PARMA will host UNICS, Zenit versus Enisey. Preview February 5

PARMA will host UNICS, Zenit versus Enisey. Preview February 5

Perm, Samara and St. Petersburg will host 3 regular season games on Wednesday.

PARMA (Perm Region) vs UNICS (Kazan)

Time: 19:30 (17:30 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Perm, UDS Molot 
Broadcast: Match! Igra, TV Start, League website

PARMA: After comeback against Uralmash, the Perm team itself lost the advantage. The loss against Samara became third in 4 games for Evgeny Pashutin team and this is the reason of dropping out of Top 6. The team’s leaders are stable, but role players lack of efficiency, which can cause problems versus UNICS. PARMA hadn’t beat the Kazan team this season yet, but with home crowd support the team will try to fight for win.

UNICS: The winning streak helped the Kazan team to get the lead in the standings.  Velimir Perasovic team leads the League in assists (20.8 on average), in steals and had average score difference 20 points in last 6 games. All that let UNICS fans to hope for success in Perm, where the team got the win earlier this season.

Samara (Samara Region) vs CSKA (Moscow)

Time: 19:30 (18:30 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Samara, SCC «Dvorets Sporta»      
Broadcast: Start Triumph, League website

Samara: The team made 18 long-range shots against PARMA and got the win after 11 loses in a row. But this success let to Dmitry Kulagin injury, as well as Anton Kardanakhishvili and Ivan Pynko moving to Uralmash. The Volga team backcourt got weaker before the clash with CSKA, which has 3 star guards. Now Vladisalav Konovalov has to adapt the style of play in short-term. But moral boost after the win can help to show good game. 

CSKA: Andreas Pistiolis team was able to cut 17-point differential against Zenit, but lost the Game of the Week and the lead in the standings. After difficulties in offense against the St. Petersburg team, CSKA needs confidence in shooting. The upcoming game versus weakened Samara will be a great opportunity to do so – CSKA is better in the rivalry history and team stats.

Zenit (St. Petersburg) vs Enisey (Krasnoyarsk Region)

Time: 19:30 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, St. Petersburg, CSC Arena
Broadcast: TV Start, League website

Zenit: The team is continuing the way out of crisis with rebuilding the game. Solid defense in connection with ball movement helped Zenit to beat CSKA on the road and catch up with the Moscow team in wins and losses. Now the St. Petersburg team needs to with with the huge score difference to get the 2nd place. Both games versus Enisey ended with double-digit wins and the home court advantage will play a key role in the upcoming clash.

Enisey: The series against Top 5 teams slowed down Enisey in the standings. The Siberian team stays at 9th place with losses against Uralmash, UNICS and Loko. The Krasnoyarsk team will have a clash with updated Zenit, which will have a motivation and desire to fight with formidable opponent. Enisey can compensate poor shooting with offensive rebounding. Timofei Gerasimov also can play a key role as he played for Zenit last season.