Five regular season games will be played on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Saturday, February 3
Time: 4:00 PM (12:00 MSK)
Place: Arena.Sever, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
TV: VTB-League.com
Enisey: The Siberians continue to struggle. After a high-scoring loss to Kalev, Oleg Okulov’s men only scored 49 points in defeat to Loko, the fewest points scored by a team this season. Krasnoyarsk will have a tough time against VEF’s defense, which looked terrific in a win over Tsmoki-Minsk, especially when you consider Enisey is last in assists (14 per game) and three-point percentage (28.5% – the only team below 30%). At the same time, there’s hope that Mark Lyons has adjusted and will have a bigger impact in his second appearance with Enisey after scoring five points vs. Krasnodar.
VEF: VEF picked up a crucial victory vs. Minsk last weekend, doubling its win total in the League to preserve its postseason hopes. A third victory vs. Enisey would put Riga squarely in the mix for one of the final playoff spots. Though VEF’s offense isn’t much better than Enisey’s, the Latvians are dangerous from beyond the arc, knocking down 10 triples against Tsmoki. That could be a key factor in Saturday’s game.
Lokomotiv-Kuban Russia – Avtodor Russia
Time: 3:00 PM (3:00 MSK)
Place: Basket Hall, Krasnodar, Russia
TV: Match IGRA, VTB-League.com
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Krasnodar extended its incredible winning streak to 26 with a victory over Buducnost in the EuroCup earlier this week. Loko is playing unprecedented defense, setting a VTB United League season record by allowing only 49 points to Enisey on Sunday. Loko’s powerful frontcourt could also cause serious problems for Avtodor on the both ends of the floor, much like Khimki did last weekend. In any case, Kuban is the only team in the League giving up less than 70 points per outing (67.8).
Avtodor: After Artem Klimenko fouled out of the game vs. Khimki, Saratov scored only two points and lost by double digits. Avtodor will have an even tougher time vs. the Railwaymen, who: a) can always slow the tempo and impose a methodical halfcourt game, and b) wear down any opponent under the rim thanks to the brawny Brian Qvale and explosive Frank Elegar. Evgeny Pashutin’s men will need to display incredible fortitude against Loko’s two star big men.
Zenit Russia – Nizhny Novgorod Russia
Time: 7:00 PM (7:00 MSK)
Place: Yubileyny Sports Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia
TV: Match ARENA, VTB-League.com
Zenit: This should be an entertaining match-up between two teams that like to push the tempo. That’s what happened on Thursday between Zenit and Lietuvos Rytas with St. Petersburg giving up 100 points, but scoring 113 in response. In other good news, Malcolm Griffin enjoyed a solid debut for Zenit. Brought in to replace Laprovittola, who didn’t ultimately fit the team’s system, Griffin scored 17 points to go with eight assists. Vasily Karasev credited the American guard for helping Zenit only turn the ball over five times while scoring 113 points.
Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod had a big game in the FIBA Europe Cup earlier this week, defeating Istanbul by 24 points to advance to the next round. As Nizhny star Stevan Jelovac said after the win, the team will be in a good mood entering Saturday’s game in St. Petersburg. Nizhny has played two fewer games than its nearest rivals in the standings–PARMA and Kalev–and could move into the playoff zone with a win.
Sunday, February 4
UNICS Russia – Tsmoki-Minsk Belarus
Time: 6:00 PM (6:00 MSK)
Place: Basket Hall, Kazan, Russia
TV: VTB-League.com
UNICS: Kazan played two very important games this week. An impressive win over PARMA helped UNICS keep the pressure on Loko in 1st place, while a hard-fought overtime victory vs. ASVEL in the EuroCup kept Kazan’s quarterfinal hopes alive. There won’t be much time to rest and recover for Sunday’s game. Quino Colom, however, is back, earning a spot in the EuroCup top three players of the week list ( teammate Melvin Ejim was also honored).
Tsmoki-Minsk: Minsk has some cause for concern. Though still in 7th place, a postseason bid is far from guaranteed. Even 13th-place VEF only trails by two games. Tsmoki has only played one of the League’s “Big Five” close (Zenit), losing big to UNICS in the first meeting of the season (91-65). Justin Gray already made his season debut for Tsmoki, but he needs time to adapt to his new teammates and Alexander Krutikov will have to rely primarily on the team’s more battled-tested warriors.
Monday, February 5
Time: 7:30 MSK
Place: USH CSKA, Moscow, Russia
TV: Match TV, VTB-League.com
CSKA: The Army Men face a second showdown in five days. On Thursday, CSKA defeated Real Madrid, leading by as much as 20 points in the win. On Monday, Dimitris Itoudis and co. will welcome last year’s playoff runners-up, Khimki Moscow Region, to the USH CSKA. The Army Men do have on extra day for recovery with Khimki playing in the EuroLeague on Friday evening. CSKA will need to figure out how to trap Alexey Shved and keep him from getting the ball. That’s one of the biggest keys to beating the Yellow-Blues.
Khimki: It’s been three years since Khimki defeated CSKA in the VTB League and Georgios Bartzokas’s men are desperate to snap a 14-game losing streak vs. their rivals. While CSKA looks much improved following a two-game losing streak in the League, Khimki continues to show signs of inconsistency. Moscow Region trailed at home vs. Avtodor until midway through the 4th quarter last week and has one less day of rest for Monday’s game, which could pose a challenge for Alexey Shved and the rest of the team.
