On Monday, St. Petersburg and Kazan will host 2 regular season games.
UNICS (Kazan) – Samara (Samara)
Time: 19:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall
Broadcast: TV Start Triumph, Match! Igra, League website
UNICS: After the loss from CSKA, the Kazan team returned to winning against PARMA-PARI. UNICS will complete the first round of the first stage with the League newcomer – Samara. UNICS main advantage is a long bench, because if Samara has 4 players playing 26 or more minutes, then UNICS has more distributed playing time. The most important task for Velimir Perasovic team is to stop Marcos Knight, who is the leader of the Samara team in points (18.2) and assists (5.1). However, UNICS has no problems with defense this season: the team let opponents score 70.1 points on average per game.
Samara: The trip to Kazan is one of the most difficult for the League newcomer. UNICS has not lost in Basket Hall yet, winning at home with an average 29.2 points. The Kazan team players plays tight in defense, so one of the main tasks for Sergey Bazarevich team is not to lose the ball, because UNICS is able to punish for it in fast-breaks. Yes, Marcos Knight is one of the best in the League in points and steals, and the American is good at playmaking, but Samara game is not based only on him. For example, Anton Kardanakhishvili played his best game of his career in Saratov on Tuesday. The leaders of the team need teammates help – only in this case it is possible to get wins over such teams as UNICS.
Zenit (Saint Petersburg) – MBA (Moscow)
Time: 20:00 (Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Saint Petersburg, Sibur Arena
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Zenit: The opponents are the neighbors in the standings: the St. Petersburg team is 3rd, the Moscow team is 4th. Zenit, which was significantly updated in the summer and is experiencing problems due to injuries, is still continuing to build a new team. The game with MBA will not be easy, but the reigning champion is a favorite of this game. Despite the fact that the Moscow team is scoring more at the start of the season (84.2 points against 80.2), Zenit offense looks more balanced. In addition, the St. Petersburg team is extremely careful with the ball, practically not allowing opponents to score easy points in fast breaks. It will be interesting to see Sergey Karasev – after all, in this game he will play against a team led by his own father. Who, moreover, was also his head coach at Zenit until December 2018.
MBA: Vasily Karasev returns to St. Petersburg for the first time after leaving Zenit, but not only the Russian specialist has a past in St. Petersburg. 3 MBA players – Evgeny Voronov, Anton Pushkov and Evgeny Valiev – previously played for Zenit for a long time. However, this is already in the past and now the Moscow team has the second longest current winning streak (after CSKA) and intends to continue it on the road. Zenit has already lost twice at the Sibur Arena this season, and in general, so far it is not invincible. MBA key advantages are unity and team basketball with a very tight defense and the ability to move from defense to offense very quickly. Everyone in this team wants to prove their worth, and the game with the reigning champion is a really good chance.
