This Saturday, Sunday and Monday 6 regular season games take place.
Saturday, October 12
Astana (Kazakhstan) vs Lokomotiv-Kuban (Russia)
Time: 15:00 (12:00 МSK)
Place: Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan, SK Velotrack
Broadcast: Match! Strana, League’s web-site
Odds by Fonbet: Astana’s win – 4,0, Lokomotiv-Kuban’s win – 1,25
Astana: Kazakhstan were worthy opponents for UNICS last week. 9-point differential doesn’t say anything about the game – Astana’s chancesT to tie the game were high till the buzzer. However, after the game Emil Raikovikj complained that it is hard to compete with only 4 foreign players in roster. Astana decided to solve this problem and signed Isaiah Whitehead, who was playing for Lokomotiv-Kuban and was good at physical driving to the basket. As a Lokomotiv player Whitehead was averaging 11.6 points and 3.3 assists.
Lokomotiv-Kuban: The team is going to play against Astana in good state of mood – after beating Tsmoki-Minsk they beat Venezia in Eurocup. Sam Dekker was terrific in both previous games and scored 15 points against Italians. Forward Sam Dekker can play crucial role against Astana – rebounds (42:27) were one of the main causes Kazakhstan lost game against UNICS.
Kalev (Estonia) vs UNICS (Russia)
Time: 17:00 (17:00 МSК)
Place: Estonia, Tallinn, Saku Suurhall
Broadcast: League’s web-site
Odds by Fonbet: Astana’s win – 4,0, Lokomotiv-Kuban’s win – 1,25
Kalev: Season-starter for Kalev that they completely lost to Khimki shouldn’t be taken into consideration – team was playing with cut roster without foreign players. Game against Nizhny Novgorod showed what Kalev are really capable of. Not all of the Tallinn players had a rest (There were mo centers in their roster) but Kyle Vinales that have just signed with Kalev became on of the best players of the game with 19 points. But he will have to pass the test against one of the best League’s backcourts against Astana – Jamar Smith and Errick McCollum scored 40 of 81 team points combined.
UNICS: After the victory against Astana UNICS celebrated one more win – losing with the 14-point differential against Cedevita in Eurocup they managed to brake the game and won final quarter 25:7. Jamar Smith was the best player on the court again – 21 points. In Tallinn, UNICS must be confident because they haven’t been beaten by Kalev for 6 years. Tallinn won the only game of 19 in November, 2013.
Sunday October, 13
CSKA (Russia) vs Tsmoki-Minsk (Belarus)
Time: 13:00 (13:00 МSK)
Place: Russia, Moscow, USH CSKA
Broadcast: Match! Strana
Odds by Fonbet: CSKA win – 1,01, Tsmoki-Minsk win – 11,0
CSKA: For the first time in League’s history CSKA got 1-2 record – they lost not only to a contender Zenit but to Enisey as well. However, Dimitrios Itoudis said that his team had learnt a lesson of this two losses. CSKA shouldn’t be squandered anyway, inconsistent game is a regular thing for rebuilding teams. Euroleague’s wins against Valencia and Bayern prove that CSKA is still on the map.
Tsmoki-Minsk: The team haven’t tasted the glories of battle against CSKA 18 times in a row – more that most of the teams in the League. Furthermore, the average differential is about 30 points. Although Tsmoki looked good in the game against Lokomotiv and gave up only in the middle of final quarter CSKA are obviously favoured to win.
PARMA (Russia) vs Enisey (Russia)
Time: 17:30 (15:30 МSК)
Place: Russia, Perm, UDS Molot
Broadcast: League’s web-site
Odds by Fonbet: PARMA’s win – 1,95, Enisey’s win – 1,85
PARMA: Two games two losses – that’s the Ural record, they hold the last place in Standings. However, it’s to early to draw conclusions – both losses were tight games. CSKA has enough experience to win tight endings but Nizhny had to fight till the buzzer. Arnett Moultry is in a rare form – he collected double-double against Nizhny and set scoring record of the season (36 points) and led his team till the end.
Enisey: The key to win the game is to hold Moultry and as game against Khimki showed it would be really difficult to do. Enisey couldn’t do anything about Khimki’s frontcourt Evans-Gill: they collected 37 points and 15 rebounds combined. Evans felt at home on Enisey’s glass finishing alley-oops times and times again. Moultry is expected to show something similar so Moultry-Hogue is going to be one of the most interesting match-ups of the game. Dustin Hogue was good guarding Evans (22+11 rebounds), but considering his anthropometry it would be hard to guard such player as Moultry.
Zenit (Russia) vs Nizhny Novgorod (Russia)
Time: 16:00 (16:00 МSК)
Place: Russia, Saint Petersburg, Sibur Arena
Broadcast: League’s web-site
Odds by Fonbet: Zenit’s win – 1,1, Nizhny Novgorod win – 7,0
Zenit: The team proved its contender status by beating active Champion with injured players in its roster. However, the game against Nizhny Novgorod won’t be easier, mainly beacause Zenit are just trying to get used to Euroleague schedule. Only two days before the game with Nizhny one of the best Europe’s teams – Barcelona will challenge them this Friday. Moreover, its roster doesn’t look so good. Andrei Zubkov as it turned out will miss few months. Gustavo Ayon and Dmitry Khvostov won’t be rested.
Nizhny Novgorod: The team played two absolutely different but hard games. After season high scoring game against PARMA where teams scored 204 points combined Zoran Lukic complained about defence, After the defeat against Kalev he complained about team’s offense, especially last possession. Nizhny’s roster will be more rested in comparison with Zenit, that means that the bench will be a key factor. Zenit is still favoured to win: for instance, Nizhny’s bench scored 19 points while Zenit’s bench scored 32 against CSKA
Monday October, 14
Avtodor (Russia) vs Khimki (Russia)
Time: 19:00 (18:00 МSК)
Place: Russia, Saratov, SP Crystal
Broadcast: League’s web-site
Odds by Fonbet: Avtodor’s win – 5,5, Khimki’s win – 1,15
Avtodor: First Avtodor’s game wasn’t a success – ambitious Zielona Gora beat them in clutch. Saratov will try to make amends against Khimki. It won’t be easy. Game against Zielona Gora showed Avtodor’s defensive vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, Khimki dominating inside the perimeter by actively using Evans and Gill – their 2-point FG percentage is 63.6% – top 1 in the league. Remembering 13.7 offensive rebounds on average Evgeny Pashutin will have to wonder on stopping guests’ frontcourt.
Khimki have their own problems. Although Khimki hold first place with 3-0 record they still face roster troubles. Few starting players didn’t participated in game against Enisey and now Egor Vialtsev joined injury club. Janis Timma has health issues and Rimas Kurtinaitis didn’t let him play in the game ending. In Addition there is a schedule – three days before game against Avtodor Khimki will have to play against Baskonia in Euroleague.
