CSKA will host Zenit in the Game of the Week on Sunday.
Time: 13:30 (13:30 Moscow time)
Palce: Russia, Moscow, Megasport
Broadcast: Match TV, League website
Rivalry history
Despite the fact that Zenit has only been playing in the United League since the sixth season, the rivalry history between these teams is very rich. In addition to the regular season, the teams have played 5 times in the Playoffs, including the previous 2 seasons.
In the 2021/22 season, Zenit beat CSKA in the Finals and became the League champion for the first time in history. A year later, the Army team took revenge in the third place series.
CSKA has 27 wins in 41 games.
First game of the season
In the current season, Zenit hosted CSKA for the first time in October. The Army team built a double-digit lead in the first half and led ny the halftime – 43:34. But Thomas Heurtel hepled the St. Petersburg team to organize a chase. With just over a minute to go before the end, Zenit trailed by 3 points, and only theguests confident free throws allowed to hold the win – 80:76.
Melo Trimble became the X-factor. The guard became the most eficient (25 points), scoring 16 points and 9 assists. Even Heurtel, who had 27 points and 8 assists, couldn’t save the St. Petersburg team.
What happened next?
Despite the offseason roster changes, CSKA started the season strong with winning 9 games in a row. The Moscow team suffered its first loss only in mid-November at home to Loko, but quickly recovered and is now leading the standings with 14 wins and 1 loss.
In the first 8 games of the season, including the game against CSKA, Zenit got 4 losses and was in the middle of the standings. But then the team improved the performance and moved up to second place.
By the way, now Zenit have 7 wins in a row – this is the best streak in the League at the moment.
The return
Thomas Heurtel return became one of the main news past week. Zenit guard missed a 1.5 month due to an injury, but in the game against Samara (96:58) he showed that he’s in shape: 17 points, 10 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 20 minutes.
In Samara, Xavier Pascual brought his leader off the bench, but no one will be surprised if the French playmaker appears on the court from the very first minutes of the game in Moscow and plays a key role.
Leaders
After the departure of Shved and Milutinov, CSKA has no superstars who have shown top stats throughout the season. But Emil Rajkovic and his assistants have managed to build a system in which several players are ready to take on the leadership. Amath M’Baye, Melo Trimble, Casper Ware and Livio Jean-Charles score more than 10 points, and it’s hard to predict who will be the most dangerous in any given game.
In addition, CSKA has a wide rotation: 9 players get more than 15 minutes, and only M’Baye and Ware spend 25 minutes on the court.
Zenit leaders are a little easier to deal with: Frazier- Heurtel – Kuric trio in offense score more than half of the team’s points (42.9 of 79.7). But don’t forget about Vince Hunter and Sergey Karasev as well – the forwards are great at scoring points.
Meanwhile, Thomas Heurtel (8.8) and Trent Frazier (4.9) are among the League’s Top 10 leaders in assists, while Vince Hunter is close to being in the League’s Top 10 in rebounding (5.9) and is among the League’s best in steals (1.6).
Offense or defense?
Xavier Pascual has already accustomed that his team got a strong defense. The 2023/24 season is no exception: Zenit has the best defense in the League, allowing aopponents to score 70.7 points on average.
Only Runa has scored more than 65 points (the Vikings have scored 85). Zenit has allowed less than 60 points in 2 of the last 7 games.
At the same time, CSKA has one of the best offenses of the season. The Army team is averaging 86.1 points, second only to UNICS (the Kazan team has 87.6).
Sharpshooters duel
Two of the season’s best sharpshooters will face off at Megasport on Sunday. Zenit guard Timofey Gerasimov had 60%, while Ivan Ukhov is slightly behind his opponent, but still showing impressive numbers: 59.1%.
Promo
CSKA has invited fans to the game with Zenit in an original way, publishing a video titled “We’ll come for you if you don’t come to us”. The team’s mascot came to visit a young fan and brought her tickets to the game.
