Four games of the new season will be played from Saturday through Tuesday.
September 28, Saturday
«Enisey» (Russia) – CSKA (Russia)
Time: 18:00 (14:00 MSK)
Venue: Arena.Sever, Russia, Krasnoyarsk
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet rates: Enisey win – 16,0, CSKA win – 1,01
Enisey: Krasnoyarsk team had one of the hottest offseasons in their history, renewing the most part of the roster and signing almost 10 players–from the good old Alexander Gudumak to ex-Lakers guard Darius Morris who played with Kobe Bryant. But the main change is the new head coach Drazen Anzulovic who replaced Oleg Okulov. Anzulovic will try to break the unhappy relationship of CSKA and Enisey. In 14 games the team from Siberia haven’t won, and the average difference is more than 20 for CSKA.
CSKA: The red-blues have always been a team of gradual growth with careful signings like Rodriguez came in for Teodosic. This summer the army club surprisingly “exploded” the roster. The back-court changed a lot: the main architects of the offense De Colo, Rodriguez and Higgins left the club. The fans will be watching the new star Mike James who scored 19,8 PPG in last season of Euroleague. How can his individual style fit in CSKA traditional team play? Another star signing Greek Kosta Koufos is off the court for a couple of weeks with a small injury. His absence is a chance for Joel Bolomboy who took the MVP of Gomelsky Cup.
September 29, Sunday
Kalev (Estonia) – Khimki (Russia)
Time: 16:00 (16:00 MSK)
Venue: Saku Suurhall, Tallinn, Estonia
Broadcast: League site
Fonbet rates: Kalev win – 9,0, Khimki win – 1,03
Kalev: Three days ago, at the season-opener, Zielona Gora showed how one can fight back against the mighty Khimki. The Polish took advantage of Khimki problems in the front-court and used Drew Gordon a lot (16 points and 6 rebounds). However, after Arnett Moultrie transfer to PARMA, Kalev don’t have the star bigman. Anyway the guest team is favored to win the game: Kalev has beaten Khimki only once in 15 games, and it happened almost two years ago.
Khimki: Moscow region team open the season with a win and set a number of records: the highest club attendance and the best League result for season openers. And Khimki win was not a piece of cake. It should be noted that Sergey Karasev was the only member of Russian Big-3 to play that game. Without Russian stars, Stefan Jovic took the key role with 16 points and 9 assists. However, Alexey Shved is expected to be ready for the game at Kalev, but Timofey Mozgov will be back no sooner than the end of October.
September 30, Monday
CSKA (Russia) – PARMA (Russia)
Time: 19:30 (19:30 MSK)
Venue: USC CSKA, Moscow, Russia
Broadcast: Match! Strana
CSKA: The Army club get into their standard season routine: games every two days. On September 28, they will play in Krasnoyarsk, and on September 30 CSKA will open home games 2019/20. The opponent is not the easy one–PARMA did a great job in the offseason, and they always are motivated against CSKA. The main rivalry of the game can be newcomers duel: Mike James and Ural young guard Tony Carr who had 13 PPG at Torino last season.
PARMA: The main hope is the new head coach. Kazys Maksvytis, one of the most talented young coach of Europe, joined PARMA in the offseason and he might be about to lead Lithuanian national team. Maksvytis built a reputation with Lithuanian junior teams and he can deliver with average teams, like silver and bronze medals of Lithuania with Neptunas. Perm did a huge work at the transfer market signing Artem Zabelin, Arnett Moultrie and Mareks Mejeris. With this strong and diversified front-court they can create problems for CSKA (by the way, Moultrie was the most efficient player of the last season with 22.0 points).
October 1, Tuesday
Zielona Gora (Poland) – Zenit (Russia)
Time: 19:00 (20:00 MSK)
Venue: CRS Hala Zielona Góra, Zielona Gora, Poland
Broadcast: Match! Strana
Zielona Gora: In the starting game against Khimki showed that no one should expect an easy walk. Playing away game against one of the main contender Zielona Gora showed fantastic comeback from -16, and they almost reached the OT. Drew Gordon fit in the roster, and Zenit is a key rival for him as in the last season the center played for Saint Petersburg. But the main signing of Zielona Gora is the famous player of the past and already well-established coach Zan Tabak. In the game at Khimki he showed his ability to manage the game and overcome crisis.
Zenit: Last season, Joan Plaza did a great job to get Zenit into elite of Russian basketball. Today, after amazing summer transfers Zenit is one of the main contenders. The bench of Saint Petersburg can be compared to CSKA and Khimki, one of the best European defensive center Gustavo Ayon will replace Jalen Reynolds and line Albicy-Khvostov-Ponkrashov will be decisive for creating plays in the long-term. Game at Zielona Gora will be the first real-life test before Zenit’s debut in Euroleague.
