After a few weeks break, the participating teams of the VTB United League return to the rhythm of the game. Tomorrow at 19:00 the MINSK men's team will play away against Samara. The last home match of our team also took place against the wards of Sergey Bazarevich, and was remembered by our fans as, perhaps, the brightest and most emotional match of the season. Then MINSK gave victory to Samara only in overtime.
Season 2022/23
Less than a month has passed since the previous meeting, and there have been no changes in the opponent's roster. At this time, James Ennis took part in the VTB United League All-Star Game as part of the Old School team, and Samara defender Yury Umrikhin was announced for the training camp of the Russian national men's team.
If this will be the first game for Minsk after almost a three-week break, then Samara hosted the Krasnoyarsk Enisey two days ago. For the Samaritans, it was a fundamentally important match in the fight for the playoffs, but Enisey turned out to be stronger (74:69). Now Sergey Bazarevich's team is on the third line of the standings in pool “B”, conceding higher chances for the playoffs to Avtodor and PARMA-PARI.
The leader in the scoring team remains Marcos Knight. Average statistics of the point guard in 27 matches of the season: 16.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.5 steals. The scorer of the last match against Enisey was James Ennis, who scored 22 points, made 7 rebounds and 3 assists (KPI 23) in 34 and a half minutes on the floor.
MINSK head coach Rostislav Vergun: “We are looking forward to the resumption of the games after the calendar break. I want to believe that we were able to usefully spend the time provided. In the previous matches with Samara, we lacked composure and the quality of our decisions, especially in the endings of the matches. It is these components, along with aggressive defense, that are essential conditions for achieving a positive result.”
The opponent 's pre-match roster
“Samara" (Samara)
Guards:
9. Marcos Knight (09.24.1989, 188 cm, USA),
10. Anton Kardanakhishvili (19.03.2002, 195 cm, Russia),
25. Jordan Theodore (11.12.1989, 183 cm, USA),
29. Vladimir Pichkurov (09.01.1990, 198 cm, Russia),
32. Yury Umrikhin (06.28.1999, 190 cm, Russia),
34. KC Rivers (01.03.1987, 196 cm, USA).
Forwards:
1. James Ennis (01.07.1990, 198 cm, USA),
11. Maksim Barashkov (10.07.1998, 202 cm, Russia),
30. Danila Chikarev (18.11.2001, 198 cm, Russia),
45. Maksim Sheleketo (04.01.1987, 205 cm, Russia).
Centers:
0. Ivan Lazarev (31.01.1991, 210 cm, Russia),
3. Nikita Zverev (06.04.1994, 210 cm, Russia),
8. Vladimir Ivlev (02.28.1990, 207 cm, Russia).
The head coach is Sergey Bazarevich (Russia).
The broadcast of the match will be available on the VTB United League website and Belarus 5 Internet. The meeting starts at 19:00 Minsk time. We are rooting for our team!