Six games of the regular season will be played from Saturday through Monday.
November 9, Saturday
Time: 15:00 (12:00 MSK)
Venue: Saryarka Velodrome, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet line: Astana win — 1,04, Tsmoki-Minsk win — 11,0
Astana levelled their win-loss record after a victory over Zenit in a fantastic game. Recently signed Isaiah Whitehead already delivers as he scored 20 points and a game-winner three-pointer in the overtime. However, the main issue for Tsmoki is how to stop Dusan Ristic. The center is in top-3 scorers, and the best rebounder of the League (20,25 + 10,75 rebounds). That’s a double-double per game!
Tsmoki-Minsk remains one of the two teams without victories. The Dragons and Astana are equal in their personal rivalry – 6 wins for each team. But the last time Tsmoki won was two years ago, and Astana haven’t lost since then. And this time Nur-Sultan is favored to win as they outplay Minsk in most of the stats.
November 10, Sunday
Time: 17:00 (16:00 MSK)
Venue: Crystal SP, Saratov, Russia
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet line: Avtodor win — 1,45, Kalev win — 2,75
Avtodor is the second team with 0 W’s. Moreover, Avtodor suffered losses from both the contenders (Khimki and CSKA) and more or less same class teams (Enisey and Zielona Gora). Avtodor find troubles in building offensive teamplays as they take the last place in League in assists (13.5) not to mention 12.8 turnovers per game. Saratov hopes are with individual skills of the leaders, but even Elgin Cook’s outstanding performance (33 points) was not enough to fight CSKA.
Kalev made an amazing start of the season (jumped into top-3 for some time), but later were stopped but PARMA and are currently on the 6th place, one win away from CSKA. Although Kalev is favored to win this one, they have their weaknesses for Avtodor’s advantage. Kalev’s rebounding leader – a 37-year-old veteran Kristjan Kangur – will have to face one of the best League’s rebounder Mouhammadou Jaiteh throughout the whole game. With Jaiteh’s 10.5 rebounds, Avtodor are the best team in offensive rebounds and take the second place in total rebounds while Kalev can’t even reach top-10.
Time: 17:00 (17:00 MSK)
Venue: Basket Hall, Kazan, Russia
Broadcast: Match! Strana
Fonbet lines: UNICS win — 1,15, Nizhny Novgorod win — 5,50
UNICS won only one of the last 4 games and it was Tsmoki (12th place). Nonetheless, Dimitris Priftis said the team needed only one good game to restore confidence. That’s what they did beating Brescia in Eurocup with a +14 margin. But this match is not a magic spell to cure all their problems in offense. Kazan are ranked below all but Kalev in points scored (77.6). Even in the successful game against Brescia, UNICS scored only their normal 77 points, more than a half of which (39) belong to Errick McCollum and Jamar Smith. This time, however, Kazan managed to remain stable in the defense allowing only 63.
Nizhny Novgorod are still in top-3. Their last VTB League game was held on October 19, but they keep moving as Nizhny have 3 straight wins in the Champions League (currently the 2nd in their group). A victory over UNICS will get them above Lokomotiv-Kuban (should Krasnodar lose to CSKA). Nizhny are extremely efficient in 2-point field goals (58%), but when it gets beyond the arc the rate drops down to 32.6%. A potential problem considering Kazan’s intense defense on the perimeter.
Time: 19:00 (19:00 MSK)
Venue: USH CSKA, Moscow, Russia
Broadcast: Match! Strana
Fonbet lines: CSKA win — 1,20, Lokomotiv-Kuban win — 4,60
CSKA paced up with three straight wins after a bad start. Even having lost Will Clyburn CSKA managed to adjust the offense and score 100 points in all those three games. Therefore, Dimitris Itoudis’ side are the best League team in points scored (93.3). This time the schedule plays on Loko’s side, as CSKA will play Villeurbanne in Euroleague two days before this game and Loko played its Eurocup match on November 6, which gives 2 more days for a rest.
Lokomotiv-Kuban since Bartzokas’ times were deemed a defensive team. But this season they show great offense. Kuban are in top-3 in points per game (87.0), and ranked 1st in assists (22.3). But the downside is that Lokomotiv are currently League’s worst team in three-pointers percentage and the only to have less than 30% (CSKA are the first with 43%). Just to get things worse, elite sniper Vitaly Fridzon got injured in a lost game against Rytas for at least two months, therefore, he won’t be able to meet his ex-team.
Time: 19:00 (19:00 MSK)
Venue: Sibur Arena, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet lines: Zenit win — 1,25, Enisey win — 4,60
Zenit – having lost four in a row – dropped to the 10th place instead of fighting for the top. Another loss happened in Euroleague, where Khimki in Russian derby allowed only 73 points. Saint Petersburg still haven’t won at home, and Enisey is their third attempt to cure the curse of Sibur Arena. It’s curious that Zenit score an average of 90 points away, while they reach only catastrophic 74.5 at home.
Enisey have never beaten Zenit – 10 losses of 10 games. This season they break the bad series, like with CSKA they had had 14 losses in a row. By the way, Enisey and Zenit are the only teams to beat CSKA this season. Drazen Anzulovic’s side is currently ranked number 4 in the League, and with favorable odds can get to top-3 after this match. FIBA-Europe Cup goes well too as they’ve won 2 in a row last week.
November 11, Monday
Time: 20:00 (20:00 MSK)
Venue: BCMO, Khimki, Russia
Broadcast: Match! Strana
Fonbet lines: Khimki win — 1,01, PARMA win — 16,0
Khimki are successful in both United League and Euroleague thanks to deep roster and coach work. Khimki is the only unbeaten team in the League, and each game the look more confident. Three times this season, Rimas Kurtinaitis guys scored 100 points. They are in top-3 in most of the stats, and undisputable leaders in rebounds, steals, blocks, 2-pointer percentage. Plus, they are the best defensive teams (74.6 points). Khimki downed Zenit in last Euroleague game with a +14 margin, 54% field goals and 43% three-pointers.
PARMA won their first season game against Kalev, but later were destroyed by Zielona Gora 106:88. Rebounds are a problem for PARMA as they make only 30.3 per game even with a great athlete Arnett Moultrie. It should be mentioned that Khimki are the best rebounding team (9 rebounds per game more) which is a ground for a number of second chance points. For example, Khimki dominated the rebounds against UNICS 36:21, a differential which can even be increased in Monday’s game.
