Week 8 in review: UNICS survive, Enisey’s comeback, and Kuzminskas’ debut

Week 8 in review: UNICS survive, Enisey’s comeback, and Kuzminskas’ debut

The main topics of this hot week.

Loko win as Kuzminskas makes his debut

Lokomotiv-Kuban made the breaking news of the last week. First, they announced signing with Mindaugas Kuzminskas who had previously played for Zalgiris in 2010-2013, and then in Spain, Italy, Greece and even the NBA!

And right on the next day, Loko parted ways with the head coach Luca Banchi. The Italian had worked in Krasnodar for about 6 months. His assistant Bogdan Kraicic is acting head coach, and has already led the team against Kalev.

This time Loko showed probably their best defense of the season: only 8 turnovers and 63 points allowed given the average of 80 this season.

Mindaugas Kuzminskas started on the bench and scored 15 points plus 2t rebounds in 20 minutes:

With this victory, Loko climbs back to the top-3. Kalev, contrariwise – after huge wins over UNICS and Zenit in the first weeks – lost the 3rd in a row in fell below the playoff zone.

Jamar Smith rescues UNICS in Perm

“We’re extremely motivated for PARMA as we remember the last year’s games,” said Jamar Smith before the game in Perm. Quick reminder: last season, PARMA beat UNICS twice, and the second victory left Dimitris Priftis’ team without the first place in a regular season.

It’s no surprise, that the game in Molot was intense. The struggle was real: Artem Zabelin got an eyebrow injury and left the court in the 4th quarter, the first aid was provided right on the bench.

Without Arnett Moultrie who was suspended due to disciplinary reasons, Adas Juskevicius led PARMA again. The Lithuanian scored 16 points within one half including 4 three-pointers.

Another superhero (this time in green) appeared on court after the halftime. Jamar Smith scored 19 points in the second half, and his duel vs Adas Juskevicius was a real highlight:

However, neither Smith with his new career high nor Juskevicius with 34 points decided the result. The Latvian PARMA forward Mareks Mejeris could get his team into the overtime, but missed one of the free throws 0.3 seconds to the buzzer.

Enisey come back from -15 in Minsk

On Sunday, Tsmoki were really close to get their first win leading by 15 points in the end of the 3rd quarter. Young Maksim Salash led the team, it seems that starting on the bench did good for him:

But as stated by Tsmoki head coach Rostislav Vergun, “the team started believing the opponents gave up too early.” Enisey have already demonstrated their attitude and did it again. Davion Berry scored 26, and Krasnoyarsk won in Minsk after 15-points comeback.

Too much hospitality from Nizhny

Nizhny knows how to transform a basketball match into amusement. Meeting PARMA in October, they threw a 90s-themed party, and a game against Zielona Gora was in Russian national style – kokoshniks and balalaika included.

The bread and salt welcome is a must:

However, Nizhny were too welcoming. Zielona Gora, having trailed by 10 in the final quarter, managed to get the win even without the last seconds free throw shootout.

Ludvig Hakanson turned out to be team’s hero. The Swedish guard made his best performance in the League and reserved a spot in the team of the week.

Avtodor slow down Astana

The game in Saratov really fit in this weekend: 9 lead changes, 6 ties. Astana were better in the first half, but allowed a run right before the halftime break.

Avtodor used athleticism and outplayed Astana in the paint. Evgeny Pashutin’s team made only 3 three-pointers, but scored 90 in total. 52 of them were scored from the restricted area. Astana made only 30 from the lane.

It’s curious how fast the standings change. Astana had been ranked third, and after loss in Saratov fell down to the 8th place.

Team of the week

Standings