2019 World Cup qualifying and 2021 EuroBasket pre-qualifying games are scheduled for September 13-17. Find out which League players will be in action this week.
CSKA: Nikita Kurbanov, Ivan Ukhov, Semyon Antonov, Nando De Colo, Sergio Rodriguez
The Army Men will be represented by five players and three countries. Kurbanov, Ukhov and Antonov take on the Czech Republic (September 13) and Bolgaria (September 16) as members of the Russian national team. Nando De Colo and France face Bolgaria on the road and Finland at home on the same days. Sergio Rodriguez will battle Ukraine (September 14) and Latvia (September 17) alongside his Spanish compatriots.
Khimki: Alexey Shved
The League’s runners-up will have few distractions during the international window. Only Alexey Shved is leaving camp to suit up for the Russians against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
Zenit: Sergey Karasev, Marko Simonovic
St. Petersburg forward Sergey Karasev is also playing for Russia vs. the Czechs and Bulgarians. Marko Simonovic and Serbia have two interesting match-ups, playing Greece (September 13) and Estonia (September 16).
UNICS: Artem Klimenko
Orlando center Timofey Mozgov is unavailable during this window, which means a call-up for Kazan big man Artem Klimenko, who hopes to take advantage of the opportunity.
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Dmitry Kulagin, Vitaly Fridzon, Dmitry Khvostov, Vladimir Ivlev, Moustapha Fall, Mateusz Ponitka
Loko, like CSKA, will be down a few men in training camp, with six players headed out on international duty. Four Russians will try to bring back victories over the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Moustapha Fall, the club’s new center, joins De Colo and France in games vs. Bulgaria and Finland. Meanwhile, Mateusz Ponitka and Poland meet Italy and Croatia.
Nizhny Novgorod: Christopher Czerapowicz
Chris Czerapowicz, who moved from Tsmoki-Minsk to Nizhny Novgorod this summer, has already spent several weeks with his new team. Now he’s on his way back to Sweden, hoping to help the Scandinavian nation defeat Denmark in EuroBasket 2021 pre-qualifying.
VEF: Arturs Ausejs, Artis Ate, Andrejs Grazulis, Artjoms Butjankovs
Four VEF players are on the Latvian roster, which has two huge challenges against Slovenia (September 14) and Spain (September 17).
Tsmoki-Minsk: Aliaksandr Kudrautsau, Mikita Meshcharakou, Aliaksandr Semianiuk, Dzmitry Paliashchuk, Vitali Liutych, Kiryl Sitnik, Aliaksei Trastsinetski, Siarhei Vabishchevich
The Belarusian national team is mostly comprised of Tsmoki-Minsk players. The coaching staffs are also nearly identical, which is why both teams are practicing together ahead of 2021 EuroBasket pre-qualifying vs. Denmark (September 13) and Champions League qualifying (September 20).
Astana: Denis Degtaryev, Nikolai Bazhin, Vadim Shcherbak, Rustam Murzagaliev, Rustam Yergali, Askar Maidekin, Alexander Zhigulin, Dmitry Gavrilov, Maxim Marchuk, Ruslan Aitkali
10 Astana players are listed in Kazakhstan’s preliminary list for 2019 World Cup qualifying. Some of these players won’t make the final roster for the September 13 game vs. Japan, but the numbers are still impressive.
Kalev: Maxim Salash
Surprisingly, not a single player from Estonia’s top club is included on the national team roster for World Cup qualifying vs. Germany (September 13) and Serbia (September 16). Kalev’s coaching staff most likely did not release players for international duty in order to better prepare for the upcoming season. But new Kalev forward Maxim Salash will spend a week in Minsk, where he joins the Belarusian team.
Enisey: Martins Meiers
Krasnoyarsk’s lone call-up is Latvian Martins Meiers. The forward should play significant minutes vs. Slovenia and Spain.
Zielona Gora: Adam Hrycaniuk, Michal Sokolowski
The League newbies send two players to the Polish national team, where they will be in action vs. Croatia and Italy.
