Doesn’t matter who starts the game, more important who finishes it. The coach of each team in the League has his own joker – a player who gives the team an impact by coming off the bench and often changes the game.
Who can become the League Sixth Player of the Year?
The list includes players who started more than half of the games on the bench.
Jalen Reynolds, UNICS
Season stats: 27 games (5 in the starting-five), 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 14.8 eff. points in 20.5 minutes
Jalen Reynolds adds energy to the team. The center will never miss an opportunity to make a powerful dunk and his emotions frighten rivals and hype partners. And the fans are just going crazy!
4 years ago, Jalen was a starter in Zenit, but the Kazan team coach Velimir Perasovic has his own vision. Reynolds was in the starting-five 5 times, 3 were against the main competitors – Zenit and CSKA. But much more often, Vince Hunter and Louis Labeyrie were started the game, while Reynolds was responsible to be the best sixth player.
After returning to the League, the center changed his game. Now Reynolds has a good three-pointer (32%), which he demonstrated in the first game of the season, scoring 3 three-pointers against Zenit. The ability to threaten an opponent with long-range shots allows Jalen to get out of the paint and free up more space in the paint for his teammates.
UNICS coaching staff does not build its game around the bigman. The key player is rather Daryl Macon, scoring 18 points per game. But at the same time, Reynolds’ influence is difficult to overestimate: in mid-January, Jalen was injured, and the Kazan team’s game immediately went wrong. At first, UNICS almost lost to Pari NN in the Volga Derby (Macon made athe winning shot), then lost to Loko with a 33-point difference. And in the first returning game, the Kazan team defeated CSKA in overtime – 112:104. Reynolds scored 15 points and 7 rebounds.
Jermaine Love, Pari Nizhny Novgorod
Season stats: 28 games (2 in the starting-five), 14.6 points, 2.4 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 12.7 eff. points in 24.9 minutes
Zoran Lukic prefers not to rely solely on foreigners – the Serbian coach trusts Russian players. That’s why Nizhny Novgorod takes a hard look at the roster, working to find the missing link in their coaching staff’s scheme.
More often than not, Pari NN guessed right. Kendrick Perry in the 2018/19 season, Kasey Shepherd in the 2020/21 season, now Jermaine Love.
Like Perry and Shepherd, Love’s 9-year career didn’t include top teams, nor did he play in Europe’s strongest leagues: Lithuania, Poland, Greece, Italy. Jackie arrived at Pari NN as an experienced 32-year-old shooter and impressed in his first game against Enisey: 26 points and 7 assists.
Jermaine hasn’t consistently showed those kinds of performances, however. During the fall, the guard played well (28 points against Loko, 25 against PARMA-PARI) and then had a very disappointing game (3 of 8 against CSKA). But in the second half, the guard played better and allowed Pari Nizhny Novgorod to improve and is now one step away from being in 4th place in the regular season.
Love had very successful March: 28 points against UNICS, 20 against Zenit and 34 (a season high) against CSKA. If he continues, Pari NN might make some noise in the playoffs.
Livio Jean-Charles, CSKA
Season stats: 29 games (4 in the starting-five), 11.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.0 block, 16.1 eff. points in 19.5 minutes
Jean-Charles is another find for CSKA. He’s a powerful, mobile forward who can play good defense in the paint and on the perimeter, who doesn’t need the ball in every possession but can also shoot with a high percentage (64.0%).
Livio was signed as Milutinov’s replacement, and the French forward handles that role well: his efficiency (16.1 points) is one of the highest not only in CSKA, but also in the League, despite the fact that Jean-Charles plays less than 20 minutes.
Livio has been the team’s center twice this season because of Milutinov injuries and he has proved the coaching staff’s trust. Jean-Charles was especially outstanding against Loko in December: 25 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
Dmitriy Kulagin, Zenit
Season stats: 29 games (3 in the starting-five), 7.1 points, 2.6 assists, 8.9 eff. points in 19.5 minutes
The Russian guard is not impressive in stats, but that’s not surprising as Zenit had Thomas Heurtel and now Trent Frazier as point guard. In Xavi Pasqual system, playing time and responsibilities are evenly distributed throughout the roster and for a long time only Heurtel scored more than 10 points.
Dmitriy can run a position offense or create a fast break or he can withdraw into the shadows and wait on the perimeter. He scores 41 % of his three-pointers this season.
Still, Kulagin had a nice performance: In November’s game against MBA at home, he scored 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting and helped Zenit to win.
Daniil Kasatkin, MBA
Season stats: 29 games (13 in the starting-five), 10.5 points, 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 8.9 eff. points in 23.2 minutes
Daniil Kasatkin was the discovery of the season. The young MBA guard started to surprise from the first games: 18 points versus Astana, 14 points against UNICS, 24 points vover PARMA-PARI, 26 points to Loko, 28 points to CSKA. Kasatkin’s performed 4 three-pointers in just 127 seconds against the Army team!
That’s why nobody was surprised when the 24-year-old guard, playing his first season in the United League, was chosen for the All-Star Game on the New School team. Daniil became one of MBA stars and helped the League newcomer to make the playoffs right away.
The fact that Kasatkin lowered his performance in the second round is not surprising. First of all, opponent’s level was much higher. Secondly, his style of play began to receive more attention on defense.
Nevertheless, Daniil Kasatkin is among the top scorers in MBA, only 0,3 points behind Aleksandr Khomenko.
Vladislav Trushkin, Enisey
Season stats: 31 games (0 in the starting-five), 8.9 points, 1.5 assists, 8.8 eff. points in 21.6 minutes
Enisey had a poor start to the season, losing 6 of their fall games at the very end. The Krasnoyarsk team improved noticeably and now can make to the playoffs.
Vladislav Trushkin didn’t play particularly well either. Between mid-November and mid-January, he had only once made more than 10 points. The forward, like the rest of the team, has matured and in the second half of the regular season he’s one of Enisey’s key players. More importantly, Trushkin was 1 of 3 the Siberian team players not to miss a game and he came off the bench every time.
Vladislav diversified his game in Krasnoyarsk. Now the forward isn’t just waiting for a pass on the perimeter, but quite often tries to push his opponent, finishing his possessions with mid-range shots. Trushkin does not forget his three-point shooting – he’s averaging 4 lthrees per game with a 37%.
Zakhar Vedishchev, Lokomotiv Kuban
Season stats: 30 games (2 in the starting-five), 7.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 6.3 efficiency rating in 18.7 minutes
Zakhar is the youngest candidate for the Sixth Player of the Year. Even though he’s only 22, Vedishchev isn’t afraid to take decisive shots. Sometimes – like in November’s game against Zenit – he’s not very good, but other times – like in Perm in October, the Russian guard’s shots that save the Krasnodar team.
Loko trailed on the road against PARMA-PARI, but Zakhar made a three-pointer to first force overtime, then continued to disturb the defense. Loko won in the end, while Vedischev scored 11 points in the end.
The Russian guard has improved from season to season: he sees his teammates better now, improved his mid-range (45%) and free-throw socring (83%). Zakhar often played less than 15 minutes in the first half, but now he justifies the coaching staff’s confidence and gets more time on the court.
