UNICS Kazan hosts Zenit St. Petersburg in the season opener.
Where
Basket Hall (capacity 7,000), Kazan, Russia
When:
5:00 PM (5:00 MSK), October 5, 2017
TV:
Match TV, Match! Nash sport, VTB-League.com
Face to Face
UNICS and Zenit are bitter rivals, squaring off 11 times since St. Petersburg entered the league three seasons ago. Kazan has a slight edge, 6-5, including a thrilling 3-2 series win in the 2016 playoff semifinals, which gave the Tatar club a spot in the EuroLeague.
The two teams split the season series last season. UNICS took advantage of Sergey Karasev’s absence in St. Petersburg, winning on the road, 95-84. Karasev was back for the game in Kazan, scoring 26 point as Zenit cruised to a 109-84 victory.
Offseason
UNICS had one of the more productive preseasons among VTB League clubs. Only one player was tied up in EuroBasket competition (Latvia’s Martins Meiers) and Dimitris Priftis also had few injury concerns. Not surprisingly, UNICS posted a 7-2 record, losing only to AEK and Maccabi, with wins over Alba and Crvena Zvezda as well as CSKA and Panathinaikos, though those clubs were missing key contributors due to EuroBasket.
Zenit was not as lucky. St. Petersburg had a late start to free agency and weren’t able to re-sign several key players as a result, including Stefan Markovic. A deal with Frank Elegar also fell through, forcing the club to scramble.
Injuries also hit Zenit hard. Sergey Karasev missed most of the summer recovering from shoulder surgery. Meanwhile, Evgeny Voronov, Nikita Barinov, Scottie Reynolds and Shayne Whittington all dealt with various setbacks during the preseason. Marko Simonovic didn’t even arrive in St. Petersburg until a few days ago. But the loss of Anton Pushkov hurt most. The Russian center had to undergo knee surgery recently and could miss the entire campaign.
Those injuries had an effect on Zenit’s preseason record. Two wins at home over Enisey helped the club save face, but Zenit still finished with a losing record. Five wins (Eksisehir, Anadolu Efes, Usak, Enisey (twice)) were overshadowed by six losses (Crvena Zvezda, Darussafaka, Banvit (twice), Zalgiris and Besiktas).
Looking Back
Unavailable
UNICS is one of two Russian teams (Khimki is the other) with eight foreign players on the roster. The regulations only allow seven foreigners and Kazan has already announced that Serbian guard Danilo Andjusic will not be available in VTB League games. The Greens were also missing two foreigners, Kostas Kaimakoglou and Trent Lockett, in the final preseason tournament.
St. Petersburg also has injury concerns. In addition to Pushkov, Voronov, Reynolds, Barinov and Whittington didn’t play in the final exhibition games. Barinov and Whittington were especially missed as Zenit could only use two frontcourt players: Valiev and Gordon. Zenit’s doctors have had less than a week to get the team healthy and it’s possible Vasily Karasev won’t have enough players to fill out a roster tomorrow.
Duel
Sergey Karasev vs. Vladislav Trushkin. Several years ago, these forwards helped Russia win medals at the European and world junior championships, but in the years that followed, their paths diverged wildly. Karasev went on to win Olympic bronze, played in the NBA for three seasons and is coming off a terrific campaign with Zenit.
Trushkin, on the other hand, spent most of his career in the Superleague before finally debuting in the VTB League last season with Enisey. He ended up earning a spot in the Sochi All-Star Game. Since signing this summer with UNICS, Trushkin has looked sharp and even started several preseason games.
Now there’s a good chance Dimitris Priftis will ask Trushkin to defend Karasev. The duel between these two young forwards–the future of the Russian national team–could play a huge role in tomorrow’s showdown.
X-Factor: 3-Pointers
Zenit was one of the League’s most prolific 3-point shooting teams last season. Because of problems in the frontcourt, 3-pointers will be an even bigger weapon tomorrow. Between Sergey Karasev, Kyle Kuric, Demonte Harper, Marko Simonovic and Nicolas Laprovittola, St. Petersburg has plenty of options.
Kazan is not as dependent on the outside shot and will likely try to capitalize on its size in the paint. But they can’t ignore the 3-point shot entirely. Kazan’s most dangerous threat comes from Jamar Smith, who joined the club from Unicaja in the offseason.
Newcomers
Both teams made a lot of changes in the offseason. Kazan, for example, signed a League-leading 11 new players, or 78.6% of the total roster. Zenit also ranks in the top four. Fully two-thirds of St. Petersburg’s roster is new this season.
The sheer volume of new personnel typically has an effect in the early weeks of the season. No matter how smoothly preseason goes, the first several games can be tricky to navigate. The fact that Vasily Karasev has a slightly bigger returning cast (Karasev, Valiev, Vikhrov, Harper) should give Zenit a minor edge.
Interesting Fact
UNICS and Zenit have each played once before in the season opener. Both teams came out on top with UNICS defeating VEF in Riga in 2009 and Zenit taking down Enisey in Krasnoyarsk in 2015.
Quotes
UNICS head coach Dimitris Priftis:
– The VTB United League is a very tough league. There are a lot of excellent teams with strong rosters. I don’t doubt that our first game against Zenit will be very difficult. Our opponents are truly talented and played extremely well last season under an experienced coach who knows the League and what his players are capable of. But we also have certain strengths, which we’ll exploit.
Zenit head coach Vasily Karasev:
– UNICS put together a very solid roster this season, evidenced by the presence of eight foreign players. Kazan will be more team-focused with the additions of Trushkin, Kolesnikov and Sergeev. In the past, UNICS was primarily a one-man squad. They have a lot of good shooters and played pretty well in the preseason. Given that our roster isn’t at full strength right now, this will be a very tough game for Zenit.
