The biggest stories from around the League this week.
Tradition
Avtodor went 0-2 in Riga in its first two seasons. Adding injury to insult, the two defeats snapped seven and ten-game winning streaks.
On Sunday, Avtodor was riding a different kind of streak: Three straight defeats had dropped the Russian club to 1-4 on the season.
In any case, VEF took care of business once again, seizing control of the game thanks to a 28-11 edge in the 3rd quarter. Saratov’s “Riga curse” remains in effect.
Rescue
Parma didn’t pick up its first win in the VTB United League against CSKA. But the trip to Moscow was not vain.
Perm’s halftime lead on the road against the reigning champs wasn’t even the biggest story. During the flight to Moscow, a passenger on Parma’s plane, who was battling cancer, began to feel dizzy and had a sudden drop in blood pressure. Luckily for her, Parma’s doctor Andrei Butorin was on board. He immediately took control of the situation, helping the passenger with a hormone shot. An ambulance was waiting when the plane landed to rush the woman to the hospital.
Butorin is getting used to saving people in the air. He’s already saved two passengers’ lives on flights from Vladivostok to Moscow.
Connection
Firing
Lokomotiv-Kuban parted ways with head coach Fotios Katsikaris, who took over in Krasnodar in July 2016. The Greek coached in eight official games during his tenure, but a 2-2 record in the League and 1-3 Eurocup showing did not satisfy the team’s front office.
Katsikaris was named Russian national team head coach in December 2012, but didn’t coach a single game. He lasted a bit longer this time, but once again his tenure was not a success.
Vlada Jovanovic has been named interim head coach. Playing its first game without Katsikaris, Loko got back on track with a 24-point win in Minsk.
Duo
Zenit’s leading scorer, Janis Timma, returned in time for Sunday’s game against Nizhny Novgorod, but needs time to find his rhythm. Sergey Karasev, the team’s second-leading scorer, meanwhile, is nursing an injury. Desperate for leadership, St. Petersburg was bailed out by veterans Ryan Toolson and Kyle Landry, who combined for 55 points (28+27), more than half of the team’s offense.
Resistance
Dusko Ivanovic wasn’t joking when he said prior to the game that Enisey was a much-improved team this season. Khimki beat the Siberians by 16 and 10 points a year ago. Sunday’s game in Moscow Region, however, was very competitive, before Khimki pulled away in the final minutes. Despite the loss, Enisey is 7th in the standings.
Dunk
Accomplishment
Enisey’s Frank Elegar pulled down 19 rebounds against Khimki, a season-best in the League and 3rd all-time.
Trend
Three of the weekend’s five games were decided in the 3rd quarter. CSKA (+22), VEF (+17), and Lokomotiv (+10) took control of games against Parma, Avtodor, and Tsmoki, respectively, in the third periods.
Return
Nizhny Novgorod captain Maxim Grigoryev made his first appearance in the League since November 20, 2015. The year-long absence was due to a severe knee injury. Against Zenit, Grigoryev eased his way back onto the court, scoring three points in seven minutes.
Stat
50 – number of rebounds collected by Loko against Tsmoki-Minsk. Minsk only managed to snag 28, giving the Russians a huge edge on the glass.
Quote
Parma head coach Viacheslav Shushakov:
– Why didn’t we mange to finish what we started in the first half? We were getting run down by a dump truck. No matter what we did, we were going under. There was nowhere to run. After taking the lead at halftime, we were ready for CSKA to find another gear and we talked about it during every timeout. The guys seemed to understand, but it happened nonetheless. We couldn’t do anything about it.
Stars
Martins Meiers (VEF)
Avtodor had to play VEF without Artem Klimenko. Meiers took advantage, scoring a personal-best 25 points in the League. VEF improves to 3-2 and moves into a tie for 5th with Loko.
Alexey Shved (Khimki)
Khimki – Enisey ended up being the most competitive game of the weekend. Shved made the difference, recording 23 points, five 3-pointers, and hitting some huge shots down the stretch.
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