In the Game of the Week, PARMA-PARI hosts CSKA.
Time: 17:30 (15:30 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Perm, UDS Molot
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
Rivalry
Perm and Moscow basketball rivalry began in the late 90s, flared up brightly in the early 00s, and then slowed down a little – but only to be revived in the United League.
Of course, now CSKA looks much more solid in the League than PARMA-PARI. This is also evidenced by stats: the Army team won 11 of 12 games, and only once in Moscow PARMA had the significant win – Maxim Grigoryev scored a decisive three-pointer after a 22-point comeback.
And yet, despite CSKA domination, there is always a full arena in Molot when CSKA came. 7,316 fans at the first game in April 2017, 6,385 – in February 2019, 6,536 – in December 2019… Before the coronavirus restrictions, PARMA set attendance best with the Moscow team.
And there is every reason to believe that this tradition will resume on Saturday – PARMA-PARI announced the sold-out!
The Offseason
The off-season was productive for both clubs. CSKA changed the head coach for the first time in 8 years, Emil Rajkovic took Dimitris Itoudis place. There were changes in the roster: Astapkovich and Komolov returned, the front court was strengthened by Livio Jean-Charles. And 3 more newcomers moved from Serbian teams: Dejan Davidovac – from Crvena Zvezda, Samson Ruzhentsev – from Mega, Dallas Moore – from Partizan. Moreover, the American guard signed a short-term contract, but during the season proved himself and got the opportunity to play in CSKA till the end of this season.
PARMA-PARI has changed a lot. Only Gleb Sheiko and Aleksandr Platunov remained in the team. Evgeniy Pashutin, who headed the Perm team in the summer, made up good team with front office. One of the brightest newcomers of PARMA-PARI is Justin Roberson, the MVP of the Super League. Malik Dime, the best in blocks of the Italian league and 3 other legionnaires – Tylor Ongwae, Bryon Allen and Joel James.
First Month Results
The Army team is undefeated this season – 7 wins in 7 games with 25.3 points difference on average. Moreover, almost in every game CSKA won at least with a double-digit lead, except against Zenit. However, most the Moscow team opponents were not from the top of the standings. For Samara, the game with CSKA was generally the debut in the League, MINSK and Enisey won one game for two in a month and Loko focused on youth and was in 9th place at the end of October.
But even in the game with the reigning champion, CSKA showed the strength: led by 14points in the first half and won the 7th game in a row.
PARMA-PARI also started spectacularly, had the best defense in team’s history in the League – MINSK managed to score only 48 points. Evgeny Pashutin team was close to win over Zenit (60:65), but then unexpectedly lost to Astana. The Perm team were supposed to start a new streak against Loko, but allowed Lokomotiv to take the game to overtime, where the team lost.
And yet, PARMA-PARI has a winning streak: in the last 2 weeks, PARMA have won all 3 games – against MBA, Avtodor and Enisey – and now is in the 5th place in the standings.
MVP
Nikola Milutinov became the most effective player of October. The Serbian center averaged 13.5 points and 7.7 rebounds and was named the MVP of the first month of the season.
Newcomer
Danila Pokhodiaev holds the season high in playing time– 41.5 minutes against Lokomotiv Kuban. The 21-year-old forward has his first season in the League, but has already managed to get 2 double–doubles – 18 points and 10 rebounds with Loko, 14 points and 10 rebounds with MBA.
Numbers and leaders
CSKA is in first place in the season in points (96.4), shots percentage (54.3%), assists (23.3) and rebounds (39.0) – the Army team is leading in almost all major stats. PARMA-PARI is better in steals: 8.4 steals on average per game against CSKA’s 6.4.
In general, Evgeny Pashutin team does not have bright stats – which does not stop the team from winning. Worth noting that PARMA-PARI is not loose much to CSKA in rebounds, making an average of 36.7 rebounds per game.
Alexey Shved is the best scoring CSKA player – scores 15.7 points per game and is in 4th place among the best scorers. PARMA-PARI has Justin Roberson with 14.4 points. Yes, Bryon Allen is scoring more (15.5), but the guard missed the start of the season due to injury and has so far played only 2 games in the Perm team.
As for rebounds, the fans are expecting two bigmen duel. October MVP Nikola Milutinov was unstoppable in the first month, but Joel James is perhaps the biggest opponent in the entire League. In addition, PARMA-PARI center has already showed good game, having season high in rebounds – 14 with the MBA.
6 CSKA players got 40% or higher from deep: Ruzhentsev (61.5%), Astapkovich (58.3%), Moore (53.6%), Davidovac (47.6%), Komolov (43.8%) and Ware (41.9%). PARMA-PARI has only two – Pavel Antipov (48.4%) and Bryon Allen (42.9%).
Sold-Out
There is a sold-out for Saturday game. The Perm team announced it 2 days before the game! By the way, the season high in attendance also belongs to PARMA-PARI: 6,253 fans against Zenit.
