VTB United League president Sergey Kushchenko summarized the results of the pre-season Kondrashin and Belov Cup.
Zenit defeated UNICS in the final, Pari NN defeated MBA-MAI for the 3rd place.
– Kondrashin and Belov Cup is a very bright stage in the competition for VTB United League teams. The tournament in St. Petersburg is organized at a high level. The teams are actively preparing for the upcoming SuperCup and the regular season: you could already see the play pattern, coaching thought and how the new players fit into the system of their teams.
In my opinion, all teams that participated in the Kondrashin and Belov Cup this year made very serious adjustments to improve their offense, defense, tactics and players. Zenit signed many star players with tremendous experience playing in Europe, NBA and other leagues. MBA-MAI is staffed with their own strategy and philosophy aimed at Russian players. The guys are looking very good. Pari NN has improved in comparison with the last bad season. You can see the work of new head coach Sergey Kozin, he has established communication with the players. Speaking of UNICS, they lacked DeVaughn-Akoon Purcell and Louis Labeyrie, who will add variety to the offense. Nevertheless, the style of Velimir Perasovic team is readable.
Right now, the most important aspect of the roster formation is the 4-round League system. 12 players will not be enough for it. Kondrashin and Belov Cup gave the coaches an opportunity to try rotation – almost all players played.
The SuperCup is in a week, and after it the season starts almost immediately, everyone is trying to approach it in optimal shape.
