Game of the Week. Show-time in October

Zenit from St. Petersburg will play host to Krasny Oktyabr from Volgograd in the most anticipated game of the upcoming second week of the Regular Season

Who:
Zenit. 2014/15 VTB United League quarter-finalist.
Vs.
Krasny Oktyabr. 2014/15 Last-32 qualifier of the Eurocup

Where:
Russia, St. Petersburg, Sibur Arena (7044 seats).

When:
October 7th, 2015 года, 20:00 (20:00 MSK)

Where to watch:
NTV-Plus, VTB United Leahue web-site.

Face to face:
Zenit debuted in 2014/15 season. Both games that the teams played against each other in the regular season were close on the scoreboard and featured dramatic last-second endings. Both times players from St. Petersburg came away victorious, winning 89:85 at home and on the road in Volgograd – 70:67.

The Flashback:

The Intrigue:
Zenit was the team that ended Oktyabr’s hopes of reaching the Play-offs in April of 2014, the team ended that season with five straight losses. That seems like a long time ago now. After rebuilding their roster and assigning the keys to the team to a new head coach, Oktyabr looks too poised to make their return to the Play-offs. If the game against Vita (who of course are far away from playing their best basketball at this point in time) is any indicator to go by that ambition may have a foundation to it.
In their season opener Zenit also won and also scored over a hundred points beating Enisey 102:94. The team from St. Petersburg had a taste of Play-offs and the Eurocup last year, so they are hungry for more of the same. Therefore, we have two teams facing off with a similar potential, who are likely to be in competition with one another for a spot in the Top-8, therefore the outcome of games against each other carries a huge bonus value. The style in which both teams played in their season openers leads us to believe the spectators in the Sibur Arena and those watching the broadcast will be in for a fast-paced, athletic and high-scoring affair! Last but not least, we’d also like to add that Oktyabr’s ex-player Maksim Komissarov is now wearing Zenit’s jersey and if he gets playing time, we’re sure he’ll have plenty motivation on the floor against his former teammates.

The Question.
Who will win in the scorers’ duel?
Each team hit 13 threes in their first game. Even though Zenit hit a much better percentage (57% vs. 34%), both teams will make the long distance bombing their priority in the offensive sets. Ryan Toolson who hit 5 of 8 against Enisey and Tony Mitchell (6/11 3FGs vs. Vita) are the two players that are sure to get the most attention from the defenders.

The Duel.
Zabian Dowdell (Zenit) vs. Donell Cooper (Krasny Oktyabr).
Dowdell was the best player on his team in the debut game for St. Petersburg. Zabian was driving to the hoop, scoring 25 points while getting fouled seven times. He also added in four assists and four boards. It is crucial for the Zenit’s 31-year-old American to continue running his team’s offense the way he did in the previous match. The Blue and White need to make Donnell Cooper work on defense, so he expends as much energy as possible, which hopefully will take away from his playmaking at the other end, because he motors their offense. In their last game DJ almost messed around and got a triple-double (9pts+9rbs+11ast). If he plays with the same zest this time as well Vasily Karasev’s team is in for a long evening.