On October 31, at 19:30, the next home court game of MINSK of the VTB United League 2022/23 season will take place within the walls of the Falcon Club Arena. The opponent will be the newcomer of the League team from Samara. The teams have already managed to meet in the off-season, more details in our preview.
History and achievements
The club was founded in 1976 on the initiative of the Honored Coach of the USSR Henrikh Primatov and until 1995 performed under the name “Builder”. The team was a participant of the Highest League of the USSR championship, a quarterfinalist of the European Cup (1997/98), a participant of the Euroleague (1998/99).
Among the achievements of the Volga region can be noted the titles of champions of the Super League Division-1 in 2019 and 2021, the winners of the Cup of Russia in 2020 and 2022, bronze medals of the Cup of Russia in 2021.
Preseason
Along with the news of participation in the VTB United League, the club surprised with the news of the arrival of a number of foreign players to the team. KC Rivers and Malcolm Thomas, who already had experience of playing in the tournament, signed contracts with Samara.
The transfer of James Ennis from the Israeli “Hapoel Haifa” has become one of the most high–profile transfers of the League - the American forward has played in more than 400 NBA matches. Defenders Marcos Knight (ASVEL, France) and Isaiah Reese (London Lions, Great Britain) joined the ranks of the Samaritans. Center Ivan Lazarev moved from UNICS to Samara, and defender Yuriy Umrikhin and forward Filipp Gafurov moved from CSKA.
Samara tried to approach its first season in the VTB United League with all seriousness, taking part in several high-profile pre-season tournaments. This allowed the team to explore some rivals, including MINSK.
So, in the Khayretdinov Cup, held in Nizhny Novgorod, the Samaritans beat Kazan UNICS in the semifinals with a score of 78:71, but lost the championship to PARI NN with a difference of only 1 point (80:81).
Having done prompt work on the mistakes, Samara became the winner of the Primatov Memorial Cup on the home court, beating our team in the semifinals with a score of 90:68, and in the final “BET NN” (91:87).
Head Coach
In June 2022, the team was headed by Sergey Bazarevich, the former leader of the national team at the 1994 Silver World Championship and the first Russian in the NBA (Atlanta Hawks).
Sergey began his coaching career in 2001 as a playing coach of Dynamo Moscow. He worked with the youth team of CSKA and the main squad of CSK VVS-Samara, after which he returned to Dynamo Moscow, becoming the owner of bronze medals of the Russian Championship. With the team “Red Wings” became the winner of the FIBA Challenge Cup 2012/13 and the Cup of Russia 2011/12 and 2012/13.
Season 2022/23
The debut game “Samara” adequately withstood the most titled club – CSKA, losing with a difference of 7 points (72:85). The newcomers failed to beat Lokomotiv-Kuban (70:79) and the current champion Zenit (82:70). But the Samaritans were able to win confident victories over the teams “Enisey” (92:86), “PARI Nizhny Novgorod" (90:52) and "Astana" (93:58). With an equal number of victories and defeats, Sergey Bazarevich's team took the 6th place in the standings.
The leaders of the team can be called defender Marcos Knight, who averages 19.0 points per game, makes 4.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals, and forward James Ennis with his average statistics per game of 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals.
Team captain Aliaksei Trastsinetski commented on the upcoming meeting:
— We all need to give 100%. Interact as one. Try to minimize the number of losses and act according to the coach's instructions. I hope that we will succeed in all this in the game with Samara. And we will be able to show our best basketball.
Samara's pre-game roster (Samara):
Guards:
7. KC Rivers (01.03.1987, 196 cm, USA),
9. Marcos Knight (09.24.1989, 188 cm, USA),
10. Anton Kardanakhishvili (03.19.2002, 195 cm, Russia),
13. Isaiah Reese (13.12.1996, 196 cm, USA),
29. Vladimir Pichkurov (09.01.1990, 198 cm, Russia),
32. Yuriy Umrikhin (28.06.1999, 190 cm, Russia).
Forwards:
1. James Ennis (01.07.1990, 198 cm, USA),
11. Maxim Barashkov (10.07.1998, 202 cm, Russia),
23. Malcolm Thomas (08.11.1988, 206 cm, USA),
28. Filipp Gafurov (23.06.2001, 212 cm, Russia),
30. Danila Chikarev (18.11.2001, 198 cm, Russia),
45. Maxim 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).
Head Coach – Sergey Bazarevich (Russia)
The game will take place at the Falcon Club Arena at 7:30 PM. You can purchase tickets by following the link.