On February 10, Minsk residents will hold the first match of the second stage of the VTB United League against Samara on the road. Read more about the upcoming meeting in the preview.
The first stage
By the end of the first stage, Drazen Anzulovic's wards were eliminated from the fight for the TOP 6, but in the second stage they retain all chances of getting into the playoffs. Now Samara in pool B is on the first line of the standings. The Russian team has 14 wins in 26 matches.
Javonteh Hawkins remains the leader of Samara with average stats of 11.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 0.9 assists in 24 games, spending a little more than 24 minutes on the court. The leader in rebounds in the team is James Thompson – 7.5. To them, the center adds 10.2 points and 1.2 assists in 25.13 minutes on the floor.
Forward of MINSK Jakob Cebasek: ”We are starting the second stage with an opponent whom we have already met twice. We analyze our games, try to change something and correct mistakes. In the last game we played against Samara, they created a big problem with aggressive defense throughout the court. So we are preparing for this and for their game under the ring. We try to stay motivated and play with great energy.”
The roster of the opponent
Samara (Samara, Russia)
Guards
4. Nikola Rebic, 01.22.1995, 188 cm, Serbia,
10. Ivan Viktorov, 01.11.1995, 196 cm, Russia,
13. Javonte Hawkins, 11.13.1993, 196 cm, USA,
23. Mikhail Kulagin, 08.04.1994, 191 cm, Russia,
32. Yuri Umrikhin, 06.28.1999, 190 cm, Russia,
86. Justin Roberson, 08.07.1993, 185 cm, USA.
Forwards
6. Alexander Gudumak, 03.07.1993, 203 cm, Russia,
8. Alexander Razumov, 04.22.1992, 204 cm, Russia,
9. Ilya Platonov, 07.31.1998, 199 cm, Russia,
20. Hayden Dalton , 06.20.1996, 206 cm, USA,
25. Rade Zagorac, 08.12.1995, 206 cm, Serbia,
81. Egor Amosov, 23.01.2008, 201 cm, Russia.
The centers
3. Nikita Zverev, 06.04.1994, 210 cm, Russia,
7. James Thompson, 18.01.1995, 208 cm, USA.
The head coach is Drazen Anzulovic (Croatia).
The game starts at 16:00. The broadcast will be available on the website of the VTB United League and Belarus 5. The Internet.