Zenit’s 3 wins, sensational PARMA, record of Astapkovich. Week 1 in review

The season has only started, but we already have a pack of hot headlines:

Zenit start with 3 wins in a week

Season opener was clouded by a list of injuries: Khimki missed Alexey Shved, Stefan Jovic and Egor Vialtsev, while Zenit didn’t have Kevin Pangos, Dmitry Khvostov and Arturas Gudaitis.

Withoud the leader, Khimki didn’t show their scoring potential and were behind during almost the entire match, without, however, double-digit gap. The last quarter was game-deciding as Billy Baron, Zenit’s rookie, scored 11 points to bring the first victory.

Zenit had the most challenging first week schedule in the League. 3 days after road win over Khimki, Xavi Pascual’s side met Zielona Gora – recent Cup of Poland winners and domestic league 1st place with 5 straight wins.

Zielona Gora did a great job in the offseason and currently are in good shape. The game in St. Petersburg proved it as they won the first half. The first Danish player in the League Iffe Lundberg led the Polish team in his bright debut:

However, just like in the first game Billy Baron was the key factor on the floor. His 5 three-pointers in the last quarter stole the victory from Zielona Gora:

Zenit’s third win was not an easy one. Renewed Kalev fought till the end. The Estonians managed to mark Billy Baron, but they had nothing to response to Austin Hollins’ 9 three-pointers, which is the 4th all-time VTB league result.

Zenit start with 3 consecutive wins for the first time since 2016. In that season, St. Petersburg reached the semifinals and were leading 2-0 against Khimki. What’s the potential of current Blue-white roster?

Maxim Grigoryev leads PARMA to historical win over CSKA

In mid-September, PARMA was destroyed by CSKA in Gomelsky Cup (51:91). There were no doubts that the Red-blues are favored to win United League game as PARMA had never beaten the Muscovites in 4 years.

The first 30 minutes of Saturday’s game didn’t look like a surprise. CSKA were leading by 20, and James-Bolomboy duo were amusing the fans at USH:

Nevertheless, in the last quarter PARMA did the impossible. They made the largest comeback in club’s history, erasing 22-point deficit. 7 minutes before the buzzer, CSKA still had +20.

The last 2 minutes were too intense: Gleb Sheiko and Nikolay Zhmako were perfect from the arc and Mike James scored from both drives and distance:

Maxim Grigoryev had the last word. The guard got rid of the opponent with a fake move and sank a three-pointer with 0.1 seconds left in 4th quarter:

This game is in some way historical for CSKA too. In 11 United League seasons, the Army club lost 22-point lead only once: 2014 playoffs against Loko (83:87).

Astana still way behind CSKA

Days before meeting PARMA, the Army team visited Nur-Sultan where they faced no problem beating Astana. Due to pandemic situation, Emil Rajkovikj’s side had to cancel almost all preseason friendly games, and their roster was not full for match against CSKA. Nikola Milutinov made a bright debut in the League with double-double (15 points + 12 rebounds), but Mike James was the star of the night with 21 points and 10 assists within only 19 minutes on the court.

Nizhny beat Khimki at home for the first time in 5 years

Yes, their last home win happened in November 2015. Dmitry Khvostov stole the ball 18 seconds before the buzzer and Kaspars Berzins grabbed the lead with a three-pointer (93:92).

This Wednsday, Nizhny didn’t need three-pointers in clutch. Nizhny controlled the entirety of the game. The halftime break marked NN’s 12-point lead, and Anton Astapkovich was the key figure with 27 points in 20 minutes (which is his new career high):

Khimki seemed to take the control back, they cut the lead down to -4 in 3rd quarter. But NN’s new signing Kasey Shepherd stepped out in the last 10 minutes. The guard set League’s records scoring 26 points in one quarter:

Khimki had no trump card to match this kind of performance. The Yellow-blues lost the second game in the first week of the season which is more than in all regular season of 19/20 season.

At aftergame press conference, Nizhny head coach Zoran Lukic paid a tribute to the opponents, “One of the reasons of our victory is Khimki’s shape, but I won’t comment that. I guess the game would be different if they had Alexey Shved.”

Stefan Jovic, Errick McCollum and Egor Vialtsev missed the game along with Shved.

Khimki’s first win in Krasnoyarsk

Khimki went to meet Enisey in Krasnoyarsk lacking quarter of their guards. The Siberians however also were in trouble: forward Leyton Hammonds missed the first game due to injury, and two other internationals started normal mode practicing only days before season start.

Therefore, Enisey’s Russian stars (Mikhail Kulagin and Timofey Yakushin) led the game in the first half. With these two on court, Krasnoyarsk maanged to build 11-point lead, and eventually Kulagin-Yakushin duo scored 40 points:

Jordan Mickey prevented Khimki from losing 3 games in a row. The American international who came back from Real this summer repeated his United League personal best of 24 points, plus added 3 blocks:

Loko win, Zielona Gora let down by free throws

Krasnodar’s situation with summer friendly games was even worse than Astana’s. Loko had no games at all. Therefore, Zielona Gora was actually the first opponent for Pashutin’s side since March.

Zielona Gora had the chance as Loko with 9 new signings still had to find playing rhythm. However, free throws killed the Polish team: 12 of 26 made!

Even after renewal, Loko’s leader stay the same: Alan Williams (20 points and 9 rebounds), Mindaugas Kuzminskas (double-double of 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists).

Team of the week

Standings

Top 5