VTB United League. Game week 2. Preview

The games of the second game week will be played on Wednesday and Thursday.

WED, October 7th.

Nymburk (Czech Republic) vs. Lokomotiv-Kuban (Russia).
Time: 18:30 (19:30 Moscow time).
Location: Czech Republic, Nymburk, SC Nymburk.
Broadcast: TV Nova Sport (Czech Republic); NTV+ (Russia); VTB United League web-site.

Nymburk: Czech Champion started the season with a win over Kalev, as they looked focused, dynamic and well-coached. Ronen Ginsburg’s team will look to build on that success and give their home fans a reason to cheer for two games in a row. This time it will be harder to do as they face a squad that reached the last year’s semi-finals. A true test of their abilities.
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Their preparation in the offseason was influenced by a few outside factors. Several of their players played in the EuroBasket, some others were signed right before the start of the season and didn’t have much time to acclimate themselves. Although a team from Krasnodar are far from their perfect conditions, they have to be considered favorites in the upcoming game based on the level of their players alone.

UNICS (Russia) vs. Tsmoki-Minsk (Belarus).
Time: 18:30 (18:30 Moscow time).
Location: Russia, Kazan, Basket Hall.
Broadcast: Belarus 2 (Belarus), VTB United League web-site.

UNICS: Team had a decent offseason despite adding a number of new personnel and not having Yevgeny Pashutin, who was busy at the EuroBasket. UNICS have three quality players at certain positions on their roster, making their rotation one of the deepest in the League. The team’s readiness was on full display at a recent Homelskiy Cup, so they shouldn’t disappoint their faithful when they kick off the season.
Tsmoki-Minsk: They were able to keep their coach Igor Grischuk around, as well as their core of players in the offseason, and with a few new additions this Dragons squad looks poised to compete with some of the top teams like UNICS.

Bisons (Finland) vs. Khimki (Russia).
Time: 19:00 (19:00 Moscow time).
Location: Finland, Vantaa, Energia Arena.
Broadcast: Elisa Viihde (Finland), VTB United League web-site.

Bisons: Hard to predict right now what this renewed Bisons team is capable of. Last season they were at times underestimated by their opposition, as a result a few of the top teams paid the price. The aggressive style the Finns play can present an amount of challenges to any opponent. Also, Pettery Koponen will be arriving with Khimki, which gives fans yet another incentive for coming to Energia Arena.
Khimki: Their win over Avtodor in a season opener shed light on the areas in their game that needed improvement. Khimki and their coach Rimas Kurtinaitis are in for another game where they will try and make the best use of their big offseason acquisitions, perhaps none bigger than Aleksey Shved, who struggled in game one.

Zenit (Russia) vs. Krasny Oktyabr (Russia).
Time 20:00 (20:00 Moscow time).
Location: Russia, St. Petersburg, Sibur Arena.
Broadcast: NTV+ (Russia), VTB United League web-site.

Zenit: In week 1 Zenit already beat a team with a style that’s similar to Oktyabr’s game, which relies on speed, pick-and-rolls and isolations. They should do all right for themselves in this game as well, especially if you take into account what kind of roll Ryan Toolson and their other leaders are on.
Krasny Oktyabr: A game against an opponent like Zenit will give us a better idea of where that team is right now that their win over Vita last week. They’ve made some big time acquisitions in the offseason and it’s interesting how will they fair in a game such as this one. Is there any substance behind their flashy style? We are all about to find out.

THU, October 8th.

Avtodor (Russia) vs. Nizhny Novgorod (Russia).
Time: 19:00 (19:00 Moscow time).
Location: Russia, Saratov, SC Kristall.
Broadcast: NTV+ (Russia); VTB United League web-site.

Avtodor: This game between regional rivals promises to become an epic battle. Saratov played well against Khimki a week ago, but will also try and improve on a few things. We should expect big games on the home floor from Malcolm Armstead and Jeffrey Brooks.
Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny defeated VEF in game one behind strong play from their rotation players Maksim Grigoriev, Victor Rudd and Ivan Strebkov, which shows us exactly how deep this team is, but also illustrates some lack of their leaders’ form. Ainars Bagatskis’ team will need to dig deep against an opponent like Avtodor.

VEF (Latvia) vs. Enisey (Russia)
Time: 19:30 (19:30 Moscow time)
Location: Latvia, Riga, Arena Riga
Broadcast: Riga TV (Latvia), VTB United League web-site.

VEF: The team from Riga will surely develop a few young talents this season, perhaps even potential stars. Among those who stood out so far were a Swedish prodigy Ludwig Hakanson and Francisco Cruz from Mexico. We also expect more in the future from young Latvians Janis Berzins and Mareks Mejeris. Perhaps one of those four players will have a big game and help lead their team to the 1st win of the season.
Enisey: Coach Oleg Okulov promised his team will build their success on defense, which didn’t work out for them in the first week. Take two will be in Riga, and if they do get it together on D – the win is in the bag, because their offense already looks very promising.

Vita (Georgia) vs. CSKA (Russia).
Time: 20:15 (19:15 Moscow time).
Location: Georgia, Tbilisi, Tbilisi Sports Palace.
Broadcast: NTV+ (Russia); Rossiya 2 (Russia); Silk TV Sport 3 (Geogia), VTB United League web-site.

Vita: They couldn’t offer any resistance to Krasny Oktyabr in their home opener, but thousands of basketball fans in Georgia are energized by the visit of a star-studded CSKA and are sure to provide a very loud support for their players. Perhaps that atmosphere will motivate them to jump over their heads and create a minor basketball miracle?
CSKA: The Red and Blue are experiencing certain difficulties with their personnel in the start of this season, as a few key players missed their training camp due to participation in the EuroИasket. Their frontline is severely depleted by injuries to Joel Freeland, Demetris Nichols and Viktor Khryapa, which forced the management to look for replacements. All that being said, they still remain a highly dangerous and motivated basketball team and we wouldn’t bet against them.