The most interesting regular season in the League’s history is over. We are going to rewind the brightest achievements of key faces.
Vince Hunter, Zenit
13.0 points, 62.7% field-goal made, 5.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.7 block, 17.9 eff. points in 36 games
Zenit has a deep and balanced team this season. Xavi Pascual relies on solid defense and clear execution of the game plan. The St. Petersburg team confidently went through the regular season and improved significantly in the second stage, which finished with the best record in the League (9-1). The symbol of the best defense of the season and the versatility of Zenit system as a whole was Vince Hunter, a performer, who became the key player in the well-coordinated mechanism of the Spanish coach.
The bigman is reliable and useful in offense and offense, but this season he’s also discovered his talent as a clutch player: more than once he’s been the key figure of tense endings. The most memorable episode was in March against CSKA, when Vince scored the game-winning shot in the final seconds over 4 opposing team players.
Last season, Hunter helped UNICS win the League title. This season, he has fit in perfectly with Pascual team and is doing everything he can to repeat the success with Zenit.
Melo Trimble, CSKA
14.6 points, 43.0% field-goal made, 3.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 17.6 eff. points in 36 games
The regular season has been a mix for CSKA. After a solid start, the team decreased the pace in the second stage and lost 1st place to UNICS in the end. The Moscow team feature in this regular season was that the team had no clear leader, and Casper Ware, who claimed that role in the offense, was out for a long time in February due to injury. But the individual level of the team’s performers solved these issues, as almost any of the Moscow team players can take over in every game.
Melo Trimble has done that quite often, and the guard has often led his teammates in notable rivalries, including the March game against Lokomotiv Kuban: 26 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals and the win in overtime. The American guard combines scoring with rebounding, is a quick offensive rebounder, and is extremely dangerous while driving into the paint.
Melo performed all this from the bench and received the League Sixth Man of the Year award.
Evgeny Pashutin, PARMA
20 wins and 16 losses, 5th place in Group A
Evgeny Pashutin and PARMA focus on team defense – during the regular season, the Perm team allowed their opponents to reach the 90 points only 3 times in 36 games. The team controls the tempo, strictly follow the coach’s plan, and try to wear down the opponents with tough basketball.
PARMA made an impressive selection in the 2023 offseason, picking players who fit the coach’s ideas. B.J. Johnson, Isaiah Reese, Richard Solomon and C.J. Bryce is one of the strongest in the League. The role players have also been well selected, and Ruslan Abdulbasirov is one of them. The experienced center made his United League debut at the age of 30. With his defensive skills, power, and 42% three-point shooting, he fit in perfectly.
A true Pashutin team must play with heart and not spare either themselves or the opponents. The current PARMA follows these principles. In the regular season, only Zenit remained undefeated, but the the Perm team defeated reigning champion UNICS 3 times and CSKA twice. PARMA has the best result in history, finishing at 5th place and trailing only the Big Four.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Enisey
25.7 points, 45.1% field-goal made, 4.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 25.4 eff. points in 36 games.
In the 2023 offseason, Enisey appointed Jovica Arsic as head coach and signed Xavier Rathan-Mayes. The rest is history.
The Serbian coach built a successful offensive model around the Canadian sniper: the team, which is not spoiled by high results, became a threat to the grandees and gave hope to Krasnoyarsk basketball fans. Enisey has modern playing model. In three-pointers attempts average (27.0), the Siberian team is second after Pari NN (27.5), but in three-point made average (9.9), the team is leading the League. For the first time in its history, the offensively-focused Krasnoyarsk team has defeated every opponent in the League at least once during the regular season. Rathan-Mayes renewed Keith Langford historic 941 points in the regular season and also became the best scoring player of the season with a 25.7 points on average. Undoubtedly, he is also one of the main heroes of the regular season.
This year, Arsic and Rathan-Mayes are producing results with the team. For the second time in history and for the first time since 2017, Enisey finished the regular season with a positive balance of wins and losses.
Rostislav Vergun, Uralmash
26 wins and 14 losses, 1st place in Group B
Uralmash, after an 8-8 start to their debut season in the League, changed head coach. The team was led by Rostislav Vergun, who had not won a single win with MINSK before. This move greatly affected the performance and the number of wins of the Belarusian coach.
