By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
We are halfway through the VTB League regular season and things are becoming quite interesting in the fight for the playoffs as well as the top spots of the standings where one title contender is falling behind.
In the “Game of the Week”, Nizhny Novgorod grabbed a key victory over Avtodor Saratov that essentially gives it a serious advantage in the fight for a postseason ticket. Still, coach Stalberg’s players have a long way to go since Enisey upset Unics Kazan to keep a firm hand on the “golden” eighth spot of the standings.
On to the higher grounds of the classification, CSKA Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg didn’t face any problems against Astana and Tsmoki Minsk respectively. Meanwhile, Kalev Tallinn forced Parma to remain the only winless team in the league.
MVP of the Week: Dijon Thompson (Nizhny Novgorod)
Tough choice between him and his teammate Petr Gubanov who also shined in Nizhny Novgorod’s blowout victory over Avtodor Saratov. We’ll go with Thompson since he wasn’t only the top performer of Nizhny with 33 in PIR but his team had a mindblowing +42 with him on court. That was the impact of his 22 points (7/9 f.g.), 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Best Five of the Week:
Rain Veideman (Kalev Tallinn)
The international Estonian guard made short work of Parma’s defenses with a 24 points season-high plus 4 assists as Kalev grabbed its third victory in the season. The club’s playoff chances are scarce but would have been almost nonexistent if not for this result and Veideman’s performance.
Dijon Thompson (Nizhny Novgorod)
In just his second game after re-joining Nizhny Novgord he showed that he can make a serious difference.
Vladislav Trushkin (Enisey)
One of the best performances in the season so far for the Russian forward that came against a VTB powerhouse. Trushkin scored 17 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 2 assists to help his team deliver a blow on Unics and preserve its distance from Nizhny Novgorod in the race for the playoffs.
Petr Gubanov (Nizhny Novgorod)
The co-protagonist in Nizhny’s win over Avtodor Saratov. Gubanov saved his best game in 2016/2017 so far for this critical match dropping a season-high 26 points to be the top scorer for his team.
Marko Todorovic (Khimki Moscow)
Extremely dominant against VEF Riga. Todorovic was simply an unstoppable force inside the paint with a season-high 22 points (on 10/11 shots) and 9 rebounds. He also sprinkled 3 assists in the mix, giving another unsolvable problem to his defenders.
Coach of the Week: Arturs Stalbegs (Nizhny Novgorod)
Nizhny Novgorod had a near-perfection performance against Avtodor Saratov clinching a victory in highly crucial game for the VTB League playoffs battle. Coach Stalberg presented a team ready to rumble on offense and able to lock down most of its opponents’ weapons. Small surprise that after the match, he mentioned, “A game like today’s game is my dream. It’s any coach’s dream! I’ve waited five months for this game. Everything worked on defense and on offense.”
The last word: Injury woes
Unics Kazan traveled to Krasnoyarsk for the game against Enisey minus key players Quino Colom and Artsiom Parakhouski. Their injuries took a toll on the team’s offense that was a bit one-dimensional, producing only 66 points. With these two guys sidelined, Enisey knew that just the right amount of pressure on Keith Langford would do the trick. After this defeat, Unics lost precious ground in the standings being now fifth.
On the other hand, passing master Milos Teodosic’s absence didn’t really matter for CSKA Moscow. Coach Itoudis’ players finished the game vs Astana with a total number 21 assists since 10 out of the 12 that stepped on the floor dropped dimes.