UNICS will face Samara in the Quarterfinal Series.
Games Schedule
Game 1. April 23, 19:00 (Moscow time), Kazan, Basket Hall
Game 2. April 25, 19:00 (Moscow time), Kazan, Basket Hall
Game 3. April 28, 16:00 (Moscow time), Samara, SKK Dvorets Sporta
Game 4. April 30, 18:00 (Moscow time), Samara, SKK Dvorets Sporta*
Game 5. May 3, 19:30 (Moscow time), Kazan, Basket Hall*.
* – if necessary.
Regular Season
UNICS: 1st place (26 wins and 10 losses)
Samara: 8th place (22 wins and 18 losses).
Season Rivalry
The teams played only twice in the 2023/24 season: Samara failed to qualify to the Group A at the second stage and had to continue their fight for the Playoffs until the last.
Nevertheless, the score in the season rivalry is tie – 1:1. Moreover, Samara became the first team of the season to upset the reigning champion. It happened on October 22 in Samara in front of almost 4 000 fans.
Samara had 2 road wins and started the game versus UNICS at home very motivated. Drazen Anzulovic team ran from the opening minutes and began to dictate the pace of the game: James Thompson and Justin Roberson made second-chance points. With such game, the hosts trailed by only 2 points at the halftime – 48:50.
Samara took the lead with 28 points in the third quarter. The Kazan team trademark defense just didn’t work in this game, and in the fourth quarter the offense broke down as well – UNICS couldn’t move from 78 points for more than 5 minutes. During that time, Samara created a lead and held it for the rest of the game.
As a result, Samara became the first team to score 100 in the game – 104:93. James Thompson had a phenomenal game with a double-double 18 points, 14 rebounds and 32 eff. points.
The next Volga derby took place 2 months later in Kazan – and there UNICS didn’t let their opponent make another sensation. Yes, Roberson-Thompson duo helped Samara take the lead for the first 3 minutes of the game, but then the Kazan team took the lead and didn’t give it up until the final buzzer.
The key was the second quarter, which UNICS won 23:6. The difference was 21 points, and before the final quarter Samara was down by 28. Velimir Perasovic team had no trouble holding the win, Dimitrijevic-Green duo combined for 39 points – 81:61.
UNICS and Samara have never played in 2024.
Why can UNICS win?
The Kazan team won the regular season for the first time in history and came to the Playoffs as the best team of the season.
UNICS has the League’s second-best offense (86.0 points) and second-best defense (76.4 points). The Kazan team leads the League in three-point made percentage (39.4%) and is the only team in the season to shoot over 50% from the field (50.1%). And only Enisey had less turnovers than the reigning champion.
It’s worth noting that Samara also scores with a high percentage both from the game (46.7%) and from the perimeter (37.0%). UNICS demonstrated such statistics in Group A against the League’s strongest teams, while Samara played in Group B at the second stage.
Another reason why UNICS is the clear favorite is Nenad Dimitrijevic. The MVP of the Playoffs 2023 is now aiming for the MVP of the season award. After the New Year, Neno has 4 games with 30+ points, but the most memorable was probably his performance against CSKA in the final round of the regular season. Dimitrijevic set career-highs in points (40 points), three-pointers made in a single game (8) and efficiency (52 points).
Why can Samara win?
The Volga team has already beaten UNICS this season, but in a Quarterfinal series Samara need to do it not once, but 3 times.
What are Samara strengths? First of all, attitude: on Saturday the team showed character and took the last Playoffs spot against MBA (85:77). Second, while UNICS was resting, Samara continued to play and should be in a better playing tone than the opponent.
Third, the Kazan team lost Marcos Knight and Dmitry Kulagin due to injuries, while Mikhail Belenitskii and Andrey Vorontsevich, who moved from Pari Nizhny Novgorod until the end of the season, can hardly be considered equivalent replacements. Yes, they will add depth and experience to UNICS roster, but Samara will still try to take advantage of the Kazan team problems in backcourt.
X-Factor
Samara roster depth and unpredictability.
UNICS has all jokers in this Volga derby. Samara is inferior to its opponents in terms of quality of play, but at the same time the coaching staff does not limit the rotation to 5-6 players.
9 of the team’s players played an average of 19 to 26 minutes per game, and even with Ilya Platonov not playing since the beginning of the month, Drazen Anzulovic has a deep roster.
It’s important that almost anyone can perform in a single game. For example, in the key play-in game against MBA, Aleksandr Gudumak had his best game in the League with career-high 25 points.
