Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Minsk and Krasnodar are host the regular seaon games on Monday.
Enisey (Krasnoyarsk) – PARMA-PARI (Perm)
Time: 19:30 (15:30 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Arena Sever
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Enisey: The Krasnoyarsk team expectations of the season probably do not coincide with reality yet – a month after the start, the team is in 10th place. But it’s not too late to fix the situation. First of all, the team need to deal with ball control: on average, Enisey makes more than 18 turnovers per game and they score less. In a game against a fast PARMA-PARI this will be especially important, because the Perm team quite often provoke to make mistakes. James Thompson and Joel James battle should be interesting: the first leads the League in double-doubles, the second repeated the season high in rebounds, had made 14 rebounds against MBA.
PARMA-PARI: The Perm team have finally reached a neutral wins and losses balance (3-3) and have already got 2 wins in a row. In many ways, Justin Roberson made the most impact: the guard reduced the number of turnovers and began to play more aggressively. Against Avtodor, he almost updated season high scoring 29 points and showed that he can be the leader of the team not only in the SuperLeague, but also in the VTB League. PARMA-PARI passes Enisey in all stats, except rebounds and has a good chance to win. However, do not forget that the Perm team will have a difficult flight to Krasnoyarsk, after which they need to have time to recover and prepare for the game.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod) – MBA (Moscow)
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagorniy
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod has two wins at the start of the season and two losses which in turn were replaced by two wins again. Thegame with MBA will show whether Zoran Lukic system has improved after a major loss to Samara. Interestingly, Nizhny Novgorod is inferior to MBA in many points: they score less, make turnovers more often, score from the perimeter much worse. But at the same time, Pari NN looks like a team that has gained momentum, while MBA has 3 loss in a row already. Jermaine Love is especially effective in recent games: 15 points with Astana, 28 with Loko! Pari NN guard has already risen to the Top 5 best scoring players of the season and may well become the X-Factor in the game with the Moscow team.
MBA: MBA has not played with Pari NN in official games yet, but this summer the teams met as part of pre-season training. Then Aleksandr Khomenko was the leader and scored 17 points. However, MBA is a team without a clear leader in offense, and this time someone else can prove in Nizhny Novgorod – after all, 5 players score 9 or more points per game. After a bright start, MBA is indeed experiencing a slight decline, partly caused by a difficult schedule. And then Makar Konovalov is out due to shoulder injury. It will be very difficult for the Moscow team against Pari NN front court, but MBA can turn the situation in its favor.
MINSK (Minsk) – Samara (Samara)
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Location: Belarus, Minsk, Falcon Club
Broadcast: League Website
MINSK: The Belarusian team cannot win this season. MINSK are experiencing problems with offensive plays – in only one game they scored more than 70 points. MINSK will try to compensate for the lack of quality in the game with Samara with a desire – after all, it is always more pleasant to win at home. It is worth pointing out Zack Smith: the only legionnaire in the Belarusian team is in the Top 5 of the League in rebounds (8.2) and block shots (1.2).
Samara: With the win over Astana, the League newcomer managed to get a neutral balance of wins and losses (3-3). Samara has noticeably progressed in a month and in a recent game versus Zenit showed that it is now ready to play every opponent in the League equally. The Volga team is already going to Minsk as a favorite, especially considering the Belarusian team losses streak. After the won over Astana, Sergey Bazarevich stressed that every player is important in the team, so it is likely that playing time will be distributed among all players in the roster.
Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar) – Astana (Astana)
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Krasnodar, Basket Hall
Broadcast: TV Start Triumph, League website
Lokomotiv Kuban: The Krasnodar team is finally returning home after an almost two-week tour. The result of the departure is not the most pleasant for fans: Loko lost in two of the three games and is currently in 9th place. It will be possible to correct the situation after the home game with Astana, because the Kazakh team have never won on the road and in general they are not too impressive with their game. Moreover, Loko has been waiting to win very much, and players have better a motivation to play and win against Kazakhstan champion.
Astana: Last round, Astana played on the road with American legionnaires for the first time. However, neither Michael Myers nor Deondre Parks saved Oleg Kiselev team from losing in Samara. Astana still cannot win on the road. The main task will be to guard Jaylen Barford, who has not pleased fans with a spectacular performance for a very long time. In turn, Astana needs to make three-point shots – this is the main weapon of the team in the new season.
