Sergei Bazarevich On The Contenders' Start

VTB-League.com is excited to present a new blog, Expert Opinion, which will feature the sport's top minds and their thoughts on the latest developments in the VTB United League.

Our first author is Russian coach Sergei Bazarevich, who breaks down the league's top contenders after a month of competition.

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Notwithstanding the unpredictability of the VTB United League, we can already outline the title contenders. On paper, CSKA and Khimki are the biggest favorites. Lokomotiv-Kuban and UNICS come next, then Zenit and Nizhny Novgorod in the race for the championship. At the same time, over the course of the season there will likely be some surprises, depending on the calendar and injuries. Let's see how the top contenders have started the season.

CSKA

The Army Men got off to a great start, despite numerous injuries and a supposedly weak center position, though I would disagree about that. Confident and methodical, CSKA beat everyone in both the Euroleague and VTB United League. The rather unexpected loss to Nizhny Novgorod came down to a tough calendar and exhausting travel, not to mention that any team has some ups and downs to start the season. Although, travel is not as much of an issue for CSKA since the team flies charter, just like in the NBA. Other teams in the league don't have the same opportunity.

Khimki

The biggest question for Khimki remains the same: how and when will the club's star signings adapt to the team? When Khimki signed Shved to be a leader, the team had to recognize that he would bring an established style of play to a team and players that have already been playing together for a long time. He's going to struggle a bit adjusting, but over the long run the collaboration between Khimki and a player of this caliber is very intriguing and could pay big dividends to both sides. I think the loss to CSKA was in part due to the season being so young.

Lokomotiv-Kuban

As in former seasons, Loko will have to overcome its geographic location. Unlike other top contenders, Kuban has major problems when it comes to travel logistics. Until the front office can solve that problem, defeats like the one in Finland, though perhaps not inevitable, must be treated as part of the season.

UNICS

Kazan is much improved, but the leader at UNICS hasn't changed. Keith Langford is showing right now that he can win games with his play on the court. The team is still searching for its game and there have been some breakdowns. The first game that UNICS lost to Tsmoki-Minsk showed how difficult it can be to play against Euroleague teams at the Gomelsky Cup, then open the season against the Belarussians. It's a matter of psychology. UNICS was very suspect on defense, which explains Artsiom Parakhouski's reduced minutes. In my opinion, he's not a great defender. I think that Evgeny Pashutin is still trying to find a place for him on the court and do a better job of utilizing his strengths.

Nizhny Novgorod

It's hard to build a team every year when you make major changes to the roster. Of course, the win over CSKA will help stir up a lot of interest in Nizhny Novgorod and help the team reach its goals. Nizhny has lost so many close games to CSKA over the past few years in the Euroleague and VTB United League. Finally, Nizhny enjoyed the long-awaited win, although the roster, in my opinion, doesn't match up to last season's. Making matters worse, six minutes into the first game against VEF, point guard Eric Maynor got injured, impacting the team's rotation. Nizhny Novgorod will struggle with consistency this season. After the win over CSKA, the team lost big to AEK on the road in the Eurocup.

Zenit

St. Petersburg is off to a very good start and the reason for that is simple. Vasily Karasev has coached there for a long time and the core of the roster knows what he wants. They are currently undefeated, but the standings right now are very dependent on the calendar. For example, Khimki has already played CSKA, while St. Petersburg is yet to play a single game against a fellow contender. In my opinion, Zenit won't be able to repeat last year's success, although they have a good roster. I would love to be proved wrong.

Sergei Bazarevich