27december
Week Fourteen Recap
Dmitry Sokolov's outstanding Khimki debut, a pair of wins for Lokomotiv-Kuban and CSKA and more in VTB-League.com's Week Fourteen recap.
Rise
Lokomotiv-Kuban entered Week Fourteen in 7th place, in danger of dropping out of the top-8 entirely. Facing a road game in Krasnoyarsk and home game against Tsmoki-Minsk, the Railwaymen desperately needed a strong performance to finish 2015 on a high note.
The meeting with Enisey was especially important. A loss would have dropped Lokomotiv into a tie for 8th with the Siberian club. Enisey gave Georgios Bartzokas's men all they could handle for three quarters, but an 11-point performance in the 4th quarter doomed the home team to defeat. Malcolm Delaney led Lokomotiv on the road, scoring nine points in the final period (82-73).
Lokomotiv had an easier time against the Dragons. The Railwaymen won the opening period, 15-8, and cruised to an 80-50 victory. Thanks to the two wins, Lokomotiv is now 7-5, just a game back of 5th-place Avtodor.
Fan of the Week
Debut
Khimki recently brought in Dmitry Sokolov to strengthen a weakened frontcourt and the center made his debut in Tallinn. Prior to the game, Rimas Kurtinaitis said he would play Sokolov, if the opportunity arose. As it turned out, Sokolov entered the game in the 1st quarter and went on to post 13 points and five rebounds in just 15 minutes. Alongside Tyrese Rice (12 points, six assists) and Alexey Shved (19 points, five assists), Sokolov led Khimki to a 90-72 victory on the road.
Stat of the Week
5 - Nizhny Novgorod snapped a five-game losing streak on Tuesday.
Nizhny Novgorod ran into trouble in November and December and dropped out of the top-8, despite wins earlier this season against CSKA and Khimki. The stakes were high for Tuesday's home game vs. Astana and Nizhny came through, holding off the Kazakh club by a score of 84-80. With the win, Ainars Bagatskis's club also returned to 8th place in the standings.
MVP of the Week
Malcolm Delaney (Lokomotiv-Kuban).
Delaney got Lokomotiv-Kuban back on the winning track against Enisey and Tsmoki-Minsk. He was excellent in Krasnoyarsk, recording 25 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals and a 26 efficiency rating. Against the Dragons, Lokomotiv had much less trouble and Delaney was able to get some rest, recording seven points, two rebounds, three assists, two steals and a nine efficiency rating in 20 minutes.
Quotable
CSKA forward Andrey Vorontsevich:
- There have been a lot of highlights for CSKA and fewer mistakes, thankfully. We are doing well in the standings. Of course, from a physical standpoint, it's impossible to avoid an occasional letdown. But we are playing against real people who also play basketball very well and want to become champions. Plus, teams are always extra motivated to play against CSKA. Our job is to get ourselves into ideal shape by the end of the season when the titles are won or lost. The biggest problems we've faced this season are turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds. But looking back on 2015, I can say that neither of these problems have been endemic.
The CSKA star recapped his team's start to the 2015-16 season. During Week Fourteen, the Army Men backed up his words, securing two comfortable victories at home: 99-67 vs. Bisons and 94-64 vs. Enisey. Now 13-1 in the standings, the reigning champs are two games ahead of 2nd-place UNICS.
Play of the Week
Photo of the Week
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Standings
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