Two of the League’s hottest team, Astana and Lokomotiv-Kuban, meet in Kazakhstan, Avtodor tries to snap a six-game skid against Kalev, and UNICS visits Zenit in a big weekend of VTB League hoops.
Saturday, December 10
Astana (Kazakhstan) – Lokomotiv-Kuban (Russia)
Time: 4:00 PM (1:00 MSK)
Place: SC Zhastar, Karaganda, Kazakhstan
TV: Match! Nash sport, VTB-League.com
Astana: Astana has won four of its last five games, including back-t0-back convincing wins against Parma and Tsmoki-Minsk.
At the same time, the Kazakhs have yet to pick up a signature victory. Astana’s biggest win thus far came against 4-4 VEF in late October.
A win on Saturday would move Astana into a tie with Lokomotiv-Kuban for 5th place.
Heading into the game, head coach Ilias Papatheodorou spoke about the opponent: “Lokomotiv is a team of the highest ability. They proved their quality in the game with CSKA, which they managed to win. They’re going to play all 40 minutes with a lot of energy and it will be an extremely big test for us.”
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Krasnodar is riding a six-game winning streak in the League, including Sunday’s breakthrough victory vs. CSKA at home. The Railwaymen also picked up a big win in the Eurocup on Wednesday, knocking off Hapoel Jerusalem, 88-68.
Kevin Jones is playing his best basketball of the season, putting up 21 points and 15 rebounds against CSKA, then scoring a game-high 22 in the win over Hapoel.
Jones and the rest of Lokomotiv’s frontcourt will face a good challenge in Karaganda. Astana is 2nd in offensive rebounding, pulling down 12.1 per game, while Loko ranks 1st in defensive boards at 28.4.
Sharpshooter Ryan Broekhoff previewed the matchup: “If we can slow the tempo a little and play our tempo, that will give us an advantage.”
Avtodor (Russia) – Kalev (Estonia)
Time: 5:00 PM (4:00 MSK)
Place: Kristall Sports Palace, Saratov, Russia
TV: VTB-League.com
Avtodor: Saratov hasn’t won in the League since October 7 against Nizhny Novgorod. In the team’s defense, four of the six losses came against Zenit, CSKA, Lokomotiv, and Khimki, but the 1-7 record leaves Avtodor with a lot of work to do in the final two-thirds of the season.
Sergei Mokin’s men did get a big win in the Basketball Champions League on Wednesday against Khimik. Nick Minnerath continues to play at an MVP level, scoring 26 to go with 10 rebounds. Even better for Saratov, newcomers Vince Hunter and Sergei Bykov combined for 39 points on efficient 11-16 shooting.
Kalev is a must-win for Avtodor on Saturday. Both teams have playoff aspirations and the Russians cannot afford to fall any further behind in the standings.
Sergei Mokin shared some thoughts on the upcoming showdown: “The Estonians don’t have a standout center who can cement their play under the basket. American guard Demonte Harper presents the most danger. He’s great in fast-break situations and leads Kalev in scoring…We face a tough game that we really must win and end our losing streak in the VTB United League.”
Kalev: The Estonians have also slumped, dropping four in a row, including last Sunday’s 99-90 defeat in Krasnoyarsk.
Neither of these teams are known for defense, which should make for an up-tempo, high-scoring contest on Saturday. Kalev has given up 98 ppg in its last four outings, while Avtodor isn’t much better at 95.3 ppg.
Mark Tollefsen’s play against Enisey was certainly a bright spot for head coach Alar Varrak. The American forward scored a season-high 28 to go with seven rebounds and two steals. Continued production from Tollefsen would help reduce the pressure on leading scorer Demonte Harper and make it harder for opposing defenses to prepare for the Estonians.
Khimki (Russia) – Parma (Russia)
Time: 5:00 PM (5:00 MSK)
Place: BCMO, Khimki, Russia
TV: VTB-League.com
Khimki: Moscow Region has won its last five in a row and 10 of 11 across all competitions. Dusko Ivanovic’s men are also 1st in the league in rebounding (40.1) and give up only 71.7 ppg.
