Zenit won the SuperCup Final game against Lokomotiv Kuban – 85:83 (25:15, 20:26, 19:14, 21:28).
Game progress
In the opening quarter, Zenit shined with depth and a variety of offensive options. Trent Frazier stood out in the first minutes, Bojan Dubljevic came on later, and Thomas Heurtel assisted with it at the end of the quarter. The St. Petersburg team looked confident and had a double-digit lead after starting quarter (25:15).
After two more shots by Dubljevic, Zenit lead reached 14 points, but in the Semifinal against Fenerbahce, the Krasnodar team managed to make a comeback from a similar deficit. Now, two foul shots from Uladzislau Blizniuk and a 3-pointer from Anton Kvitkovskikh brought Loko back to the game, and Jordan Morgan scored 6 points. After the first half, both teams kept their chances – 45:41, Zenit led.
For most of the third quarter, both teams traded evenly, but Zenit managed to took the lead in the final minutes. Kuric and Heurtel made a 9:2 run that gave the St. Petersburg team a relatively comfortable lead before the decisive part of the game.
In the fourth quarter, first Vladislav Emchenko and then Aleksandr Scherbenev (6 straight points in 1 minute) allowed Loko to get back into the game once again in this SuperCup and drag Zenit to the end.
Key moment
The game broke down into episodes. After a shot by Okaro White 49 seconds before the end, Zenit had a 3-point lead, but on the next possession, Heurtel put Kuric in for an open 3-pointer – 83:77. Loko answered with a long-range shot by Scherbenev. After a timeout, Heurtel long pass was intercepted by Morgan, who found White on the three-point line – 83:83 with 10 seconds left!
Xavier Pascual timeout again, and this time Zenit did much better: 6 seconds before the end, Kuric shot from mid-range – he was stopped only with a foul. Kyle made two attempts – 85:83.
Loko had no timeouts, but the Krasnodar team was close to another save. Scherbenev drove under the basket, but his shot was blocked by Adrien Moermann at the last moment – the block became the key. Zenit snatched the win in a perfectly scripted final and for the second year in a row became the SuperCup champion!
Fact
Loko was the SuperCup best offensive team before the Final (102.5 points per game on average), while Zenit on the contrary was remembered for its reliable defence. The St. Petersburg team came into the final as the best defensive team (let opponents score 65 points per game). As a result, the unwritten basketball rule that defence wins titles worked.
Key factor
The Krasnodar team made only 16 of 25 free-throws (64%; 18 of 21 and 85.7% for Zenit). Emchenko, one of the best players in the SuperCup, made 1 of 6 from the line.
MVP and all-SuperCup team
The St. Petersburg team guard Kyle Kuric was named the MVP of SuperCup 2023. The American scored 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting in the final game. His average performance was 17.3 points.
All-SuperCup team:
Casper Ware, CSKA
Okaro White, Lokomotiv Kuban.
Andrey Vorontsevich, Pari Nizhny Novgorod.
Bojan Dubljevic, Zenit.
Jonathan Motley, Fenerbahce.
Zenit head coach Xavier Pascual became the best coach of the tournament.
Leaders
Lokomotiv Kuban: Okaro White (19 + 7 rebounds), Aleksandr Scherbenev (18), Vladislav Emchenko (10 + 7 assists), Jordan Morgan (10).
Zenit: Kyle Kuric (23), Bojan Dubljevic (17), Trent Frazier (13 + 6 assists), Thomas Heurtel (11 + 8 assists), Andrey Zubkov (10 + 5 rebounds).
