The biggest stories from the past seven days in the League.
Leaders
For much of the season, the League has boasted a Big Five: CSKA, Zenit, Khimki, Lokomotiv-Kuban and UNICS. Over the past two weeks, these five teams played each other five times, providing plenty of drama and excitement for the fans, while also bringing some clarity to the standings.
CSKA weathered the storm. After being upset in St. Petersburg by Zenit, the Army Men secured back-to-back wins against Lokomotiv and UNICS to remain in 1st place with a 16-2 record.
UNICS, on the other hand, has only won once in 2017 and drops to 11-7 with the loss to CSKA. Trailing 4th-place Lokomotiv-Kuban by 2.5 games, Kazan is unlikely to earn home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Khimki (14-3) took a big step toward finishing in the top three and avoiding a potential first-round match-up with UNICS by defeating Loko in Krasnodar. Moscow Region trails 2nd-place Zenit by half a game.
Kuban, on the other hand, falls to 4th with a 13-4 record.
Dunk
On Fire
Alexey Shved has been unstoppable since the All-Star Game. 29 points and eight rebounds, including two clutch 3-pointers in the final minutes in Krasnodar: Shved is keeping the League’s highlight crew busy.
Statement
Khimki general director Pavel Astakhov made a modest prediction concerning his star guard:
“That game was enough to give you a heart attack. I’m really happy we managed to pull out a win. Shved did everything possible to help the team win. That’s why he’s Alexey Shved: He knows how to step up in moments like this. He’s averaging 30 points over the last three games. It’s clear who’s been the best player in February.”
Wizardry
Basketball fans love big dunks, wild layups, buzzer-beaters and sick crossovers. But sometimes even an alley-oop can’t compete with a perfectly executed pass. Milos Teodosic, one of Europe’s finest, most exquisite playmakers, awed the Moscow fans on Sunday with two jaw-dropping assists in the 1st quarter.
Game Over
When Astana head coach Ilias Papatheodorou said that his team controlled the game from start to finish, he may have been exaggerating just a little. Kazakhstan did lead much of the contest, but Saratov caught up in the 4th quarter, taking a one-point lead with seven seconds remaining. In that moment, the Yellow-Blues grip on on the game was a bit tenuous, to say the least.
But after Ian Miller’s jumper came up short, Leonidas Kaselakis was there to snag the rebound and drop it in for the game-winning basket with 0.4 seconds remaining. Astana picks up a crucial win in the race for the postseason, while Avtodor drops into dangerous territory with time running out on the regular season.
Shot
Lokomotiv-Kuban forward Ryan Broekhoff ended the 1st quarter against Khimki with a mind-blowing heave.
What’s even more astonishing is that Broekhoff already drained a full-court shot earlier this season in the Eurocup. Don’t be surprised if he starts taking warm-up shots from the locker room. The Aussie might even hit one from Down Under in a game.
“I was aiming at the basket, because I knew there were only a few seconds left in the quarter. It’s one of those times you get a feeling, shoot the ball and pray that it goes in the basket.”
Duel
The combined age of the League’s two youngest coaches–Janis Gailitis (31) of VEF and Arturs Stalbergs (32) of Nizhny Novgorod– is only 63 years. During the first meeting, the Latvian’s youth won the day. On Thursday, however, experience had the upper hand with Nizhny securing a win.
Stat
17 – number of assists dished out by Zenit point guard Stefan Markovic against Enisey. The creative Serb sets a new season record for assists, tied for 4th-most in League history.
Not surprisingly, Zenit also won.
Quote
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Sasa Obradovic:
– This was a great game to watch. Both teams gave everything. You could feel the game’s significance in every player’s movement. Congratulations to both teams on the quality of basketball!
Stars
Alexey Shved (Khimki)
After the game in Krasnodar, Shved could have done like Vince Carter did during the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, when he stared down the camera after a vicious dunk and lifted his arms, as if to say: “It’s over. No one can beat me.”
Milos Teodosic (CSKA)
Teodosic doesn’t just compete with players around the League for Star of the Week status; he’s got to beat out teammate Nando De Colo, who’s been playing at an MVP level himself. Against UNICS, Teodosic finished with 19 points and 10 assists, including three clutch 3-pointers.
Stefan Markovic (Zenit)
After the game against Enisey, Markovic proved you can be an MVP despite knocking down only two field goals. He hardly looked at the basket against the Siberians, preferring to set up his teammates. In the end, he recorded 17 assists, setting a new season record.
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