Appropriately, the League’s opening weekend in 2017 had a few surprises. Both Krasnodar and St. Petersburg featured heavyweight bouts: Lokomotiv-Kuban hosted UNICS, while Zenit welcomed Khimki to the Yubileyniy. Both games were close, but otherwise had little in common. Krasnodar used stifling defense to pull away in the final period, while up north Zenit outlasted Khimki in a wild shootout.
Duel
The duel between Sergey Karasev and Alexey Shved highlighted the action in St. Petersburg. The two Russian national team players found themselves in a shootout, with Karasev coming out on top (a personal-record 35 points). Shved did okay, too, dropping 29 on the road, but missed two crucial free throws in the final minute.
“Shved and I had a nice duel. Given we’re both seen as leaders on our teams, we have to take the initiative often on offense. It’s not just scoring, though, but also getting teammates open and working hard on defense. I’m more of a team player, after all, than Shved. Of course, I noticed his scoring and our rivalry, but the team’s success came first,” – noted Karasev after the game.
Accuracy
Lokomotiv managed to connect on 82% of its 3-point attempts (9-11) vs. UNICS, a team that prides itself on defense. Stephen Curry would approve.
Shot
CSKA played Tsmoki-Minsk after a third-straight loss in the Euroleague. Prior to the game, Dimitris Itoudis noted that his men “needed to be energetic, focused and motivated to return to the winning path.” The Red-Blues responded in the opening period, giving up only six points (23-6). CSKA is back.
Alley-Oop
MVP
Lokomotiv-Kuban captain was named the VTB United League Decmeber MVP.
In the final month of 2016, Zubkov played three games, averaging 14 points, 2.3 assists and 6 rebounds, helping Loko beat CSKA, Zenit and Astana.
Derby
The first Baltic derby of the season took place in Riga as VEF welcomed Kalev to the Latvian capital. VEF defended its home court, notching an important win in the chase for a playoff spot. Kalev, on the other hand, has now lost seven in a row.
Fortress
VEF played twice this week. Krasnoyarsk is quite a bit further from Riga than Tallinn, but the stakes were even higher. These two teams are neighbors in the standings and Enisey had a chance to jump VEF with a win. The Siberians were close to victory in the 4th quarter, but Riga went on a 14-2 run late to squeak out victory and protect its perfect 4-0 record at home. CSKA and UNICS are the only teams that remain undefeated at home.
Anniversary
Sergei Elevich founded Khimki on January 5, 1997 and the Yellow-Blues celebrated the club’s 20-year anniversary on Thursday.
Comeback
Mareks Mejeris was a big part of VEF’s rotation over the last two seasons, but signed with France’s Chalon this summer. Several months later, he decided to return to Riga, debuting in the League vs. Kalev. He got off to a hot start, posting 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes.
Competition
Astana enjoys a big lead on Nizhny Novgorod in the standings, though no one would be surprised if the Russian club makes a run at the playoffs during the second half of the season. But Kazakhstan was too much for Nizhny over the weekend, scoring a convincing win at home.
Inches Away
Much like overtime loss to UNICS to close 2016, Parma came agonizingly close to securing its first win this weekend, falling in overtime to Avtodor.
“To be honest, I’m very disappointed. We were very close to winning. Just a tiny bit… We came up a little short, but we are growing. Today we were even closer to winning, but luck was not on our side,” – Perm head coach Viachesav Shushakov.
Stat
224 – Zenit and Khimki combined for the highest-scoring game of the season, not counting overtime.
Quote
Nizhny Novgorod head coach Arturs Stalbergs:
– Astana hit a lot of tough shots, but that’s not an excuse. We were on some sort of high, even though it seemed like we had already come back down to earth after the game vs. Zenit.
Stars
Sergey Karasev (Zenit)
Karasev chose an excellent time to put together one of the best performances of his career. 35 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Led by the Russian forward, Zenit scored its biggest win of the season against Khimki.
Matt Janning (Lokomotiv-Kuban)
13 points from Janning, including three three-point bombs during one minute in the 3rd quarter, brought Loko back in the game vs. UNICs.
“Janning took on the role of leader at the right moment. You could say that Matt flipped the switch for the team. After that, we started playing stiffer defense and had more confidence on offense. In games like this, when some things aren’t going right, it’s very important to find a leader who’s ready to carry his team. Happily, Janning was that player today,” – Lokomotiv president Andrei Vedishchev.
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