Five games are on the schedule for Saturday and Sunday, including a Loko-Khimki showdown in Moscow Region.
Saturday, October 22
Astana (Kazakhstan) – VEF (Latvia)
Time: 4:00 PM (1:00 MSK)
Place: SC Velotrek, Astana, Kazakhstan
TV: VTB-League.com, KAZ Sport
Astana: This is Astana’s 4th-straight home game. The Kazakhs opened with a win over Avtodor, before losing to CSKA and UNICS. They would be very happy to get the W on Saturday, and close the home-stand with a 2-2 record.
Head coach Ilias Papatheodorou recently spoke with Sports.kz about how he wants his team to play this season: “It’s very tough to play in the VTB League, given there are plenty of teams with strong players and coaches. That’s motivation to grow, given we are playing against the best. Our priority is to create a team with good, competitive qualities that will give 100% in every game.
Through three games, the club has had a lot of success on the offensive glass, leading the League at 14.7 per game.
VEF: Riga has won its last three games by a combined seven points (Khimki in the VTB United League and Jurmala and Barons in the Latvian League).
Janis Blums continues to be key for VEF, scoring a team-high 19 points in Wednesday’s win over Barons. He also played a major role in the upset win over Khimki. Together with Armands Skele, the two Latvian vets appear to be the perfect guys to lead Riga’s otherwise young roster.
VEF played Barons on Wednesday night, and tips off in Astana on Saturday morning (Riga time). It’s not an easy trip from Latvia to Kazakhstan, so don’t be surprised if the team looks a bit sluggish, at least early on. Riga is also missing Kaspars Vecvagars, who tore his Achilles in a recent game.
Enisey (Russia) – Nizhny Novgorod (Russia)
Time: 7:10 PM (3:10 MSK)
Place: Arena Sever, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
TV: VTB-League.com
Enisey: Krasnoyarsk is flying high after back-to-back road victories. On Sunday, Enisey shocked Krasnodar, limiting Lokomotiv to 66 points in a two-point win. The Siberians kept rolling with an 85-81 win over Rilski in Bulgaria on Wednesday to open the FIBA Europe Cup.
Frank Elegar has been a terrific acquisition. The American big man scored 18 points to go with 12 rebounds against Lokomotiv and just missed a double-double vs. Rilski (17+9).
Enisey had to be encouraged by guard Maalik Wayns’s 20-point outburst on Wednesday. Wayns has had a miserable start in the League, averaging 3.3 points on 18.5% shooting, but he was red-hot against Rilski, going 9-13 from the field in 20 minutes.
Nizhny Novgorod: The team is 0-2 in the League and lost to Gran Canaria in the Eurocup on Tuesday, 106-80.
Defense has been the biggest struggle for the Russian club. They gave up 104 to UNICS, 95 to Avtodor, to go with 106 in Spain.
Speaking after Tuesday’s loss, Arturs Stalbergs pointed to a lack of focus: “As soon as we begin defending well, we give up a rebound or let someone drive to the basket… Until we can maintain our concentration for the entire game, we won’t improve our defense. Out of 40 minutes, we only played well for eight… We’ll continue to work on our defense.”
DeAndre Kane and Kenny Boynton have been Nizhny’s primary threats on offense, averaging 17.0 and 21.5 points per game, respectively, in the League.
Sunday, October 23
Khimki (Russia) – Lokomotiv-Kuban (Russia)
Time: 1:00 PM (1:00 MSK)
Place: BCMO, Khimki, Russia
TV: Match TV, VTB-League.com
Khimki: Moscow Region is 0-1 in the League after the defeat to VEF and lost to Fuenlabrada in the Eurocup on Wednesday, 89-85.
The team clearly misses star guard Alexey Shved, who’s recovering from a foot injury. He should be back soon, but will miss the game against Loko.
Despite being without Alexey Shved and releasing Perry Jones III last week, head coach Dusko Ivanovic played 11 men against Fuenlabrada with seven players scoring eight or more points. Clearly, depth will not be an issue for Khimki this season.
Ivanovic’s primary concern after the loss in Spain was patience: “We needed to control the defensive glass and show more patience on offense… The game was even, and in the end we lacked patience on the attack.”
