Week One. Preview

Week one of the 2015/16 VTB United League championship is about to blast off this weekend. Check out the game previews. 

Saturday, October 3

Enisey (Russia) vs. Zenit (Russia)
Time: 19:10 (15:10 MSK)
Place: Russia, Krasnoyarsk. Yarygin Sports Palace
Where to watch: NTV+, VTB-league.com

Enisey are hosting the inaugural game of the 2015/16 VTB United League season and the home-team enters the championship in an excellent form. They got back to Krasnoyarsk after a training camp two weeks ago and got used to the rims and the gym in several friendlies. Artem Iakovenko, Pavel Spiridonov, Alexandr Pavlov and Pavel Sergeev all played for Saint Petersburg squads before and head coach Oleg Okulov used to be in charge of local Spartak in the past, all of which might serve as an additional motivation to Enisey.
Zenit, meanwhile, are heading to Krasnoyarsk as heavy favourites. The team recently dominated during the Nesterov Cup, which demonstrated that leaders Ryan Toolson, Zabian Dowdell and Kyle Landry are in great shape. Janis Timma also joined the squad following his EuroBasket 2015 venture.

Sunday, October 4

Vita (Georgia) vs. Krasniy Oktyabr (Russia)
Time: 16:00 (15:00 MSK)
Place: Georgia, Tbilisi, Tbilisi Sorts Palace
Where to watch: NTV+, VTB-league.com
Vita is the tournament’s dark horse and based on the pre-season games, Darius Carter, Pierria Henry and Ralston Turner look ready to become the team’s main offensive threat. However, they are hoping that the home crowd will give them an extra boost as the local Sports Palace is expected to be sold out.
Krasniy Oktyabr, meanwhile, ended the pre-season on a high, having won two tournaments in two weeks. The injury of the main point-guard Donell Cooper, however, is an area of concern for the steelers as they are heading to Tbilisi for their first official game of the season.

Nymburk (Czech Republic) vs. Kalev (Estonia)
Time: 16:00 (17:00)
Place: Czech Republic, Nymburk, CS Nymburk
Where to watch: TV Nova Sport (Czech Republic), SA Tallinna Televisioon (Estonia), VTB-league.com
Nymburk is looking to carry the momentum of Czech Republic’s triumph during EuroBasket 2015 to the club season as four of the squad’s representatives (Petr Benda, Jiri Welsh, Pavel Huska and Woiteh Hruban) played on that national team.
Kalev, meanwhile, is entering the season as an underdog, capable of upsetting any opponent any given night. Brandis Raley-Ross had shown some fantastic basketball in the Estonian league and now gets a chance to try to conquer a higher level tournament.

VEF (Latvia) vs. Nizhniy Novgorod (Russia)
Time: 17:00 (17:00 MSK)
Place: Latvia, Riga, Arena Riga
Where to watch: Riga TV, VTB-league.com
VEF once again revamped their roster and hired a Spanish head coach Carlos Frade, who will try to direct a truly international bunch of players. Besides the local Latvian players and Americans Kenneth Smith and Keaton Nankivil, the organization signed Spanish Guilermo Rubio, Mexican Francisco Cruz, Swiss Ludvig Hakanson and Russian Vladislav Staratelev.
Nizhniy Novgorod also tried to replace some of the leaders that had left in the off-season and acquired Maxim Grigoriev, Ivan Strebkov and a perfect fit for coach Bagatskis’ schemes - Latvian Kaspars Berzins.

Khimki (Russia) vs. Avtodor (Russia)
Time: 17:30 (17:30 MSK)
Place: Russia, Khimki, BCMO
Where to watch: NTV+, Russia 2, VTB-league.com
Khimki were involved in one of the biggest summer acquisition in all of Europe as Alexey Shved returned to the club after an eight-year absence. All eyes will be on Shved as he’s getting ready to test tough Avtodor in his first game back to Russia.
Avtodor will try to focus on a limited rotation where the team’s leaders are playing a major role. The squad managed to play in only five pre-season games and it looked as though they never manage to find their rhythm.