Vergun highlighted the strengths of his new team and made Uralmash offense more systematic – the team entered the Top 2 in assists (19.8). Uralmash players are strong in combinations and each player in the starting five is capable of scoring 20 or more points in a single game. The signing of Stanley Whittaker, who gradually became one of the leaders of the team, was a successful addition.
Uralmash is characterized by stability. The newcomer had only 1 loss during the entire second stage and became the best in Group B in efficiency and assists. In the first season in the League, the Yekaterinburg team clinched in the Playoffs via the play-in.
Vladislav Trushkin, MBA
10.2 points, 46.0% field-goal made, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 9.2 eff, points in 37 games
MBA had a disappointing first half of the regular season, but transformed at the decisive moment. A 10-game winning streak that started with a game against MINSK at the end of the regular season and brought the Moscow team into the play-in. The Moscow team returned to defense that allowed to make fastbreaks, confidence and spirit. But even that wouldn’t have been enough if not for an incredible performance by Vladislav Trushkin.
The 30-year-old forward had the best stretch of his career at the second stage of the regular season. And in the play-in game against Avtodor, he set a career-high 34 points (the highest total by a Russian player since February 2021; the ninth Russian in United League history to score 30 or more points in a game). During the 5-game stretch before the last play-in game, Vladislav averaged 22.4 points per game – a result that would make him the second-leading scorer of the season.
The transformation of a team made up of Russian players is impossible to imagine without this flash from a Trushkin experiencing his second youth.
DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, Lokomotiv Kuban.
16.6 points, 51.1% field-goal made, 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.0 steals, 16.7 eff points in 28 games.
Lokomotiv Kuban is an emotional team, which in a good mood is capable of miracles (the win over UNICS with 22 points deficit is the biggest comeback of the season). Loko efficient basketball is built on quick transition and aggressive three-point shooting, which is hard to imagine without DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell.
DeVaughn was the mastermind of the epic comeback against the reigning League champions – with 19 points, he was the highest scorer in that game. DeVaughn’s 22 and 30 points against CSKA, 21 against Zenit and 25 in another game against UNICS – the forward performances were not limited to that game. Akoon-Purcell scored 44 points at the All-Star Game and managed to become the second MVP of the All-Star Game for the losing team (Alexey Shved did it earlier).
The charismatic leader of arguably the League’s most fun and colorful team, leaving a noticeable mark on the regular season.
Markell Johnson, Astana
16.5 points, 47.9% field-goal made, 3.2 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 2.2 steals, 21.5 eff. points in 40 games.
The 25-year-old guard played his second season for the team, but now he has fully revealed himself, increasing his stats in points (14.0 last season) and especially assists (4.9).
Playing all 40 games with an average of 32 minutes, the American guard finished the regular season in the Top 10 in scoring average, Top 2 in assists and Top 5 in efficiency. Markell scored 39 points twice in the second stage (against Avtodor and Samara), made the All-Star Game in February and kept his team in the game until the final rounds.
Johnson delivered one of the most impressive individual performances of the season.
Nenad Dimitrijevic, UNICS
19.0 points, 53.2% field-goal made, 3.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.3 steals, 23.9 eff points in 35 games
Reigning champion UNICS stands out for having strong performers. In the Playoffs 2023, Velimir Perasovic team put Nenad Dimitrijevic at the point, who justified his confidence and became the MVP in the Kazan team golden postseason. In the regular season 2023/24, Nenad strengthened his role as UNICS’ offensive leader.
Another good news for Kazan fans is that the guard has performed particularly well in key games. Dimitrijevic gradually gained shape and was unstoppable in the second stage: 23 points versus Lokomotiv Kuban, 38 against CSKA, 32 and 24 with Zenit. Finally, in the battle for first place in the regular season with the Moscow team, Neno scored a career-high 40 points and 9 assists with 52 eff. points. With this top performance, UNICS finished 1st in the regular season for the first time in history. It’s hard to imagine more appropriate events for determining a player importance.
