On Monday, Nizhny Novgorod and St. Petersburg will host 2 regular season games.
Monday, November 8th
Nizhny Novgorod (Russia) — PARMA-PARIMATCH (Russia)
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Location: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, KRK Nagorny
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Rivalry history: 10 games, Nizhny Novgorod — 8 wins, PARMA – 2 wins
Nizhny Novgorod: NN are not stable, alternating victories with losses. In November, Nizhny Novgorod has played only one game so far: the meeting with Lavrio turned out to be fail – despite Ivan Strebkov’s solid performance (21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists), Zoran Lukic’s squad lost in overtime. In the Champions League, things are not going well for them – they have already suffered three loses in a row at the start of the season. At the beginning of the season, the club has already started making organizational withdrawals, having terminated the contract with the disappointed Lazar Jones.
PARMA-PARIMATCH: The Perm team are not lucky with the calendar yet — out of three games they played two with the current leaders of the standings and both lost. However, if CSKA won their game then UNICS had to work hard to achieve the result. PARMA really need to get the second win and achieve a 50 percent balance of wins and losses, and they will try to do this in a match against a team of a comparable class. PARMA held a dress rehearsal as part of the FIBA Europe Cup, beating Opava with a crushing score, and Jeremiah Hill became the best player of this game (as in the recent game with UNICS) — 15 points and 7 assists.
Who to follow: For Artsiom Parakhouski, now defending PARMA colours, back in 2014 Nizhny Novgorod became his first russian United League club. Taking into account the fact that Nizhny Novgorod plays almost without centers (the only nominal center of the team Nikola Jovanovic spends less than 10 minutes per game), the Belarusian has a good chance to prove himself.
Zenit (Russia) — Zielona Gora (Poland)
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Location: Russia, Saint Petersburg, Sibur Arena
Broadcast: Match TV, League website
Rivalry history: 5 games, Zenit — 5 wins
Zenit: The St. Petersburg team is gaining momentum with each game week. In November, the St. Petersburg team played two successful games — they beat Enisey in the United League, and in the Euroleague they left no chance to Efes. According to the team GM Alexander Tserkovniy, Shabazz Napier is already actively training and may be able to return to the floor before December. Well, while Napier is not playing, other players alternately act as the leaders — in the game against Baskonia, Jordan Loyd led the team, Jordan Mickey showed his leadership skills in the game with Enisey, and Conner Frankamp became the most resultative in the game with the Turks.
Zielona Gora: The Polish team finally opened the account of their wins this season, and did it as effectively as possible – defeating Tsmoki-Minsk with a 32 points difference. In the game with the Dragons, the main creators of the win were Zielona Gora snipers, who set a club record for three-pointers made – 17. The same result was a repeat of the current record of the season – which was previously set by Nizhny Novgorod. However, it is unlikely that Zenit, who have the second defense in the League after CSKA (less than 70 missed points on average per game), will let the Polish snipers a spot.
What to follow: since CSKA was defeated in this round, Zenit has a great opportunity to bypass the Army team and take second place in the standings.
