Game of the Week: Zenit vs UNICS

Game of the Week: Zenit vs UNICS

Zenit will host UNICS in a regular season game.

Where:
Sibur Arena (7 120 seats), Saint Petersburg, Russia

When:
December 6, 2020, 18:00 (18:00 MSK)

Broadcast:
Match! Strana, VTB United League website

Look in the past


Cameron Jones (#9) with 14 points was Zenit’s top scorer in the first ever faceoff against UNICS, but Kazan won 73:66.

Face to face:

Zenit vs UNICS is not old, but fierce rivalry. In 2017/18 season, Kazan downed Petersburg twice in the regular season, plus Tatarstan capital hosted the season opener. That game was marked by the largest margin (34 points) in such games. However, Zenit had their sweet revenge in the 3rd place game (93:79).

Their hottest faceoff was in 2016 semifinals when UNICS beat Zenit in five games and qualified for final and Euroleague.

Last regular season, Zenit and UNICS exchanged away wins – 93:80 in Basket Hall and 86:75 in Sibur Arena. Their all-time record is 11-7 for Kazan (7-3 for UNICS in the last ten).

Last week

After the national team’s window, Zenit came back to Euroleague facing Fenerbahce on Thursday. St. Petersburg failed the first half and couldn’t catch the opponent breaking 4-games losing streak. The White-blues, at the same time, suffered their third Euroleague home loss in a row.

UNICS didn’t play in Eurocup. Their last game was on November 22 against Khimki.

Intrigue

Zenit (6-0) is the only team of the League that goes undefeated. However, the motivation is high after the Euroleague results and loss from Fener which Xavi Pascual descrived as ‘the worst this season’. Zenit will have the strongest attitude in this fierce rivalry which was going in the opposite side’s favour lately.

In their last game, UNICS (3-2) downed another Euroleague team – Khimki – and will try to keep on the winning track. Plus, Kazan as a contender team aims to improve current ranking (6th place).

Home stands

Zenit made amends for the last season’s 1-7 at Sibur Arena. During this edition, Zenit got 4 of 6 wins at home. Meanwhile, they have only two regular season wins over UNICS at home. The last happened on April 24, 2016 (89:65). Furthermore, Zenit’s 3-game losing streak in Euroleague should be considered as well.

National teams

UNICS’ Pavel Antipov played two games for Russia in November: vs Estonia (84:56, 7 points, 4 rebounds) and Italy (66:70, 9 points, 4 rebounds). Another White-green Jordan Morgan helped Slovenia qualify for 2022 Eurobasket. He made double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) against Ukraine, and scored 9 points plus 7 rebounds against Austria (77:64).

The only Zenit’s national team player Mateusz Ponitka played for Poland against Israel (72:78, 23 points, 4 rebounds).

Stat

Zenit are great in ball movement – 21.0 assists, 3rd place. UNICS are ranked 11th with 16.8 assists per game.
Both teams lead in 3-pointers – 42.9% (2nd) for Zenit and 42.0% (4th) for UNICS. At the same time, Kazan struggle with 2-pointers (50.5%, 10th place), while Petersburg (60.2%) are ranked 1st.
UNICS are the best in offensive rebounds (13.0) and Zenit (8.0) are ranked 9th.

Comeback

Jordan Theodore can step on court in white-green jersey. He played for UNICS in 2019/20 season and recently came back to Kazan.

Theodore is not the only signing. Some days after announcing Jordan, UNICS announced Egor Kuleshov who started the season in Israel.

Familiar faces
Zenit’s roster feature ex-UNICS Vladislav Trushkin (2017-18 season).

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At the same time, three ex-Zenit play in Tatarstan. Pavel Antipov (season 2015/16), Pavel Sergeev (2016/17), and Alexander Razumov (2014-17).

Duel
Billy Baron vs Isaiah Canaan.

Baron spent no time in proving himself as one of Zenit leaders. With 15.8 points per game, he’s team’s top scorer. With 3.4 three-pointers per game (54.8%), Billy is among League’s best snipers.
Canaan is not adapting that fast. He’s still looking for his spot in Kazan, but the last games showed he’s moving in right direction. 23 points and 7 assists against Bourg in Eurocup and 21+6 against Khimki – Isaiah came up as UNICS’s strengthening factor breaking losing streak of the team. Kazan generally depends on their defense (Jamar Smith to be noted), so the American duel will be the story of the night.