Five regular season games will be played on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Thursday, March 15
Time: 7:00 PM (8:00 MSK)
Place: Kalevi Spordihall, Tallinn, Estonia
TV: VTB-League.com
Kalev: After winning several games under new head coach Donaldas Kairys, Kalev has gone into a funk, dropping four in a row. Even Isaiah Briscoe’s five-game streak of scoring 20+ points hasn’t helped. Thursday’s opponent, Enisey, was the last team to lose to Kalev as the Mirkovic-Briscoe tandem erased an 11-point deficit to win on the road. With both teams desperate for a win, today’s game could go down to the wire once again.
Enisey: The Siberians haven’t won since January 13 (vs. Tsmoki-Minsk). That said, the team has only played four times during the stretch, leaving plenty of time to rejoin the playoff chase. With 10 games remaining on the schedule, the next five are huge, with opponents including Kalev, PARMA, Astana and Nizhny (plus CSKA).
Friday, March 16
Time: 7:30 PM (8:30 MSK)
Place: Olimpic Sport Center, Riga, Latvia
TV: VTB-League.com
VEF: Riga’s winning streak came to an unsurprising end vs. CSKA, dropping VEF to 10th place.
PARMA and VEF have both won five times and the Latvians can pass the Siberians with a win. The rebounding battle could be key: Riga is one of the best in the League (36.5 per game), while PARMA center Yannick Moreira is questionable after missing the last two games.
PARMA: Despite Moreira’s absence, the biggest reason for PARMA’s loss to Minsk was poor perimeter defense, not rebounding. Tsmoki shot 57% from beyond the arc in the win. VEF’s snipers are capable of getting hot, so PARMA will need to play better perimeter defense if it hopes to win on the road. Khimki, for example, surrendered 14 triples to the Latvians in a recent loss. Eliminating open looks for Janicenoks and co. will be one of PARMA’s biggest challenges.
Saturday, March 17
Tsmoki-Minsk Belarus – Lokomotiv-Kuban Russia
Time: 6:00 PM (6:00 MSK)
Place: Falcon Club, Minsk, Belarus
TV: VTB-League.com
Tsmoki-Minsk: Minsk snapped a six-game losing streak in Perm, but now plays host to an ultra-motivated Lokomotiv-Kuban. The key factor in the game vs. PARMA was Chris Czerapowicz’s long-range shooting. Krasnodar, however, has plenty of weapons on defense, as evidenced by the first meeting between these two teams, when Kuban limited Minsk to under 60 points.
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Loko boasts a perfect 11-0 record vs. Tsmoki. The Railwaymen are desperate to make it 12-0. The team’s 26-game winning streak ended a little more than a month ago and Loko has since dropped three games, falling into a tie for 3rd place in the standings. Three-point specialist Ryan Broekhoff is also out several months with a broken hand. The Railwaymen responded to Broekhoff’s injury by inking veteran Jonas Maciulis, who hopes to rejuvenate his career in Krasnodar.
Sunday, March 18
Nizhny Novgorod Russia – Astana Kazakhstan
Time: 4:00 PM (4:00 MSK)
Place: Sports Palace, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
TV: VTB-League.com
Nizhny Novgorod: Volga enters Sunday’s contest with momentum thanks to a win over Ceravnos in the Europe Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday. But there’s a lot of work to be done in the League: Nizhny is one of three teams with fewer than five wins. On the other hand, the home team is tied for the fewest number of games played. Nizhny Novgorod cruised to victory in the first meeting between these two teams, thanks to 29 points from Jake Odum. Since then, Astana has improved significantly on defense and allows 10 fewer points per game than the Russians (77.3 vs. 87.6).
Astana: It might be too soon to crown Mikhail Karpenko the League’s next coaching star, but he certainly has one of the hottest teams in the League, guiding Astana to wins over Khimki and Zenit and a 4-1 record since taking the job. Coincidentally, it was a loss to Nizhny Novgorod that spurred Astana’s front office to replace Kostas Flevarakis with the young Russian coach. Astana is now 7th in the standings and has completely transformed its defense, ranking 3rd in points conceded, ahead of even CSKA.
Monday, March 19
Kalev Estonia – Avtodor Russia
Time: 7:00 PM (8:00 MSK)
Place: Kalevi Spordihall, Tallinn, Estonia
TV: VTB-League.com
Kalev: Kalev is playing for the second time in four days, which won’t be easy against a fresh and rested Avtodor squad. Saratov loves to push the tempo and will certainly try to capitalize on Tallinn’s busy schedule. Neither team is particularly strong on defense. Kalev is the only team in the League giving up more than 90 points per game, while Avtodor allows 89.3. Expect plenty of offense when these two teams hook up in the Estonian capital.
Avtodor: Monday’s game features a duel between two of the League’s most dynamic guards and rising stars in European basketball. Isaiah Briscoe, 2nd in scoring in the League, faces Justin Robinson. Even though Coty Clarke currently leads Avtodor in points, Robinson won the February MVP by averaging 23.5 points and 11 assists per game and could easily pass Clarke in the months ahead. Saratov could also strengthen its grip on 5th place with a win on Monday after moving ahead of Khimki last week.
