In the second edition of VTB United Leauge there were 187 players and 19 head coaches from 12 clubs. 14 freshmen of that season played or managed teams in 2019/20 season.
Below, we’ll recall those who represent 2010/11 season in the United League of 2020:
Sergey Monia, Khimki
Stats: 12 games, 6.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists
It’s hard to imagine Sergey Monia outside Khimki, and Khimki without Captain Russia. The forward has spent 10 seasons in Moscow region becoming club’s icon.
Sergey Monia joined Khimki in summer 2010 and helped his tim win VTB United League in the first season. Morover, in the first game of Kazan Final Four (against UNICS), he was the second best in assists (6) after Zoran Planinic.
His best game that season was against Azovmash: 19 points and 7 of 9 field goals. By the way, 19 points is Monia’s second career high in VTB League, he scored 20 against Krasnye Krylia in 2014/15 season.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Zalgiris
Stat: 9 games, 3.6 points, 1.3 rebounds
Kuzminskas started professional career pretty early: at 17 he already represented Sakalai. The forward could have played in 2009/10 season of the United Leauge when Zalgiris invited young Mindaugas. However, Kuzminskas decided to stay in Siauliai for one more season.
Kuzminskas’ debut in the League was ambigious. Zalgiris outplayed Khimki (the only loss for 2010/11 champs), but Mindaugas played less than 2 minutes without any stats.
3 months later, Kuzminskas had passed the 10-point level with 14 against VEF. Nonetheless, neither Kuzminskas, nor Zalgiris managed to play big in the playoffs as Azovmash stole their Final Four spot.
Rimas Kurtinaitis, VEF and Khimki
Stats: 3 wins in 10 games with VEF, 2 wins in 2 games with Khimki
Rimas Kurtinaitis led Khimki to the golden medals of 2010/11 season. However, this is still their only gold, and the details are peculiar.
In VTB United League, Kurtinaitis made his debut as VEF head coach replacing Valdis Valters who had 0 wins in 2009/10 season. The Lithuanian improved the situation in his first game beating Kalev (70:69). VEF couldn’t keep up with League’s competition and missed the playoffs. However, Kurtinaitis aproved his high class and joined Khimki between the regular season and the playoffs.
Khimki, CSKA and UNICS were the best teams of the season with 9-1 record; but only Khimki extended winning streak to get the title. Therefore, in 2010/11 season, Rimas Kurtinaitis managed Khimki in 2 games only, but it was enough to win VTB United League.
Dairis Bertans, VEF
Stats: 10 games, 9.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists
Just like Kuzminskas, Dairis was very young freshman in professional basketball. 15-year-old, he already played in Latvian league, and rookie season in VTB League was the seventh for 21-year-old.
Funny thing is that Bertans was invited to VEF by… Rimas Kurtinaitis. The Lithuanian was rebuilding the team with only 4 players left from 2009/10 season and 13 rookies in 2010/11. One of them was Dairis Bertans who was perceived as a point guard by Kurtinaitis.
The guard really controlled the ball a lot, but didn’t tend to shot from distance: only 1.7 attempts per game and only 23.5% 3-pointers. Last season, Bertans made 5 three-point attempts per game with a 47.7% success rate.
Rimas Kurtinaitis moved to Khimki in 2010/11 season, while Bertans having spent 2 more years in Riga, played in Spain, Turkey, Italy and even NBA, moved to Moscow region only 9 years later.
Rostislav Vergun, Minsk-2006
Stats: 3 games, 2.3 minutes
Rostislav Vergun is a young manager: he was appointed as Tsmoki-Minsk head coach at 36. In 2010/11 season Vergun was a player with Minsk 2006.
Rostislav Vergun played 3 games that season without any points scored. One year later, he started coaching career, and in 2014 joined coaching staff of Minsk that had already transformed from 2006 to Tsmoki.
Kristjan Kitsing, Kalev
Stats: 6 games, 2.7 points, 2.7 rebounds
In 2010, Kristjan Kitsing won Estonian league with Tartu. However, Kristjan himself averaged about 8 minutes on court. Looking for minutes, he signed with Kalev.
20-year-old forward used to start on the bench and play about 12 minutes per game with 2.7 PPG. It was nothing like a key offensive player as Kitsing made less than 3 attempts per game and mainly refrained from long distance shots.
2019/20 season is totally different: Kitsing is a crucial player for Kalev’s offense, and is in League’s Top 10 with 5.9 three-pointer attempts per game.
Kaspars Berzins, VEF
Stats: 10 games, 6.9 points, 5.4 rebounds
Unlike most part of the list, Kaspars Berzins joined VTB League as a high class player: VEF had become his 7th professional club, and he had titles of Latvian league and FIBA Challenge Cup.
Berzins was often in starting five and played a big role in Rimas Kurtinaitis’ strategy. He helped the team with points and muscles in the paint. Game against Kalev (95:55) was his highlight: 17 points with 6/8 FG, 7 rebounds and 20 efficiency points.
Later on, Berzins would stay in VTB League for a long time: Krasnye Krylia, Nizhny Novgorod, bronze medals with Zenit, comeback to Riga and career high of 29 points, and Avtodor before 2019/20 season termination.
Aliaksei Trastsinetski, Minsk-2006
Stats: 8 games, 3.9 points, 2.3 rebounds
The forward has spent almost entire career in Belarus hence his VTB League debut with Minsk-2006. The first season in VTB League was not very bright: below 10 points and 14.5 minutes in average.
Moreover, within all 8 seasons in the League, Trastsinetski hasn’t shown extraordinary stats, but has always been extremely useful for the coaching staff. He was often recognized as the best defender in Minsk and took the most dangerous opponent on court.
