UNICS will host Zenit in the Game of the Week on Sunday.
Palce: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Time: September 29, 2024, 14:00
Broadcast: Match TV, TV Start, League website
Rivalry
The teams finished last year’s regular season in the Top 2 spots, but couldn’t stop CSKA from winning for the third time in a row.
Last regular season series ended with 3-1 by UNICS. The St. Petersburg team was only able to get the win in the last April game.
September was full of games. First the teams played in the Kondrashin and Belov Cup final, where Zenit won – 63:50. Then confronted in the VTB League SuperCup, where UNICS stopped the St. Petersburg team’s winning streak and prevented them from winning the tournament for the third consecutive time. The group stage game, which determined the finalist, ended up with 78:72.
The teams will conclude the September series at the Basket Hall in Kazan.
Off-season
The 2 top teams had a similar summer. Both lost their main guards. Nenad Dimitrijevic rebooted his career in Kazan and returned to the Euroleague, joining Olimpia Milan. Thomas Heurtel didn’t fit into Zenit long-term plans and ended up in China.
UNICS somewhat unexpectedly managed to get forward DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, who played two years for Lokomotiv-Kuban and is expected to become a key offensive player for the Kazan team. Zenit managed to sign Xavier Moon, who has been trying to get to Europe after 2 years at Clippers.
Season
The season started differently for the teams. Zenit confidently started with 2 wins, showing high efficiency and good shooting percentage.
UNICS lost to CSKA in the opening game and scored a minimal 55 points. The Kazan etam has never lost twice at the start of the regular season and didn’t change the ways, beating Samara in the last round.
Losses
UNICS is still without Aleksandr Platunov and Marcos Knight, as well as Louis Labeyrie. There’s a chance the French forward will appear for this game.
Zenit captain Sergey Karasev was out of action just in the previous game against Kazan. Point guard Trent Frazier returned to the lineup at the start of the championship, but is still just getting in shape.
Leaders
DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell
The forward moved to UNICS despite interest from CSKA and Euroleague clubs. The guard explained his choice by his positive attitude to the VTB League and his desire to play for an underdog. During the summer, the forward trained in Miami with John Wall, Terry Rozier and Michael Beasley, and came back full of ambition. The first result was being named to the SuperCup all-tournament team.
The forward currently leads the team in points despite poor first game. His strong start is even more important with Marcos Knight absence.
Dwayne Bacon
Zenit newcomer Dwayne Bacon has been one of the main reasons for the team’s efficient basketball in the first few games of the season. He has already scored a total of 44 points in 2 games, while making 68.8% of two-pointers and 60% of his three-point shots.
Bacon was active before the start of the regular season, being named to the SuperCup all-tournament team. Playing for Zenit gives him a chance to return to European basketball and the American guard seems intent on making the most of it.
Old-new friends
DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell and Aleksandr Scherbenev will play against each other for the first time in the VTB League. Before that, the players played in Lokomotiv Kuban for 2 seasons together.
Scherbenev hasn’t gotten much playing time yet, but he excelled in the SuperCup bronze medal game against Crvena Zvezda, when he scored 16 points in 17 minutes and earned praise from the VTB United League President Sergey Kushchenko.
Numbers
– The rivlary history score is 22-19, UNICS leads.
– Zenit made 100+ points twice in a row at the start of the season (for the first time since 2019).
– UNICS set the VTB United League worst with missing 23 three-pointers in a row versus CSKA. In total, the team’s players scored 1 of 25 long-range shots.
