On Sunday 3 regular season games will take place.
December 20, Sunday
PARMA (Russia) vs Zielona Gora (Poland)
Time: 17:30 (15:30 MSK)
Place: Russia, Perm, UDS Molot
Broadcast: TV Start
Odds by Fonbet: PARMA — 1,57, Zielona Gora — 2,40
PARMA: After two consecutive victories (including over contender Lokomotiv) Perm slowed down a bit losing to Astana in a tight one. However, with neutral record PARMA continue to stay in Top-8. Nevertheless, Ural don’t feel safe: they have a tough schedule with 4 away games out of 5, and also games against Lokomotiv, Khimki and UNICS. Thus, win over Zielona Gora would be really helpful to settle in the play-off zone.
Zielona Gora: The Poles are in good shape now, in last 4 games they have 3 Ws. By the way, for PARMA Zan Tabak’s team are traditionally uncomfortable opponents. The first franchise victory over Polish club Perm managed to gain this March, all other 3 games they lost with average difference of 15 points. Zielona Gora are PARMA’s straight rivals now, they are one spot behind, so it will be extremely important for both teams.
Nizhny Novgorod (Russia) vs Enisey (Russia)
Time: 16:00 (16:00 MSK)
Place: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, CEC Nagorny
Broadcast: League’s web-site
Odds by Fonbet: Nizhny Novgorod — 1,23, Enisey — 4,15
Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny became one of the main discoveries of the season’s start: with 4 wins in 5 games they are second in the League outpacing all the contenders except Zenit. Moreover, it can’t be said that they had easy schedule: for example, Nizhny beat Khimki and traditionally Astana at home. In the United League Nizhny haven’t played for two weeks but they weren’t feeling practice lack, they were playing successfully all that time in the Champions League beating Start and Falco.
Enisey: The Siberians hold the last place in standings for now. After a confident away victory over PARMA Krasnoyarsk couldn’t keep the momentum and lost next three games. According to Drazen Anzulovich, rotation problems still influence team’s results, especially Enisey lacking in guards. It may become the key factor against Nizhny where guards duo Artem Komolov and Kasey Shepherd average almost 32 points combined.
UNICS (Russia) vs Tsmoki-Minsk (Belarus)
Time: 19:00 (19:00 MSK)
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Broadcast: TV Start
Odds by Fonbet: UNICS — 1,06, Tsmoki-Minsk — 9,00
UNICS: Kazan team are still struggling. Two victories in last 5 games prevent them from keeping higher position in table, EuroCup isn’t successful as well: so, on Tuesday UNICS lost to Joventud despite John Holland’s 20-point performance. However, now Dimitrios Priftis’ team had an opportunity to start a chase for Lokomotiv and other top-5 teams. Tsmoki are traditionally comfortable rivals for Kazan: in 14-game history the Dragons managed to beat UNICS only twice, and the latest victory was gained 4 years ago in February, 2017.
Tsmoki-Minsk: The Dragons haven’t won since October 1, when they beat Enisey in a season opener. Since then, Rostislav Vergun’s squad have only lost, although they could win in a game against Kalev. Artsiom Parakhouski transfer hasn’t helped yet, although it’s noticeable that he would be much more useful after a full practice process with the team. Even now, in 15 minutes on the court Parakhouski averages 9,5 points and 5 rebounds, which powers up Tsmoki’s front court.
