Two games of the new VTB United League season will be played on Sunday.
MINSK (Minsk, Belarus) vs. Pari Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia)
Time: 14:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Belarus, Minsk, Falcon Club
Broadcast: Match! Igra, TV Start, League website
MINSK: The Minsk team was last in the League last season and the task for the new season is clear – at least to be on a higher place, and ideally also to compete for the Playoffs. It won’t be easy to solve it: there are two new clubs in the League, which have assembled decent rosters. But the Belarussian team hasn’t been sitting and watching either – it doesn’t often get foreigners of the level of Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, Jakob Cebasek and Koch Bar. The premiere game of the renewed team will show what to expect from it in the new season.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Pari NN can undergo any kind of roster changes, but one thing remains unchanged – the Volga team aims to fight and win in every game, including top opponents. The SuperCup, in which UNICS was defeated and Fenerbahce was badly beaten, was another proof that. Nizhny Novgorod usually gets to this level the hard way, and Zoran Lukic develops Russian players and tells a lot of interesting stories in the process. The next season of this fascinating show starts on Sunday in Minsk. By the way, this time the Volga team will be the favorites.
Runa (Moscow, Russia) vs Avtodor (Saratov, Russia)
Time: 16:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Moscow, Dynamo Sports Palace
Broadcast: Match! Igra, TV Start, League website.
Runa: For the Moscow club this game will be the first in the VTB League. Even head coach Ertugrul Erdogan doesn’t know the true level of the new team yet. According to the Turkish coach, Runa has been without injuries, but has been in full strength for only three weeks and is far from the desired standard of chemistry and optimal shape. In general, the newcomers are not yet ready for a hundred percent and will progress and learn in the process, although at the start of the season this can be said about many clubs. Special attention in the Vikings lineup should be paid to Jeremiah Hill and Alex Tyus. They looked confident in the preseason and already have experience in the VTB League.
Avtodor: The Saratov club at this stage is not much different from most of its competitors and Runa in particular: radical changes in the roster (the last recruit Vasilije Pusic was signed at the very end of September), a new head coach Milenko Bogicevic. Anything can happen in the opening game. The Saratov team has the VTB League experience, but it’s not easy to name a clear favorite in this pairing.
