Match of the Week. Khimki vs. Avtodor

Khimki are preparing to host Avtodor in Game of the Week as the 2015/16 VTB United League Season blasts off.

Last year’s VTB United League quarterfinalists Avtodor have a 1:4 record against Khimki, who were the League’s runners up in 2014/15 and also won the Eurocup and are looking to upset the Moscow region favourites in their opening game of the new season.

The highlight of the match-up will be Alexey Shved going head to head against Malcolm Armsted. Shved’s off-season move back to Russia was one of the biggest transfers in all of Europe and the question of whether he can bring his team to a new level remains to be answered. Armsted's transfer was not as big, however Avtodor’s fans truly believe he can replace the team’s last year’s engine Cortney Fortson. After all, Armsted's 17.6 points per game in the Adriatic league league in the previous season look more than impressive.

Armsted is one of the new faces on Avtodor’s roster, which was significantly revamped over the course of the summer. Unlike last year’s team, which was quite offensive-oriented with Fortson and Kyrylo Fesenko getting the largest share of touches, the 2015/16 edition will be more balanced. Coached by Brad Greenberg, who believes his team will be defensive, unselfish, competitive and connected, Avtodor has a chance to come out of this game of the week with a W.

“We played in a number of friendlies but still haven’t started executing at a quality level. Despite that, things look good for the time-being and we are ready to take on Avtodor, who were able to sign solid players and an experienced coach. I scouted the games they played in Spain, where they won four games out of five, which tells you they are in pretty good shape. But we are playing at home and we will be satisfied only with a win”, said Khimki’s coach Rimas Kurtinaitis in a pre-game interview.

“You always feel some pressure in a season opener, especially playing on the road with an opponent of Khimki caliber. They are a Euroleague level team - very experienced and very deep. We did quite well during our scrimmages in Spain, but the official matches are at a totally different level and we’ll need to stay together and execute on both sides of the court”, shared his thoughts of the upcoming matchup Avtodor’s head coach Brad Greenberg.

“Even though both teams revamped their rosters in the off-season, Rimas Kurtinaitis’ team looks like heavy favourites on paper. I am really excited to see how Alexey Shved will do this season and at the same time I am curious to see what style of play the new American coach Greenberg will promote in Avtodor”, told us our expert and Olympic champion Sergei Tarakanov.

Be sure not to miss the contest, which tips off at 17:30 (MSK) in Khimki, Moscow Region on Sunday, October 4. It will be aired on NTV+, Russia 2 and VTB-league.com

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