By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
The fun and party are over and it’s time to get serious once more. After a spectacular and highly successful first ever VTB League All-Star game, we are back on track with the championship games. And if there’s one team that’s stealing the show with the performances it brings on the floor and the wins that come as a result, that’s no other than Zenit St. Petersburg.
Coach Vasily Karasev’s squad blasted CSKA Moscow and then escaped Nizhny Novgorod away from home thanks to its extremely potent offensive basketball. Zenit is now second in the standings with a 14/3 record since Lokomotiv Kuban lost ground and fell to the third place after getting beaten by CSKA.
Khimki Moscow, which has the same record with Loko, is also on a roll particularly thanks to Alexey Shved’s top notch shape. The Russian combo guard’s dashing action made short work of Unics Kazan’s defenses, keeping them further from the top four spots in the standings.
MVP of the Week: Alexey Shved (Khimki Moscow)
Deep “in the zone” after the All-Star game. Last night (20/2) he recorded a new VTB season-high in points by dropping 31 over Unics, also setting up his teammates with bucket-making opportunities by throwing six dimes in the mix. Earlier in the previous week, he flirted with the triple-double after 24 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds in the road win vs Avtodor Saratov. Small wonder that CSKA reportedly has set eyes on him for the next season.
Best Five of the Week:
Stefan Markovic (Zenit St. Petersburg)
In the victory over CSKA Moscow he executed coach Karasev’s game-winning battle plan beautifully by scoring 20 points and dishing out 10 assists. On the other end he did an excellent job against the most charismatic backcourt duo in Europe making the lives of De Colo and Teodosic rather difficult, while also stealing the ball four times. He was also more than solid in the win vs Nizhny with 9 points plus 10 assists.
Andrey Vorontsevich (CSKA Moscow)
He had 14 points and 4 rebounds as the defending champs outplayed Lokomotiv Kuban at home, recovering from the defeat in the hands of Zenit. Vorontsevich punished Loko from the perimeter with 4/6 downtown strikes and was probably the most consistent player of his team in this important match.
Alexey Shved (Khimki Moscow)
Quite possibly the hottest player in the league right now.
Ousman Krubally (Astana)
The match against Tsmoki in Minsk was as “must-win” as it can get for Astana. The Kazakhs were carrying a five-game losing streak on their backs and seriously needed to catch a break, lest putting their playoff goals at serious risk. Krubally gave a major push towards victory by posting a double-double of 23 points/10 rebounds while missing only one shot. Plus he put some serious defensive workload on the floor.
Frank Elegar (Enisey)
The higher he flies around each opponent’s rim, the more Enisey’s spot within the playoffs zone is getting cemented. Against Kalev Tallinn (with which he had won Estonian League titles in 2013 and 2014), the VTB All-Star had a nearly monster double-double of 18 points/16 rebounds making some serious damage inside the paint, renewing possessions (4 offensive boards) and leading his team to win.
Coach of the Week: Vasily Karasev (Zenit St. Petersburg)
Zenit is definitely the most successful team this week, after imposing its will on CSKA and then outscoring Nizhny on the road to climb at the second place of the standings.
The thing is that coach Karasev’s team doesn’t simply win games, but manages to do so with attractive, offense-driven team basketball. This characteristic is also evident by the amount of assists with which Zenit finishes its games, the latest example being an impressive number of 32 in the match vs Nizhny.
The Last Word: The champions’ reaction
After losing to Zenit St. Petersburg with one of its poorest performances in the season, CSKA Moscow recovered in the key game vs Lokomotiv Kuban, the team responsible for handing the defending champs their first defeat in the VTB season back in early December. Coach Dimitris Itoudis’ players put enough pressure on their opponents to force them into 17 turnovers, made the most out of their open shots (contrary to the game vs Zenit) and possessed greater energy down the stretch in order to take a victory that keeps them at the first place of the standings.