CSKA will host Zenit in the Game of the Week on Sunday.
Place: Russia, Moscow, Megasport
Time: October 13, 2024, 17:00
Broadcast: Match TV, TV Start, League website
Rivalry
In 2022, Zenit defeated CSKA in the VTB League Finals (4-3), stopping the Moscow team one step away from 10 consecutive titles. Since that time, the teams’ rivalry has become principle. In the next 2 seasons, CSKA was better in the Playoffs, first leaving the St. Petersburg team without medals in the 3rd place series, and then bypassing on their was to the title last season.
The previous regular season series ended 2:2. CSKA won the first 2 games, but lost both in March 2024.
The clash between the teams in the Semifinals ended 4-2. The games were with an average difference of 15 points. Only in the last Game 6 the teams went into clutch.
Familiar opponents
CSKA guard Melo Trimble and Zenit forward Vince Hunter were in the Team of the Semifinals in last year’s Playoffs.
Guards Casper Ware (CSKA) and Trent Frazier (Zenit) played crucial roles in wins and also remained in the lineup.
The Moscow team center Tonye Jekiri actions allowed CSKA to dominate in the paint in the Game 5 of the series, and veteran forward Sergey Karasev, who scored 22 points in the second win of the series, making 5 of 6 three-pointers, will be back on the court.
Hunter outlined the emotions of the St. Petersburg team after the end of the season:
– No. Not happy. We took only third place, I don’t know who is happy about that. Even if you tell me that I should be happy about bronze, I still want to play in the Finals every year. I want to win the Finals every year.
The guard Georgy Zhbanov voiced his expectations from the first game of the teams in the new season after a difficult game versus Pari NN:
– Yes, we saved ammo for Moscow. It will be a big game. We are all waiting for it, we play for such clashes, so that a lot of fans came, there was a great tense atmosphere.
Season progress
The previous opponent in the current season for both teams was Pari NN. Nizhny Novgorod put up a fight against both, proving the place on top of the standings.
CSKA unexpectedly lost rebounding battle – 34:46, despite leading the League in this indicator, and the turnover played important role. The reigning champion got first loss of the season (75:77) and is now third in the standings.
Zenit game with the Volga team also was tough. Zenit won by 3 points (81:78), but lost 12:23 in the last quarter.
Xavier Pascual was dissatisfied with the team’s ability to stay focused:
– What happened in the last quarter shouldn’t happen. We stopped playing, we stopped defending.
The head coach thoughts echoed the recent words of newcomer Xavier Moon, who urged the team to work on maintaining concentration after the first loss. Zenit stumbled for the first time in the season last week, losing to Lokomotiv Kuban. A key factor in the loss was also rebounding (49:35). Zenit is 10th in the League by this stat, ahead of only MBA-MAI and Astana.
Leaders
Melo Trimble
Aleksa Avramovic started very brightly for CSKA, but in the last rounds the MVP of the last Playoffs reminded about himself.
Trimble leads the team in scoring (11.6) and efficiency (17, 13th in the League). The guard is making 42.9% of his three-point shots.
In the summer Trimble signed a new contract with the Moscow team until 2026.
Xavier Moon
Zenit newcomer is quickly adapting to the VTB League, which he called “a little tough.” He has long been of interest in Europe, but arrived only this summer. Moon was recognized as the best point guard of the Kondrashin and Belov Cup and was included in the team of the tournament.
The American guard scored 26 points in one game, which is currently the best performance of the season in Zenit, although the achievement fell on a lost game against Loko.
Promo
CSKA presented a promo video for the game in the style of the popular TV series The Squid Game.
Numbers
– The teams have played 50 games against each other in the VTB United League. CSKA leads with 32 wins.
– Zenit has so far played a record 3 games with 100 or more points in the regular seasons with Xavier Pascual. The last time the St. Petersburg team managed to demonstrate such performance in games against the Moscow team in the Finals 2022 Game 4 (110:111).
– CSKA and Zenit have the less turnovers (11.2) at the start of the season.
