The biggest stories from the last seven days in the League.
Tradition
Lokomotiv-Kuban… Yes, you heard right, they won again. Riding an 11-game winning streak, Krasnodar hasn’t lost since late October. But Lokomotiv did get a big scare. Enisey erased a 3rd-quarter deficit and was in complete control with under a minute to play, but Anthony Hilliard missed two free throws in the final seconds and Matt Janning knocked down a game-winner at the other end with 1.6 seconds remaining! The Red-Greens will try to make it 12 straight for only the second time in club history against Nizhny Novgorod.
Shot
Janning gave Lokomotiv the win.
Triumvirate
Title contenders Zenit and Khimki both won big this week, defeating Astana and Kalev, respectively. As a result, St. Petersburg and Khimki caught UNICS in the standings, creating a three-way tie in 3rd place (10-3).
Results
The All-Star Game rosters, which were decided on by the fans and media, were released last week. Here’s who will take the court for the League’s first-ever All-Star Game in Sochi on February 11:
Russian Stars: Dmitry Khvostov (Lokomotiv-Kuban), Ivan Strebkov (Nizhny Novgorod), Sergey Bykov (Avtodor), Evgeny Voronov (UNICS), Evgeny Kolesnikov (Avtodor), Alexey Shved (Khimki), Sergey Karasev (Zenit), Sergey Monia (Khimki), Viktor Khryapa, Andrei Vorontsevich (both CSKA), Andrei Zubkov (Lokomotiv-Kuban), Petr Gubanov (Nizhny Novgorod).
Reserve (13th player): Anton Ponkrashov (UNICS)
World Stars: Stefan Markovic (Zenit), Taylor Rochestie (Lokomotiv-Kuban), Milos Teodosic, Nando De Colo (both CSKA), Janis Blums (VEF), Keith Langford (UNICS), Ryan Broekhoff (Lokomotiv-Kuban), DeAndre Kane (Nizhny Novgorod), Janis Timma (Zenit), Nick Minnerath (Avtodor), Frank Elegar (Enisey), Artsiom Parakhouski (UNICS).
Reserve (13th player): Danilo Andjusic (Parma)
Appointment
Dimitris Itoudis and Evgeny Pashutin will be the head coaches at the All-Star Game. The CSKA boss will be in charge of the World Stars, while UNICS head coach Evgeny Pashutin will lead the Russian Stars.
On February 1, Itoudis and Pashutin will name their starting lineups.
Desire
CSKA guard Nando De Colo expressed his interest in the three-point contest.
“Of course, it’s great to be on the All-Star Game roster. I don’t know what to expect yet, or whether I’ll compete in the contests. In theory, I’m ready to compete for a win in the three-point contest, why not? I don’t know who the favorite will be. There are a lot of good perimeter shooters in the VTB League,” – said De Colo, the 2015-16 League MVP.
Duel
Baltic coaches Arturs Stalbergs and Janis Gailitis squared off in the Nizhny Novgorod – VEF game. These two are also the League’s two youngest coaches: 32 and 31, respectively. Gailitis, the younger one, ultimately came out on top.
Return
Dijon Thompson returned to Nizhny Novgorod. The American is very familiar with the club, after playing there from 2012-2014, when he was one of the leaders for Zoran Lukic.
In his first game back, Thompson played 36 minutes, scoring nine points to go with nine rebounds and four steals. On the other hand, he shot 2-8 from the field and 4-8 from the line to go with four turnovers.
Stat
14 – number of free-throw misses by Nizhny Novgorod in a huge game against VEF. Riga is ranked in the top eight, which is where Nizhny wants to be. But the Russian club’s 16-30 performance at the line, including five misses in the final minutes, left Nizhny with no one but themselves to blame in the loss.
Quote
Enisey head coach Oleg Okulov:
– Could Hilliard have made them? He could have. What about another player? Yes. But it turned out the way it did.
Stars
Matt Janning (Lokomotiv-Kuban)
The hero behind the shot of the week also had a very good all-around game, finishing with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Janis Blums (VEF)
A terrific outside threat, Blums helped his team steal a win on the road. He finished with 19 points, including 10 in the final period against Nizhny Novgorod.
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