On November 15, the MINSK men's team will host the 10th match of the VTB United League season against Astana on the road. Read more about the composition of the opponent and the results of the start of the season in our preview.
Roster
Astana has retained a significant part of the players from the previous season. In the off-season, the club signed contracts with foreign players, which included the ex-player of our club Vadzim Tratsiak, who played for different teams of MINSK since 2016.
Also, the ranks of the Kazakh team were replenished by previously playing for Zenit Royce Hamm Jr., Devin Davis (Verona), Adam Kunkel (Xavier University team, NCAA). Chilean forward Felipe Hase participated in the qualifying rounds of two World Championships (2019 and 2023) in his homeland as part of the national team, as well as in the Olympic pre-qualification tournament, where the Chileans took third place.
Head Coach
Oleg Kiselev continued to hold the position of head coach at Astana. In the 2022/23 season, Astana, under the leadership of Kiselev, became the bronze medalist of the West Asian Super League, the champion of Kazakhstan and the winner of the Kazakhstan Cup. Also among the achievements of the specialist as a coach: gold of the championship of Kazakhstan (2015/16), bronze medals of the championship of Kazakhstan (2008/09, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2018/19), the championship of the Highest League of Kazakhstan (2017/18).
Season 2023/24
Now Astana is on the 8th line of the standings. In the previous 8 matches, the team equally divided the number of wins and losses. Earlier, Astana lost in matches against Zenit (69:78), CSKA (66:96), UNICS (65:96) and MBA (78:101). Astana turned out to be stronger than the opponent in the matches with Pari Nizhny Novgorod (78:73) and Avtodor (75:62). Kazakhstanis on the kurazh will be more than seriously set up for victory in the match with MINSK. After all, earlier in two extreme matches, Astana won two victories in a row, sensationally beating Lokomotiv-Kuban (78:68) and Uralmash (80:72).
The leaders in the team are expected to be legionnaires. Royce Hamm spends an average of more than 31 minutes on the court, scoring 17.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists. Carvel Anderson shows average stats of 13.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steals. Astana forward Devin Davis and defender Markell Johnson were in the symbolic top five rounds of the VTB Championship.
MINSK captain Uladzislau Mikulski: 'Astana plays attacking basketball. Our main task is to restrain their leaders and try to dictate our game. Now we have a couple of days to move and work on mistakes to show our best basketball'.
The roster of the opponent:
"Astana", Kazakhstan
Guards:
1. Vadzim Tratsiak, 03.06.2000, 188 cm, Belarus,
2. Markell Johnson, 25.08.1998, 188 cm, USA,
3. Rustam Murzagaliyev, 24.05.1992, 190 cm, Kazakhstan,
5. Adam Kankel, 09.12.1999, 193 cm, USA,
9. Vadim Shcherbak, 24.05.1993, 194 cm, Kazakhstan,
25. Maxim Marchuk, 17.01.1994, 195 cm, Kazakhstan,
31. Carvel Anderson, 03.06.1991, 188 cm, USA.
Forwards:
7. Davin Davis, 29.03.1995, 198 cm, USA,
21. Roman Marchuk, 04.03.1993, 198 cm, Kazakhstan,
22. Felipe Haase, 19.03.1998, 206 cm, Chile,
47. Ruslan Aitkali, 19.12.1997, 195 cm, Kazakhstan.
Centers:
17. Royce Hamm, 17.03.1999, 206 cm, USA,
24. Dmitry Gavrilov, 27.11.1986, 204 cm, Kazakhstan,
55. Askar Maidekin, 28.05.1997, 203 cm, Kazakhstan.
The head coach is Oleg Kiselev, Russia.
The broadcast of the game will be available on the VTB United League website, Belarus 5 TV channel and Belarus 5 Internet.