Everything about the United League week.
Green Derby in Poland: Zielona Gora is close to a sensation, UNICS makes a comeback
Two United League teams – UNICS and Zielona Gora – have green as one of the team’s colors. Therefore, the games of these teams are called the Green Derby. Last season, the Green Derby was exciting: Zielona Gora unexpectedly won at home in November 2020, and 2 months later led by 12 points in Kazan, but lost by 1 point.
This season, however, the degree rivalry in the derby did not promise to be as high. The Kazan team has strengthened for the Euroleague, while the Polish team has been updated by 100%: there is not a single player left from the squad that beat UNICS at home in 2020. There was a clear favorite in Sunday’s game in Poland: UNICS settled at the top of the standings, but Zielona Gora cannot leave the last place for more than a month.
But the Polish team proved once again that there is an incredibly high level of competition in the United League, and a place in the standings does not affect the result of a single game. Zielona Gora, led by Dragan Apic, confidently won the 1st quarter, and by the halftime made a 15-point run, leading by 19 during the 2nd quarter.
🔥 Dragan Apic ends 1st Half vs UNICS (51:36) with 12 points & 7 rebounds!
Watch 2nd half LIVE on https://t.co/yV5SuibzOt 📺 pic.twitter.com/8u2kPESXkE
— VTB League (@VTBUL) January 23, 2022
Zielona Gora scored 51 points in the 1st half – more than that UNICS let Zenit score only (57).
The whole 2nd half turned into UNICS’s attempts to stabilize the situation. But, carried away by a quick offense, UNICS made mistakes in defense. And Zielona Gora used it, not forgetting to surprise the fans with spectacular moments. First David Brembly dunked over Tonye Jekiri:
D A V I D B R E M B L Y 😱 pic.twitter.com/D3kBNl3L0H
— VTB League (@VTBUL) January 23, 2022
And then Dragan Apic sent Mario Hezonja on the poster:
And Zielona Gora could not hold the win – in the 4th quarter, UNICS finally came to his senses, seriously increased his defense and got the win, retaining the lead in the standings. The plyer of the game was John Brown III – he updated his personal best in points (20), assists (5) and efficiency (29), adding 9 rebounds and 3 steals.
Baron scores 17 points in 8 minutes, Zenit pushes Avtodor out of the Top-3
The 2nd and 4th teams of the League met in Saratov: Avtodor hosted Zenit. The hosts, despite an 11-day break without games, supported Zenit’s high pace S. As a result, the teams scored 54 points in the 1st quarter!
🚀 @IEvgenMinchenko flies at home! pic.twitter.com/BQJDMpSgNO
— VTB League (@VTBUL) January 23, 2022
But by the halftime, Zenit managed to get ahead – Billy Baron ws the key player. The guard justified his status as the League’s top scorer and scored 17 points by the halftime, spending only 8 minutes on the floor!
After a halftime, Avtodor briefly managed to close Baron and other Zenit leaders, reducing the gap to 10 points. But in the final quarter, Jordans had their word: Loyd and Mickey scored 22 points for two, adn provided their team with a comfortable advantage.
Wuth the win in Saratov, Zenit beat Avtodor in the standings and rose to the 2nd place for a day – exactly until CSKA’s game.
CSKA takes revenge on Kalev
Kalev became the first team in the new season who beat the Army team – it happened on November 1 in Tallinn. That evening, the Army team also demonstrated their worst offense in 8 years, scoring only 56 points.
This Monday, CSKA took a convincing revenge against Estonian champoins, winning with a 42 points difference. Such a huge win was achieved with the advantage in the paint: CSKA scored almost 2 times more points in the paint than their opponents – 36 against 20. Kalev also bet on 3-point shots, but got only 28% (9 out of 32).
CSKA returned to 2nd place again, moving Zenit to the 3rd place.
Assist of the Week
In a recent interview, Marius Grigoris called Nikola Milutinov his best friend in CSKA. It seems that the Serbian center and the Lithuanian guard really have a good chemistry:
Nikita Kurbanov got his 300th game in the League
The game with Kalev became the 300th for CSKA captain Nikita Kurbanov. The 35-year-old forward became the 1st League player to reach this.
Kurbanov took part in every United League season and in different years played for CSKA (2009-12, 2015-…), Spartak (2012-13), UNICS (2013-14) and Loko (2014-15). The forward also leads the League in rebounds (1,210), is the 2nd in steals (260) and is in the Top-5 in points (2010).
Hezonja will take part in two contests in the All-Star Game
All last week, the largest Russian and foreign media voted for the players, who will play in the All-Star Game-2022.
There are no final line-ups yet, but the first All-Star Game participant is Mario Hezonja. UNICS leader will compete in a 3-point contest and a dunk contest. The Croatian forward will become the 1st player in the League history of the who will take part in two competitions as part of one All-Star Game.
The 2022 All-Star Game will take place on February 20 at VTB Arena in Moscow. You can buy a ticket to the All-Star Game on the website https://tickets.vtb-league.com/.
Team of the Week
Browns duo – Lorenzo and John – helped UNICS avoid loss in Poland by helping to their team to make a comeback.
Zenit also had a superhero duo against Avtodor – Billy Baron and Jordan Mckey.
And Alexey Shved became the most productive and effective CSKA player against Kalev.
Top-10 Plays of the Week
Standings
