Konstantin Kucher looks at seven of the biggest surprises to open the 2016-17 campaign.
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Upsets are one of the biggest reasons we can’t stop watching sports. The VTB United League is no exception. A month and a half into the season, we’ve already had several shocking results and interesting trends develop.
Khimki’s speedy reset
Moscow Region opened the campaign with a loss to VEF. Khimki looked disjointed and disorganized in the defeat and it appeared Khimki might be in for a lengthy rebuild.
Instead, the team executed an incredible turnaround in time for its next game against Lieutovos Rytas and hasn’t looked back since. Head coach Dusko Ivanovic limited the influence of his foreign players, got the Russians more involved, and, voilà, Khimki was back.
The club took other measures to get even stronger. Perry Jones III and Justin Carter were released, Alexey Shved returned from injury, and the front office signed several new players to reclaim its status as a contender.
No question, the most credit goes to Alexey Shved, the team’s best player, hands down. But Sergey Monia has also enjoyed a strong start, shooting an efficient 9-16 from downtown, while playing 30 minutes per game and averaging career-highs in rebounds (4.8), steals (2.0), and blocks (1.8).
Khimki’s vigorous rebuild is in stark contrast to the situation in Krasnodar. The two teams faced similar issues at the start of the season, but unlike Khimki, Lokomotiv has continued to struggle and recently made a change at head coach.
Latvians veterans and the magnificent Meiers
VEF Riga, which dealt Khimki a nasty surprise to open the season, has continued to excel, led by veterans Armands Skele and Janis Blums. There was some concern about age when they signed over the summer (Skele and Blums have 67 years between them), but their aggressive, high-energy play on the court would put many young players to shame.
Martins Meiers rounds out the Latvian trio. The talented center is superb in pick-and-rolls and efficient under the basket. Foul trouble, however, has been a lingering concern. Meiers has yet to finish a game, fouling out in all five appearances for VEF in the VTB United League.
Enisey’s breakthrough
The calendar did Enisey no favors early on: CSKA, UNICS, and Lokomotiv to open the season. Few expected Krasnoyarsk to survive the gauntlet. But a competitive loss to CSKA and brutal setback against Kazan (44-point defeat) only added fuel to the fire. On road in Krasnodar, the Siberians scored a major upset by defeating Lokomotiv. Enisey would go on to win seven straight across all competitions.
Khimki finally ended the streak this weekend, securing a tough 72-64 win at home. Last year, Enisey probably would have been thrilled to keep the score close, but not now. Players were visibly disappointed to lose in Khimki and miss out on a chance to keep climbing the standings.
The team’s biggest strength, perhaps, is its versatility. Enisey can score and defend and do so in style. Take, for example, Vladislav Trushkin’s game-winning block on Loko or Frank Elegar and Suleiman Braimoh’s unreal dunking.
Nick Minnerath
Avtodor has already lost five games and is stuck in 11th place in the standings. One of the bright spots on the team, however, is Nick Minnerath. Saratov was able to pluck him away from another Russian club in free agency, but few expected he would play at such a high level to start the season.
Minnerath is averaging a League-best 23 points and is 2nd in reboundings (8.8). Not surprisingly, the athletic forward has quickly become a fan favorite in Saratov. In terms of sheer entertainment value, Enisey’s Frank Elegar is probably his only competition right now in the League.
Zenit’s rising status
There was plenty of talk in the preseason, but no one knew quite what to expect once the season began. Russian basketball has featured a Big Four in recent seasons: CSKA, Khimki, UNICS, and Lokomotiv-Kuban. At least for now, Zenit is making it a Big Five.
Despite injuries to numerous key contributors (Toolson, Timma, Karasev, Valiev), St. Petersburg has taken care of business against the League’s weaker competition, streaking to a 5-1 start.
Zenit’s only setback came against the reigning champs, CSKA. That game was a complete disaster for the visitors, ending in a 105-56 shellacking in Moscow.
Looking ahead, Zenit enters the meat of the calendar with games against Enisey, Khimki, UNICS, and Lokomotiv-Kuban. Now that almost everyone is healthy and ready to go, we should get a better sense of this team’s true level.
Ivan Ukhov and Ilya Popov contending for Young Player of the Year
In the preseason, Robert Upshaw and Artem Klimenko were expected to battle for Young Player of the Year. But the two centers have done little to impress. Upshaw struggled to adjust to Kalev’s system, then got injured. Klimenko has been a bit better, but hasn’t matched expectations and recently weathered withering criticism from club president, Vladimir Rodionov.
That’s opened the door to other contenders. At the moment, Parma’s Ivan Ukhov and Nizhny Novgorod’s Ilya Popov have shown the most promise.
Ilya Popov was expected to provide a reliable presence in Nizhny’s depleted frontcourt. To be fair, he needed some time to adapt to his new responsibilities, but Nizhny’s signing of big man Kervin Bristol seems to have lit a fire under the young Russian. He played his best game of the season against Zenit immediately following Bristol’s arrival.
Ukhov, on the other hand, has been productive from the start. The young guard is still adapting to VTB United League competition, but he’s shown impressive maturity and confidence in stretches. One of his best games came against UNICS, when he scored 15 points to go with three assists.
Competitiveness of the League’s non-Russian teams
At the start of the season, many were dismissive of the League’s foreign entries. But early results have lifted expectations. Three Russian clubs–Avtodor, Nizhny Novgorod, Parma–are currently at the bottom of the standings, while VEF, Kalev, Tsmoki-Minsk, and Astana look like legitimate threats to earn a playoff spot.
Avtodor has been the biggest victim of the foreign clubs’ success. Saratov has gone abroad three times and lost each time. The race for the postseason could be very entertaining.