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Lokomotiv is also reeling from an early upset. The Railwaymen fell at home to Enisey, 68-66, on Sunday.
Krasnodar has a bunch of new faces this season, replacing nearly the entire roster after last season’s historic Euroleague Final Four appearance. Taylor Rochestie and Kenny Gabriel played the most minutes against Enisey, with Rochestie scoring a team-high 19 points.
So far, the team has only played twice, once in the Eurocup (a 72-64 win vs. Olimpija) to go with the loss to Enisey. Fotios Katsikaris has had an entire week to prepare his men for Sunday’s showdown and it will be interesting to see how the team will respond. Neither Loko, nor Khimki want to start 0-2 in the League.
There should be a good contingent of Loko fans in Moscow Region, thanks a club-sponsored bus trip from Krasnodar. After the game vs. Khimki, the Loko fans will dash across town to support FC Lokomotiv in a Russian Premier League clash vs. PFC CSKA.
Tsmoki-Minsk (Belarus) – Kalev (Estonia)
Time: 3:00 PM (3:00 MSK)
Place: Falcon Club, Minsk, Belarus
TV: Belarus-5, VTB-League.com
Tsmoki-Minsk: Minsk picked up a win in the FIBA Europe Cup, defeating Siauliai at home, 86-71. Justin Gray (16 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast) and Dru Joyce (11 pts, 11 ast) led the way for the Belarusians.
The most impressive stat from Wednesday’s win has to be Tsmoki’s 27 assists. With Justin Gray finding his groove on offense, Joyce running the point, and guys like Laimonas Kisielius and Djordje Gagic posing a threat, Minsk could be very dangerous on offense.
1-1 to start the season (L vs. Zenit, W vs. Avtodor), Minsk has a great chance to move above .500 at the Falcon Club.
Belarus TV did a cool feature on 21-year-old forward Yauheni Beliankou. He’s a biker in his free time. Check out his ride at the 6:05 mark in the video.
Kalev: The Estonians are also 1-1 in the League, defeating Parma and losing to Zenit. Demonte Harper, who played for Minsk in 2013-14, has been the leader in Tallinn, averaging 19 pts, 5.0 rebs and 5.5 ast in the first two games. Vitali Liutych, another ex-Tsmoki player, is 2nd in scoring at 14.0, so expect Kalev to have plenty of motivation on Sunday.
Alar Varrak’s team is young. Gregor Arbet and Mickell Gladness are the only players above 30. The club has high hopes for 22-year-old American Robert Upshaw. Averaging 5.5 pts and 4.0 rebs in just 11 minutes on the court, foul trouble is the only thing keeping him off the court (4.5 per game). If he can adjust to European play, other teams in the League better watch out.
Avtodor (Russia) – Zenit (Russia)
Time: 5:00 PM (5:00 MSK)
Place: Kristall Sports Palace, Saratov, Russia
TV: Match! Nash Sport, VTB-League.com
Avtodor: After bringing in Sergei Mokin to replace Nikolajs Mazurs, Saratov has gone 2-1, including Wednesday’s FIBA Champions League win at Khimik.
Tomislav Zubcic led the way for the Russians, posting 19 pts and 9 rebs. Branden Frazier and Nick Minnerath also had big games in Ukraine.
Club president Vladimir Rodionov has expressed interest in signing Russian guard Sergey Bykov. A veteran of the Russian national team, Bykov would bring lots of experience to Saratov’s young roster (Artem Zabelin is the oldest player on the team at 28).
Expect a high-scoring affair against Zenit. These two teams have averaged 177.6 combined points when they meet and Sunday’s game should be no different.
Zenit: St. Petersburg is undefeated to start the season (2-0 in the League, 1-0 in the Eurocup). After Tuesday’s win vs. Kalev, head coach Vasily Karasev spoke about the upcoming trip to Saratov: “(Avtodor) always plays well at home in front of its fans. They have an explosive team and like quick transitions and fast breaks. If we let them get comfortable early, it’s going to be very tough.”
Janis Timma continues to progress. The 24-year-old Latvian forward is averaging 19.5 points per game to go with 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
Aaron White vs. Nick Minnerath should be a fun match-up. The Zenit big man is averaging 8.0 pts and 11.5 rebs, while Minnerath leads his team in scoring (23.3) and rebounds (8.3).
