On Monday, 3 regular season games will be held in Krasnoyarsk, Perm and Tallinn.
Monday, November 1st
Enisey (Russia) — Zenit (Russia)
Time: 19:30 (15:30 Moscow time)
Location: Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Arena Sever
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Rivalry history: 14 games, Zenit — 14 wins
Enisey: In the last round, the Krasnoyarsk team met with UNICS. And although the Kazan team was one hundred percent favorite of the game, Enisey gave a formidable opponent a real fight. UNICS managed to escape with great difficulty only in an extra five minutes. In the game with Zenit, the Siberian team will try to gain the status of a authority thunderstorm and, finally, got their first win in face-to-face games with the St. Petersburg team after 14 losses in a row.
Zenit: Xavi Pascual’s team has been rolling into the season for a long time (which was largely due to injuries). But now the St. Petersburg team gradually began to gain cruising speed. A difficult game with Real Madrid was followed by the game in the Euroleague against Baskonia – Zenit did not leave a stone unturned from their counterparts, beating the Spanish team with a huge difference. Moreover, the blue-white-blue defense worked at a fantastic level, which allowed the opponents to score only 54 points.
Who to follow: Igor Volkhin became one of the brightest creators of a major win over Loko in the last round. After spending only 19 minutes on the floor, Volkhin with 21 points became the most resultatve player of the game, leaving behind such stars as Errick McCollum and Jordan Mickey. If the Zenit coach gives Volkhin a chance to prove himself again in this game, Igor will certainly try not to miss the chance.
PARMA-PARIMATCH (Russia) – UNICS (Russia)
Time: 19:30 (17:30 Moscow time)
Location: Russia, Perm, UDS Molot
Broadcast: Match! Strana, TV Start, League website
Rivalry history: 9 games, UNICS — 7 wins, PARMA-PARIMATCH – 2 wins
PARMA-PARIMATCH: This week the Perm Krai team rehabilitated in front of the fans for two consecutive wins, beating Den Bosch in the FIBA Europe Cup. This time Kazys Maksvytis had every reason to praise PARMA defence — they miss only 52 points. However, on Monday the Ural club will have to face a much more powerful opponent. The last time PARMA defeated UNICS was in April 2019, and that game was fatal for Kazan: having lost to the already unmotivated PARMA, UNICS lost its chances of winning the championship, and CSKA officially became the regular season winner.
UNICS: Velimir Perasovic’s squad is slowly finding its game. This week has been super productive for Kazan: within the Euroleague, they got the Spanish double, defeating Baskonia and snatching win in the tense end of the game with Real Madrid. Andrey Vorontsevich looks more confident in UNICS. The veteran proves by deed that it’s too early to write him off: he scored 13 points to Real Madrid and 14 points to Baskonia, becoming one of the most resultative players of his team in these games.
Who to follow: despite the fact that PARMA and UNICS are in different weight categories, this does not mean that Perm squad have no chance. One of the main x-factors may be a long-time Kazan fans’ friend Artsiom Parakhouski, now playing for PARMA. In the game with Den Bosch, the Belarusian bigman recorded 17 rebounds. Considering that the UNICS centers Tonye Jekiri and Artem Klimenko still look unconvincing, Parakhouski can repeat this achievement.
Kalev (Estonia) — CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Time: 19:00 (20:00 Moscow time)
Location: Estonia, Tallinn, Saku Suurhall
Broadcast: TV Start, League website
Rivalry history: 16 games, CSKA — 15 wins, Kalev – 1 win
Kalev: In February, Kalev became the author of one of the loudest sensations in the history of the regular season of the United League. CSKA Moscow not only allowed Tallinn to drag themselves into a reckless shootout, but also lost in it, missing an incredible 107 points (even in the Euroleague, CSKA rarely allows something like that). However, there is no one left from the creators of that landmark win in Kalev – Marcus Keen, Maurice Kemp and Janari Joesaar left the club in the off-season. The new Kalev squad is still being played, but it has already managed to please the fans by defeating Nizhny Novgorod in the last round. Silas Melson, who is adapting to the realities of the United League, is now trying to replace Marcus Keene, who became the main hero in game versus NN — 18 points and 9 rebounds.
CSKA: For the Army team, the week turned out badly. A trip to Monaco to visit Mike James’ new team turned out to be a sensitive defeat with the -17 difference, and during the game they led by 22. But in the second half, CSKA’s attack stalled, scoring only 28 points. Dimitris Itoudis explained this by the strong fatigue, which is quite logical, given the crazy schedule of the team. However, even in such game, CSKA can find reasons for optimism. For example, Kenneth Faried scored the 3-pointer — for all 8 seasons that Manimal spent in the NBA, he had only 10 three-point shots in his stats.
Who to follow: Alexey Shved has so far gone into the shadows this season. The top scorer of the last regular season now scores less than 10 points on average per game. However, recently, Alexey is increasingly starting to take over the game. For example, in the game with Monaco, the Russian guard scored 15 points (the second result in the team), and the game with Kalev can show whether it was a one-time action or Alexey will once again declare himself as a super-dangerous scorer.
