Enisey leader Timofei Gerasimov made 12 of 15 shots in the home game against Pari NN and set career-high 34 points and 42 eff. points. Here’s a look back at the best scoring performances by Russian players in the VTB League.
Timofei Gerasimov’s last week performance was the most outstanding. The secret of the player’s success in this game can be explained by several factors. Pari NN had 2 bigmen at the starting lineup – Nemanja Djurisic and Ilya Karpenko. The Volga team relied on protectiing the paint and pick-and-rolls in defense. This tactic gave more freedom to Enisey sharpshooters, as the guests didn’t try to actively put the pressure to the ball. Thanks to that, Gerasimov was able to score long-range shots from the very first minute. He made several shots and felt confident.
Later, Nizhny Novgorod coaching staff rebuilt the defense, focusing on mismatches. And Gerasimov found his victim. The Krasnoyarsk team purposely looked for Timofei to play one-on-one against Djurisic. This tactic worked perfectly in the end.
Djurisic did well on offense in this game with 16 points (8-of-14 shooting from the field). But on defense, he couldn’t rebound against a perimeter player. Through two quarters, Gerasimov had the advantage over the Montenegrin. Timofey scored 15 (!) points in isolations against him. The Enisey leader scored two more points on a fast break after a layup by Djurisic.
In the final quarter, the guests coaching staff tried to change the defensive strategy and gave the task to Sergey Zotkin. But this move was fail. Timofei pushed his opponent due to his athleticism. By the way, the only fully open shot the Siberian team leader made only in the end of the game.
As a result, Enisey beat Nizhny and Gerasimov became the 11th Russian player to score 30 or more points in the VTB League game.
Let’s rewind another heroes.
Alexey Shved (CSKA, Khimki)
24 games (seasons – 2015-2022).
The top sniper among Russians is Alexey Shved. During his time in the VTB League, he had 24 games with 30+ points scored. However, perhaps the most curious was his game for Khimki against CSKA, which was on March 4, 2019.
Alexey set career-high 37 points in this game, scored more than half of his team’s points alone and made a decisive contribution to the win – 73:72. But Shved also set VTB League-high for the most missed shots (21) and field-goal attempted (31). Both of those records still stand to this day.
Sergey Karasev (Zenit)
4 games (seasons – 2016-2017, 2017-2018)
Sergey Karasev was noted for his over-performance in the first 2 years after returning from the NBA. The forward has 4 games with 30+ points. And there are also some very spectacular. It is worth remembering Zenit road trip to Krasnoyarsk in April 2018. Karasev and Kuric put on a real show at Arena Sever, scoring 66 points combined (32 and 34).
Zenit forward twice scored 30+ points against Khimki. Especially memorable was his sniper duel with Alexey Shved on January 8, 2017. During that shootout, Karasev set career-high 35 points and also made a significant contribution to his team win – 114:110 .
Anton Ponkrashov (Krasnye Krylia, UNICS)
2 games (2013-2014, 2015-2016 seasons).
Anton Ponkrashov had 2 scoring performances. On February 4, 2014, he scored 32 points and led Krasnye Krylia to the victory over Krasniy Oktyabr – 83:78 . 2 years later, UNICS guards Anton and Keith Langford (30 points each) had the offensive show in Tallinn.
Andrey Zubkov (MBA-MAI)
1 game (season – 2024-2025)
Andrey Zubkov became the first Russian player to score 30 points this season. The forward literally found his second youth after moving to MBA-MAI from Zenit. He immediately started breaking career records with his new team. He has the best scoring game against Avtodor on November 30, 2024.
In that game, Zubkov made 14 of 19 shots (3 of 5 three-pointers), scored 32 points and made a decisive contribution to the Moscow team win – 88:81.
Vladislav Trushkin (MBA-MAI)
1 game (season – 2023-2024).
Vladislav Trushkin has the best scoring performance in MBA-MAI history. He also set in versus Avtodor, but it happened at the end of last season. The Moscow team was in great shape then. Vladislav was the main offensive option. The best game for the forward was the first play-in game. Trushkin scored 34 points in Saratov (12 of 18 shots, 6 of 9 three-pointers), his team won and continued to fight for the Playoffs.
Andrei Martiuk (Lokomotiv Kuban)
1 game (season – 2023-2024)
Last season, Andrei Martiuk also made an achievement. In December 2023, the center was in great shape and was named VTB League MVP of the month. His bests game was against Zenit. In that game, Martiuk made 14 of 15 shots, scored 32 points, and Loko won in St. Petersburg – 93:73.
Artem Yakovenko (Pari Nizhny Novgorod)
1 game (season – 2011-2012)
Anton Astapkovich (Pari Nizhny Novgorod)
1 game (season – 2020-2021)
Ivan Strebkov (Pari Nizhny Novgorod)
1 game (season – 2020-2021)
Pari NN has the biggest representation in the best scoring performances list. 3 Russian players score 30 or more points in a game.
Artem Yakovenko became the first Russian player in the VTB League to score 30 points. On February 8, 2012, he was the main offensive option for his team in the win over Krasnye Krylia at home – 81:73. In that game, the center made 13 of 17 shots made (2 of 5 three-pointers) and scored 30 points.
The other 2 achievements came during the 2020/21 season. Anton Astapkovich brilliant performance (34 points, 12 of 16 shots made, 6 of 9 three-pointers) was the basis for the team’s win over Khimki – 96:85. And in late December Ivan Strebkov was already pleased the fans with another scoring performance. Pari NN guard also got 10 assists with his 31 points. Nizhny defeated Kalev – 95:85.
Egor Vyaltsev (Khimki)
1 game (2015-2016 season)
Egor Vyaltsev holds the best scoring performance among Russian players. On February 14, 2016, he had a special attitude versus Astana. 5 three-pointers in the first half were just a warm-up. Khimki guard ended up making 12 long-range shots in 27 minutes, setting the VTB League all-time high that has not been broken to this day. Vyaltsev scored 40 points in that game (14 of 19 shots made, 12 of 17 three-pointers).