UNICS will host Zenit in the Game of the Week on Sunday.
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Time: January 5, 2025, 15:00
Broadcast: Match TV, League website
Rivalry
The first Game of the Week in 2025 will be between UNICS and Zenit. The winners of the previous VTB League regular season, including the SuperCup, played each other 6 times last year, with the Kazan team got more wins – 4:2.
The opponents have already faced each other twice this year and the series still tied.
The first game in September in Kazan ended with Zenit win (87-84) in a tight ending.
Last game
The teams had special motivation before their second clash of the season.
Zenit defeated CSKA at the beginning of the month, gained momentum and wanted to get first place in the standings. The team hoped to extend its 12-game winning streak.
UNICS needed to beat one of the League leaders. The team started the season with 5 losses in games against key opponents and needed to change the trend. Head coach Velimir Perasovic emphasized on this task, which he spoke about with relief after the game.
Concentration was key in that game. The Kazan team was better in the tight ending – 76:79.
Zenit General Manager Aleksandr Tserkovny described his emotions after the loss at the end of the year:
– Any loss spoils the mood, especially against a rival and when you expect only to win. The mood is usually corrected by the next win, the year ended with just that. So everything is fine.
Between head-to-heads
Zenit was able to end the year with a home win over Uralmash – 89:79. The game was not an easy, the lead had changed 18 times and the key factor was a rotation, which was noted by the guests’ head coach Rostislav Vergun.
The loss to UNICS derailed the team’s smooth run, after the game Xavier Pascual was concerned and self-critical: In the first 20 minutes we failed on defense and offense.
The game was on December 22, Zenit got 13 days to rest, which the coach could use to restore team discipline and attitude.
UNICS, after their first win over the top team, won 2 more before the New Year.
First MBA-MAI got beaten, setting season-high in performance (117:71), and in the last game defeated PARMA (103:92).
Perasovic noted aggressiveness in offense, saying that six wins is no fluke. The Kazan team has to defend the longest winning streak in the new clash with Zenit.
Into the New Year
UNICS finished the 2024 with the 5th VTB League silver medals. The team President Evgeny Bogachev was also not left without awards, receiving the Order of Merit to the Fatherland on December 23. Bogachev admitted that the work in the post is not easy:
– I already wanted to slowly end my career, if it can be called a career. It’s such a career that sometimes Validol doesn’t help. I would like to turn into a viewer, to sit at the stand as a fan. But with an award that I was given, I decided to work a little more to justify it.
The win over PARMA was Velimir Perasovic 104th with UNICS and moved him into the VTB League’s Top 5 coaches with one team, joining his future opponent Xavier Pascual.
Zenit celebrated its 10th anniversary, took the League bronze for the 5th time and won the Russian Cup for the first time. According to Alex Poythress, the team is aiming for the title:
– We have the talent. You have to be hungry to win the League title. Fight, desire and a little more luck not to get injured and stay healthy.
Numbers and leaders
The teams will play their 44th head-to-head game in the VTB League. UNICS is currently ahead in the rivalry history – 23:20.
UNICS made a season-high 117 points against MBA-MAI on December 21.
Center Jalen Reynolds recently became the 2nd international player with 2,000 points in the VTB United League after Nando De Colo.
Dwayne Bacon scored season-high 32 points in the previous game versus the Kazan team. The forward won the St. Petersburg team’s fan vote and became the MVP of December.
UNICS guard Marcos Knight was named to the final Team of the Week of 2024. The guard scored 28 points and 6 assists in the game against PARMA.
