All the highlights from the past week in the League.
Spotlight
The 6th week of action featured two elite matchups, but neither game delivered as hoped. Khimki led the entire way against UNICS, pulling away in the 4th quarter for a 17-point win.
Meanwhile, CSKA’s depth was too much for visiting Zenit, as the Army Men scored a huge win at home. CSKA is now the only team left with a perfect record, as UNICS and Zenit suffered their first losses of the season.
Assist
Beginning
While UNICS and Zenit lost for the first time, Nizhny Novgorod earned its first victory. A strong performance against Kalev helped the Black-Whites crack the 100-point barrier and snap a four-game losing streak. Nizhny Novgorod can finally turn the page on October’s disastrous start.
“From this moment, we need to begin chasing our rivals, in order to guarantee a playoff spot,” – promised Arturs Stalbergs.
MVP
UNICS leader Keith Langford was named October MVP.
Kazan went 5-0 in October, with the sniper averaging 22.8 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.2 rebounds. Against Tsmoki-Minsk, he set a new League scoring record with 42 points.
Record
Lokomotiv-Kuban captain Andrei Zubkov also set a new scoring record, dropping a personal-high 22 points in Kuban’s win over Parma.
Reinforcements
There’s help on the way for several teams in the League. After Khimki inked three new players last week, Kazan and St. Petersburg both added to their rosters. UNICS picked up ex-NBA players Orlando Johnson and Lorenzo Brown, while Zenit signed tested Euro veteran Trevor Mbakwe.
Flight
Rebound
Nizhny Novgorod has been busy, too, signing Kervin Bristol to a trial contract. Bristol used to play for Russia’s Krasnye Krylia, where he averaged 7.4 points and 9.6 rebounds, including a record 19-rebound game against Lokomotiv-Kuban.
He made his debut this season against Kalev. To no one’s surprise, Bristol tied with DeAndre Kane and Dmitry Uzinsky for most rebounds (6).
Stat
24 – number of points scored by Janis Blums and Justin Gray in the overtime game between VEF and Tsmoki-Minsk. Both players also finished with a 25 efficiency rating.
Not surprisingly, the outcome was decided by these two men. With Tsmoki trailing by three, Gray drained a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to force overtime. But the last laugh went to Blums. He outscored Gray, 7-0, in the extra period, helping VEF secure a three-point win.
Shot
Quote
Zenit head coach Vasily Karasev:
– It’s obvious that this type of game did not work for us. When you’re playing against the top team in Europe, you need to be at full strength and prepared. We were missing two leading players and that had an immediate impact on the rotation. We changed our game, and were exposed at the small forward position. We also had trouble at power forward. But that doesn’t excuse us. You need to play and compete, even though guys often look like the Bandar-logs facing Kaa the python in the cartoon, with shaking hands and feet, when they have to play CSKA.
Stars
Janis Blums (VEF)
Justin Gray could have been in this spot, but winner takes all.
Nobel Boungou-Colo (Khimki)
After the loss to VEF, Khimki has taken down Lokomotiv and UNICS. The Frenchman was extremely active early in both games, putting Khimki in the lead. He finished with a team-high 19 points against Kazan.
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