Playing at home on six days rest, Khimki will be heavily favored against 0-8 Parma. The team also boasts VTB United League November MVP Alexey Shved, who stayed hot last week against Avtodor, scoring a game-high 25 points.
Guard Viacheslav Zaitcev on Saturday’s game: “Of course, we should pay the most attention to their leaders and shut them down. We need to start with our defense and be confident on offense. In my opinion, Parma is still lacking experience. The VTB League is a very competition and there’s a pretty big gap between it and the Superleague.
Parma: Once again, Parma got out to a strong start against VEF, only to fall apart in the 2nd half. The VTB League rookies have led at halftime in five of eight games, but are to pick up that elusive first win.
Serbian guard Danilo Andjusic leads the club in scoring at 16.5 ppg. Captain Sergei Chernov is 2nd at 9.7 ppg, though he’s only played in three games. The Russian veteran missed almost two months with an injury before returning in late November. He should play a bigger and bigger role as he gets back into game shape.
While a big underdog in Saturday’s game, Parma will look to play hard for 40 minutes and give Khimki all it can handle.
Sunday, December 11
Time: 5:00 PM (5:00 MSK)
Place: USH CSKA, Moscow, Russia
TV: Match! Nash sport, VTB-League.com
CSKA: The Army Men rebounded from last week’s loss in Krasnodar (the team’s first in the VTB United League) by beating Milan on the road in the Euroleague. Playing without Nando De Colo (thigh) and Milos Teodosic (calf), Dmitry Kulagin and Aaron Jackson led the team in scoring with 14 apiece.
British center Joel Freeland also made his 2016-17 debut, appearing on the court for the first time since last February. With big man Pavel Korobkov recovering from an injury, Freeland’s return gives CSKA some extra depth in the frontcourt.
CSKA will look to get back on track in the League against VEF. Including the Euroleague, the Army Men play five of the next six games at home, after spending two weeks on the road.
VEF: Riga wraps up a four-game road trip with a visit to Moscow on Sunday. The Latvians haven’t played at home in the League since November 13. Regardless of the outcome against CSKA, Janis Gailitis has to be pleased with his team’s 4-4 record, which includes a road win in Khimki and 2-0 record at home.
VEF is also undefeated in the Latvian League, knocking off Valga/Valka on Wednesday, 86-72. Latvian veterans Janis Blums and Martins Meiers continue to lead the way for VEF, combining for 34 points per game.
Riga also has good balance. Ranked 6th in the League in rebounding, the team features nine players averaging between 3.0 and 4.8 boards per game.
Zenit (Russia) – UNICS (Russia)
Time: 7:00 PM (7:00 MSK)
Place: SC Yubileyniy, St. Petersburg, Russia
TV: Match! Nash sport, VTB-League.com
Zenit: Zenit has only played three times in the past three and a half weeks, winning all three on the road, including twice in the Eurocup. Now the club gets four straight at home, starting with Sunday’s showdown vs. UNICS.
St. Petersburg currently trails Kazan in the standings, 6-1 vs. 7-1. Yet to beat a top contender in the League, Zenit could leapfrog UNICS in the standings and get a big confidence boost with a win.
Head coach Vasily Karasev expressed confidence ahead of the matchup: “Kazan doesn’t do anything too complicated. They have individually talented players on the roster. I’d single out Keith Langford and Quino Colom. We have experience against UNICS; we’ve met them in the regular season and playoffs. There are some things to fine-tune. The most important thing is playing proper one-on-one defense. We have the right pieces to do that.”
UNICS: Kazan lost big for the first time in the Euroleague on Friday, falling 88-59 to Olympiacos in Greece. Keith Langford led all scorers with 25, but couldn’t get any support as UNICS fell to 3-8 in the competition.
Things look better in the VTB United League. Kazan has only one loss to Khimki and can keep pace with CSKA in 1st place with a win.
Sunday’s game will be very interesting. Zenit and UNICS have both lost to top contenders (CSKA and Khimki, respectively), rank among the League’s best in points and assists, and haven’t played in the League since November 27.
One concern for UNICS will be rest: The Tatar club has less than 48 hours between the game in Athens and Sunday night’s contest in St. Petersburg.
