Relive the most interesting moments from the past seven days of competition.
Debut
After seven long years, Param brought big-time basketball back to Perm. As expected, there were very few empty seats in the legendary Molot. The Ural fans provided tremendous support throughout the game, though the team came up a little short on the court. Estonian champs Kalev took control in the second half, picking up a valuable road win to start the season.
Emotions
Departure
The first game of the season in Kazakhstan also resulted in the first coaching change. After mixed results in the preseason, an unsuccessful trip to Astana led Avtodor president Vladimir Rodionov to take drastic measures once again: Sergei Mokin replaces Nikolai Mazurs as head coach. Last season, Saratov changed coaches twice…
Shock
The first upset took place in Moscow Region. It was an historic win for VEF. After 15 consecutive losses to Khimki, the Black-Whites broke the curse with a 76-73 victory.
Reset
Astana lost twice to Avtodor last season, giving up 263 combined points. The Kazakh club got its revenge last Sunday, allowing only 78 points in a five-point victory. There’s a buzz in Astana around Ilias Papatheodorou’s club. Playing a brutal opening schedule, the team went 1-2, and didn’t embarrass itself against Euroleague-bound CSKA and UNICS.
Papatheodorou has a good reputation and his new team is organized, disciplined, and plays hard, refusing to waver from the game plan. Astana has drawn rave reviews from opposing coaches in the opening week and should be a lot of fun to watch in the 2016-17 season.
Draymond
UNICS forward Coty Clarke lived up to his reputation as a poor man’s Draymond Green, posting the first double-double of the season (13 points + 13 rebounds) in a win over Astana.
Hot Start
UNICS would top the League Power Rankings after Week 1, winning its first three games by a combined 83 points (Nizhny Novgorod, Astana, Enisey). Kazan may not have faced the toughest competition, but the team is certainly sending a message to the rest of the League.
Dunk
New Digs
The 29th Universiade Winter Games will be held in Krasnoyarsk in 2019. That’s exciting news for Krasnoyarsk sports fans, but also means Enisey had to abandon the Ivan Yarigin Sports Palace, which is in need of renovations and will be used during the competition.
Enisey’s new home is the Arena Sever, a modern, multi-use facility opened in 2011. The team hosted its first game of the season on Thursday, drawing a sold-out crowd for the game against CSKA. Krasnoyarsk’s symphony orchestra also showed up, making for an intimate atmosphere. Basketball has a new home in the city.
Road Trip
CSKA concluded its preseason with a tour of China, and had very little time to recover before flying to Krasnoyarsk (3,354 km) and Astana (1,505 km) for the first two games of the season. Despite the brutal schedule, the reigning champs went 2-0 and return home to prepare for the Euroleague.
Dime
Stat
187 – Avtodor and Nizhny Novgorod combined for the highest-scoring game of the season thus far.
Both clubs opened with losses, raising the stakes for the showdown in Saratov. Nizhny head coach Arturs Stalbergs described his opponent as “quick and wild” prior to the game. Coaching his first game at the club in over a year, Sergei Mokin is a firm believer in Avtodor’s trademark supersonic tempo, but Nizhny proved it could keep up. Combining for 187 points, Saratov squeaked out a win, 95-92.
Quote
Tsmoki-Minsk head coach Igor Grishchuk:
– It’s very tough for us to play right now: It’s like we’re flying in space. The trip to Bulgaria took 32 hours, Israel was 30 hours. Of course, fatigue has set in. I think there will be a positive result, but we need to be patient.
Stars
Nikita Kurbanov (CSKA)
Playing on the road against Enisey, the CSKA forward shot 8-8 from the field (including 4 3-pointers) and converted all six free throws. Kurbanov’s 26 perfect points laid the foundation to CSKA’s win.
Martins Meiers/Janis Blums (VEF)
VEF fans have dreamed about defeating Khimki for years. It finally happened on Saturday, thanks to some big-time performances. Meiers carried the team in the first half, scoring 19 points, while veteran Blums took over down the stretch.
Demonte Harper (Kalev)
Robert Upshaw’s move may have elicited more buzz, but 27-year-old guard Demonte Harper could turn out to be Kalev’s most important offseason signing. He dazzled in his season debut, finishing with 29 points, five rebounds, and three steals to help defeat Parma.
Janis Timma (Zenit)
Zenit won in Minsk, but Vasily Karasev was not happy with his team. Timma, however, had a nice night, leading Zenit in scoring and efficiency rating, while knocking down some big shots in the 4th quarter.
Snapshot
