The VTB United League recently released the calendar for the 2017-18 season, which will feature 156 regular season games. We want you to be prepared, so we’ve put together a preview of 12 must-see games on the schedule, including the second-ever League All-Star Game, Georgios Bartzokas’s return to Krasnodar, Stefan Markovic’s clash with Zenit and the always thrilling CSKA – Khimki rivalry.
Let’s go!
UNICS – Zenit
October 5, 2017, Kazan
The very first game of the season features two of the League’s biggest clubs. UNICS and Zenit both made huge changes over the summer and it will be fascinating to see which team was able to gel more quickly in the preseason. Expectations are always high in St. Petersburg and Kazan, but only one team will get to open the season undefeated.
Khimki – CSKA
November 6, 2017, Khimki
This is Russia’s biggest rivalry. Khimki and CSKA are the only two teams to win a VTB United League championship with CSKA taking the most recent title thanks to a 3-0 sweep of Khimki in June’s finals. Unfortunately for fans of the Yellow and Blue, the rivalry has become lopsided in recent years. Khimki hasn’t won a game since February 2015, dropping 13 in a row since then. Some big summer acquisitions and Georgios Bartzokas’s arrival have raised hopes, however, that the slump could end soon.
The game against CSKA will be Bartzokas’s first major test in the League. He rattled the Army Men while coaching in Krasnodar during the 2015-16 season and will try to do so again with his new club.
Khimki – Zenit
November 19, 2017, Khimki
Last season’s semifinal series between Khimki and Zenit was an instant classic. Now there’s added drama when these clubs clash after Zenit playmaker Stefan Markovic switched sides over the summer, inking with Khimki. He played a huge part in Zenit’s success in 2016-17 and nearly willed the club to a spot in the EuroLeague despite battling through injuries down the stretch. This will easily be one of the most anticipated games of the season.
Lokomotiv-Kuban – Zenit
December 16, 2017, Krasnodar
There’s a pretty clear hierarchy among the League’s Big Five. EuroLeague-bound CSKA and Khimki are at the top, while Loko and Zenit are seen as the most likely to challenge for a championship after getting some serious upgrades during the offseason. Given how competitive the top of the League is expected to be, games like this have a huge impact on seeding and home-court advantage in the postseason, even in December. Expect both teams to treat this early-season matchup very seriously.
Zenit – CSKA
January 14, 2018, St. Petersburg
The rivalry on the court between Moscow and St. Petersburg and these two legendary brands is picking up intensity every season. A year ago, CSKA suffered its worst loss of the season in the northern capital (90-77) and finished only one game ahead of Zenit in the regular season standings. Playing on Old New Year’s Day, CSKA and Zenit will try to make it an auspicious start to 2018 and set the tone for the rest of the campaign.
Lokomotiv-Kuban – Khimki
January 21, 2018, Krasnodar
Bartzokas took Lokomotiv to the EuroLeague Final Four in 2016, but made an abrupt exit for Barcelona over the summer after already tinkering with Krasnodar’s roster for the upcoming campaign. Forced to scramble for a new coach and identity, Loko struggled to build on 2015-16’s breakthrough, while Bartzokas only lasted one season in Spain. Now they meet again in Russia with the Greek in charge at rival Khimki.
It’s also a special game for Andrey Zubkov, who joined Moscow Region after eight seasons with the Railwaymen. Don’t be surprised if the former captain gets a warm welcome from Krasnodar fans prior to the game.
Lokomotiv-Kuban – CSKA
February 11, 2018, Krasnodar
Lokomotiv almost derailed CSKA in 2014, storming to a 2-0 lead in the quarterfinals with back-to-back road wins. Despite a heartbreaking collapse in that series, Krasnodar has continued to give Moscow trouble. Loko has gone 4-2 in the last six regular season meetings, including a win in Krasnodar one year ago.
All-Star Game
February 17, 2018
You might not see every game on this list, but absolutely cannot miss this one. Immediately following the inaugural All-Star Game in Sochi, which drew 12,000 fans and a TV audience of 2.5 million, the League started planning for this season’s extravaganza. Sochi put on a great show in 2017 and the fans responded. Expect 2018 to be bigger and better with St. Petersburg and the Yubileyniy Arena favored to land the event in February.
Avtodor – CSKA
March 4, 2018, Saratov
Avtodor has some of the League’s most passionate fans and the atmosphere is always incredible whenever the Army Men come to town. Hearkening back to the legendary rivalry from the late 1990s when Saratov was a regular title contender, Avtodor would love nothing more than to steal a win from the reigning champs. They came close last season, dropping a 104-103 overtime thriller. Perhaps the breakthrough will come in 2018 as Saratov looks to make a return to the postseason.
Kalev – VEF
April 15, 2018, Tallinn
VEF has had the upper hand in the Baltic derby for several seasons, sweeping Kalev last season and enjoying a 7-3 advantage over the past 10 games. Riga even advanced to the playoffs in 2016, something Tallinn has yet to do in the VTB United League. Who knows, maybe these two teams will be fighting over a spot in the postseason come next spring… Either way, bragging rights are always on the line when VEF and Kalev clash.
Parma – CSKA
May 8, 2018, Perm
The team in Perm is new, but fans remember the showdowns between these two cities in the early 2000’s. 7,316 fans packed the Molot Arena last April to cheer on Parma against CSKA. Even a 61-point blowout couldn’t dampen the love for the game in Perm. You can already guarantee a sell-out for May 2018 when the Army Men return to the Molot for a new chapter in the Perm – Moscow rivalry.
Khimki – Lokomotiv-Kuban
May 9, 2018, Khimki
Victory Day traditionally begins with a military parades and closes with fireworks at dusk. In between, fans will have time for a match-up between two ambitious teams that could very well be battling for a home-court advantage and a top seed in the playoffs.
