managed to get the 6th win and secured the fifth place.
Runa (Moscow) vs. CSKA (Moscow)
Time: 16:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Moscow, DS Dynamo
Broadcast: Match! Strana, TV Start, League website.
Runa: Coming off their most loud win of the season over UNICS, the Vikings couldn’t hold on to their winning streak, losing to Enisey in their next game. Nevertheless, Runa remains in the Top 4 and shows that the team’s ambitions do not stop there. The game with Kazan showed that the Vikings are ready for the toughest exams – the winning experience in the game with the contender should have the most favorable effect on the psychology. Perhaps even a little too favorable – maybe mood after UNICS lacked against Enisey. In any case, the Vikings will surely be ready to play. Besides, the loss to the Siberian team was at home, which means the team has extra motivation to rehabilitate in front of their fans.
CSKA: CSKA winnning streak came to an end last week. CSKA lost to Loko at home, just 1 game away from 10th anniversary win. However, the Krasnodar team has a secret recipe against CSKA – Loko beat them in the last Playoffs, in the SuperCup, and now in the first game of the regular season. The United League newcomer has no such winning experience. The Army team has already beat Uralmash and now will try to make up for the loss to Loko with another newcomer. CSKA is rarely losing 2 games in a row, so it won’t be easy for Runa. One thing is obvious – just like in the game against the Krasnodar team, the crowd is likely to see a fairly open game, as one of the League’s most scoring teams will play (CSKA is second, Runa is sixth).
UNICS (Kazan) vs. Enisey (Krasnoyarsk)
Time: 18:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Broadcast: Match! Igra, TV Start, League website.
UNICS: The loss against Runa was a sensitive, but the team wasn’t gave up. The win over PARMA and a loss to CSKA allowed Velimir Perasovic team to continue the pursuit to the Top 1, with 1 game in asset. UNICS can get within one win of the standings leader – of course, only if CSKA loses the second game in a row. In the game with Enisey, the hosts will be unqualified favorites due to many factors, but win is not guaranteed – the team still has plenty problems. For example, in the game against PARMA,UNICS bench scored 33 points, but there were only 2 bench players: Eric Green and Jalen Reynolds. If one of them doesn’t play well, the Kazan team offensive versatility could be drastically reduced.
Enisey: The Siberian team has already became one of the biggest sensation of the early season. Enisey has already won 3 games, 2 were on the road against very serious opponents (MBA and Runa). The team was able to break into the Top 3 after 10 games. As usual, UNICS expects a big performance from the Krasnoyarsk team leader Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who once again scored more than 30 points against Runa, and has already had 5 such games this season. If Enisey guard keeps the momentum going, he can claim a fantastic 30 points per game average. On the one had, this miracle could end if UNICS defense can shut him down, but on the other hand, shutting down such a scorer is a very hard task even for the Kazan team.
