The regular season will continue with 3 games on Sunday and Tuesday.
Sunday, September 26
CSKA Moscow (Russia) — Zielona Gora (Poland)
Time: 15: 00 (Moscow time)
Location: Russia, Moscow, Megasport
Broadcast: Match! Igra
Games history: 5 games, CSKA — 4 wins, Zielona Gora-1 win
CSKA: The Army team made their debut in the regular season with a very convincing win over Tsmoki, in which they immediately made a bid for the best defensive performance of the season — Tsmoki score only 44 points. However, the duel with Zielona Gora is unlikely to turn out to be such an easy walk for Moscow team. By the way, their last game (in February of this year) ended with a sensational victory of the Poles. What is even more interesting: the main creator of that victoria was Iffe Lundberg, who scored 26 points. Now Lundberg defends the colors of CSKA.
Zielona Gora: The game against CSKA will be the debut in the United League for the Polish team new coach, Oliver Vidin. The reigning champion will immediately examine the Serbian, so this game is doubly important for Zielona Gora. However, Vidin has already managed to establish himself in the new team: in early September, Zielona Gora won the Polish Super Cup. This season, the Zielona Gora strategy will probably remain unchanged — building a strong coaching team without all star players, capable of stunning any opponent. The main question for the Poles is who will shine in their squad in the new season, as it was with Lundberg. The team did not have any high-profile signing. So, like last season, they will rely on internal reserves.
Who to follow: Iffe Lundberg will play for the first time against the former team, in which he made a name for himself. Iffe did not immediately find himself in CSKA, but the adaptation period is over, and now Lundberg has firmly established himself in the starting five, having clearly shown himself in the SuperCup.
Zenit (Russia) — Kalev (Estonia)
Time: 17: 00 (Moscow time)
Location: Sibur Arena, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Broadcast: TV Start
Games history: 14 games, Zenit — 11 wins, Kalev-3 wins
Zenit: Having lost their key player Kevin Pangos, Zenit found a replacement for him in Shabazz Napier. The American started from the spot in his career, scored 33 points to UNICS in the SuperCup semifinals. However, Napier was injured in the first minute of the SuperCup final against CSKA, and this significantly reduced the attacking potential of the St. Petersburg team. However, in the game versus CSKA, Zenit had to rebuild on the move, now they have the opportunity to calmly prepare for the game already taking into account roster problems. And Kalev defensive skills are still difficult to compare with CSKA defensive system. In any case, in the last northern derby game, the St. Petersburg team dealt with Kalev without any problems, allowing their opponents to score only 51 points.
Kalev: In the off-season, Tallinn suffered a serious loss: one of the leading players of the team, Marcus Keene, who became the MVP of April in the United League, moved to the Cedevita. For a modest Tallinn team, the importance of Keene could not be overestimated: in the 2020/21 season, he became the best scorer of the League. Other key players have also left the team — Janari Joesaar, Sten Sokk and Chavaughn Lewis. So Roberts Stelmahers, who extended his contract in the off-season, will have to build a new Kalev . The coach has a foundation for this — in the Champions League qualification tournament, where Kalev won all three game, the team’s newcomers Kamari Murphy, JeQuan Lewis and Davion Berry, who returned to the League, showed themselves very clearly.
What to follow: In the Champions League qualification, Kalev became the best attacking team among all 24 teams, scoring an average of 92 points. Will the Tallinn team be able to show similar performance against the Euroleague team level?
Tuesday, September 28
UNICS (Russia) — Zielona Gora (Poland)
Time: 19: 00 (Moscow time)
Location: Basket Hall, Kazan, Russia
Broadcast: Match! Strana, TV Start
Games hsitory: 8 games, UNICS — 7 wins, Zelena Gura-1 victory
UNICS: In the pre-season SuperCup, UNICS could not find a counter to the inspired game of Zenit’s Napier and took only bronze medals. But it was clear already at the expense of what Kazan intends to fight for the United League title. Kazan confirmed the seriousness of their intentions in the opening game against Loko, where they were able to make a fantastic comeback with -21, turn the game around and win. UNICS will be the obvious favorite to play with the Poles, although O.J Mayo and Jarrell Brantley will most likely not be able to join the team until October.
Zielona Gora: The Poles will face a difficult test — two games in three days against the League contenders. However, after that, Zielona Gora will have the opportunity to take a break (their next game in the United League will take place only in mid-October), so they will certainly try to give their best in the games against CSKA and UNICS. As in the case of CSKA, Zielona Gora won its first game versus Kazan last season, and its main creator was also Lundberg, who scored 32 points. But in order to defeat UNICS again, the Poles need to find a new hero. Potentially, they can become an experienced Branden Frazier, who has repeatedly opposed Kazan team while had played for Avtodor.
Who to follow: Of course, after the SuperCup, the maximum attention was focused on Mario Hezonja. However, in the first regular season game, another newcomer show himself— Lorenzo Brown, who came from Fenerbahce and who became the hero in the end of the game. The Browns duo has already started working — if it goes on like this, Lorenzo will be able to replace Kazan fans idol-Jamar Smith.
