The VTB League website and the Steal Telegram channel summarise the SuperCup 2023 results that ended on Sunday with Zenit win.
«This game is an incredible experience for us, it will definitely make us stronger. Our team is young, we have room to progress, such matches only toughen us up».
That’s how Aleksandr Scherbenev described what happened after the game. The 22-year-old Krasnodar team guard got blocked on the last possession, and failed to take the game into overtime, but he can be pleased with himself.
In the middle of the final quarter, Loko offence fell apart, and a hero had to be found. The search didn’t last long – Scherbenev took responsibility of:
– get under Frazier skin and force him to made an offensive foul;
– was open in the corner and made a three-pointer;
– accelerate on the fast-paced offence and get through all Zenit players;
– get Dubljevic fouled in the rebounding battle;
– made a free-throw.
By the time Scherbenev took over, Zenit was already preparing to celebrate. The Krasnodar team chased their opponents the entire game, but every time they got within one or two offensive rebounds, the St. Petersburg team found a way to pull away again, either through Kyle Kuric or in the paint.
With a half a minute to go, Zenit once again took a six-point lead, and it seemed like it was all over now. Xavi Pascual put Georgiy Zhbanov on the floor – the team’s most tenacious defender had four fouls, but he came out with one task: to guard Scherbenev. He failed to do that – Aleksandr got loose and halved the lead. Then, Thomas Heurtel lost the ball and Okaro White made a three-pointer to tie the game.
Zenit eventually won the game with Kuric help. Scherbenev drive to the basket could only be stopped by switching all of Zenit’s remaining players onto it. As a result, Adrien Moerman blocked the shot, which sealed the win for the St. Petersburg team.
But it seems that Loko never finished last season, sending us a second message: this team is not for the future. This team is ready for the here and now. It has a difference from last year, for example, when Loko had a very bad start and at one point fell out of the top six altogether. Jaylen Barford will be back later and Chris Horton is expected to be replaced. And this is a ready-made contender who is already playing equally with Zenit, a team with no weaknesses at all and four European stars in the roster.
The SuperCup is deservedly and rightfully won by Zenit, but Loko development are fascinating.
What about players
In general, most of the conclusions about this SuperCup were made the day before the final: Zenit had the most powerful transfer campaign, CSKA couldn’t come out of the rebuilding painlessly, Nizhny will fight and scratch as always. But if you go down from clubs to players, what was most memorable about this SuperCup?
The return of the injured
The start of a new season is always a time for some players who have been out for a long time due to injuries to return. We hadn’t seen Semen Antonov from CSKA and Aleksandr Khomenko from MBA for almost a year, so it was a great pleasure to see them back. Simon averaged his usual 6 points and 5.7 rebounds in three games, while Khomenko averaged 11.3 points and 3.3 rebounds – as if neither had gone anywhere!
Also of note is the return of Sergey Kliuev, who broke his leg in a Russian Cup game in March. He still needs to build up his conditioning, but since Vasily Karasev team is still dealing with injuries (Evgeniy Voronov, Evgeniy Valiev, Makar Konovalov), Sergey doesn’t have much time to recover.
Kyle Kuric performances
The SuperCup MVP left Zenit five years ago, played all that time for Barcelona and returned to the St. Petersburg team – by his own admission, one of the best cities in the World. However, he felt good in Moscow as well, averaging 17.3 points on 47.4 % of three-pointers made.
Kyle is the main reason for Zenit’s triumph. It’s probably too early to award the title of “Newcomer of the Summer”, but the team’s entire preseason and two MVP titles (the first was at the Kondrashin and Belov Cup) suggest that Kuric would have been on both the short list and the short list. Zenit have had a strong transfer campaign overall, but the acquisition of the American-Slovenian sniper stands out so far, even against the backdrop of other top transfers.
Chadov progress
We’ve already talked about how Vladislav Emchenko and Scherbenev have got better. But there is another young player who left a pleasant impression with his play at this SuperCup – Aleksandr Chadov from Pari Nizhny Novgorod. The forward stats won’t tell us anything interesting, they are virtually unchanged, just as his playing time has remained unchanged; but Zoran Lukic roles are traditionally so clearly defined that it is fundamentally wrong to draw conclusions based on numbers alone.
Visually, Chadov has added functionality and improved his three-point shooting. He spent half of the summer under Lukic’s tutelage, first at the first national team training camp and then at the second. By the looks of it, the forward has benefited.
The distance is still too short to give compliments a year in advance, but Aleksandr actions left a favourable impression.
Mikhailovskii mystery
One of the biggest SuperCup question is Nikita Mikhailovskii. Twice the best young player in the United League, Nikita left Avtodor this summer and received an unflattering response from the Saratov team president Vladimir Rodionov: “Mikhailovskii? Consider him retired. Nikita will not play at a serious level.”
CSKA signed Nikita on unusual terms – there is a clause in his contract stating that the club can lease the player at the end of preseason training. It looks like the Army team is still just looking at what Mikhailovskii can do on the court.
As a result, Nikita played in two games, but didn’t play against MBA. He didn’t mess up much, but he didn’t shine either: 11 minutes on the court, 4 points, 2 assists.
Mikhailovskii adaptation in Moscow is a big intrigue. Given his teammates injuries, he should get more playing time, but so far he hasn’t been able to earn Emil Rajkovic trust. Interestingly, he could have crossed paths with the Macedonian coach in Avtodor, but it didn’t work out: Nikita spent most of that season in Australia, and when he arrived, Rajkovic had already left.
Whether they’ll work together now, that’s the question. But the season is very soon, so the clue may be close.
