Week Seven Recap

CSKA's statement win in Krasnodar, Nymburk picks up another victory, the Langford show in Tbilisi and more in our Week Seven recap. 

Spotlight
Two of the league's top contenders, Lokomotiv-Kuban and CSKA, met in Krasnodar on Monday night. Both teams were missing key contributors, especially CSKA, which also lost Demetris Nichols to an injury during the game.

The basketball on the court, however, did not disappoint. Reigning champs CSKA pulled out a hard-fought victory, led by the backcourt of Milos Teodosic and Nando De Colo, who combined for 40 of the team's 77 points. Every time Loko got close, Teodosic or De Colo had an answer. The Army Men win, 77-65, and move into a tie for 3rd, while Loko drops to 3-3, 7th in the standings.

Familiar Foes
Zenit and Avtodor met for the second time this season thanks to an earlier matchup in the Eurocup. Zenit won the first game in Saratov and the teams will meet once more in the Eurocup on November 18.

Both teams play a similar style of basketball: aggressive defense, fast breaks and 3-point shooting. On Sunday night, Zenit once again enjoyed the upper hand, converting 12 of 20 3-point attempts to secure a 90-74 victory. Still the only undefeated team in the league, St. Petersburg improves to 5-0.

Fan of the Week

Flying High
The league's two biggest surprises met on Sunday in Minsk, but despite plenty of success, Nymburk had yet to win on the road and Tsmoki-Minsk had yet to win at home.

The visitors came out on top in this one, beating Minsk 93-84. With the win, Nymburk improves to 6-1, 2nd in the league.

Return
Ramunas Butautas made his return to Riga as head coach of Astana. Butautas spent four seasons at VEF before leaving the club in 2014, but much has changed in the past year as Riga seeks to rebuild with young, Latvian talent.

The first half belonged to VEF. Led by 16 points from Francisco Cruz, the home team took a commanding 62-41 lead. Astana battled back, and even led briefly in the 4th quarter, before running out steam. VEF's depth had a big impact as 19-year-old Ludvig Hakanson dished out 14 assists and Guillermo Rubio scored the final eight points of the game to secure a 94-93 win.

Surprise of the Week
Nizhny Novgorod beat CSKA and Khimki in back-to-back dramatic games. Krasny Oktyabr, meanwhile, entered with a 2-4 record, having just snapped a four-game losing streak. But Volgograd meant business, leading much of the game, including a 10-point advantage early in the 4th quarter.

Once again, Nizhny came roaring back, cutting the deficit to a point with under a minute to play, but there would be no magic against Krasny Oktyabr. Victor Rudd misplayed a chance to tie the game in the final seconds and the visitors held on for a 90-87 win. D.J. Cooper had an outstanding performance for Volgograd, recording 20 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds.

Resistance
0-6 entering the game, expectations were low for Vita with 4-1 UNICS coming to town. Not surprisingly, the visitors dominated the opening quarter, 26-13, and led by double digits at halftime.

But the narrative changed in the 3rd quarter. Vita's offense woke up, outscoring Kazan 27-22 to make it 68-62 with 10 minutes left in the game.

UNICS coach Evgeny Pashutin admitted later that he was a bit nervous entering the final quarter. Kazan guard Keith Langford quickly erased any doubts. The American star scored 14 points in the 4th and dished out several assists to lead his men to a convincing 104-76 victory.

Stat of the Week
16 - number of points scored by Kalev in the second half vs. Khimki.

One week earlier, Kalev played an excellent first half against CSKA before crumbling in the second. The same scenario repeated itself against Khimki. Trailing by five at the break, Kalev only managed to score 16 points in the final 20 minutes, allowing Khimki to coast to a 30-point win (84-54). Paul Davis was one of the biggest stars for Khimki, snagging six steals, second-most in league history.

Quotable
Bisons head coach Greg Gibson:
- I don't completely understand what happened to my team. We weren't ready for the game. I though we would have a shot and we're physically prepared to battle Enisey, but when we went down by 20 in the 1st quarter, it was clear that it would be tough to come back from that hole.

... A slow start proved costly for Bisons. The Finns cut into the deficit in the 2nd quarter, but Enisey had little trouble securing the win in the second half (88-64).

MVP of the Week
Milos Teodosic. The Serb played injured against Lokomotiv, making his performance even more impressive. In the biggest game of the week, Teodosic recorded 22 points (6-8 from the field, 4-4 from downtown), four rebounds, five assists, two steals and a 29 efficiency rating.

Play of the Week

Photo of the Week