On December 18, Rostislav Vergun's team will play for the first time in Minsk at the Falcon Club Arena with the debutants of this season of the VTB United League MBA. A young and ambitious Russian team has already managed to loudly declare itself, more in our preview.
Season 2022/23
Having played 16 games in their first season in the VTB United League, the MBA broke into the championship brightly, winning 11 victories. Now the team is on the 4th place of the standings, demonstrating a clear desire to get into the playoffs exclusively with the composition of Russian players. Muscovites lost only to CSKA (78:110), PARMA-PARI (70:78), UNICS (81:97), Zenit (62:87) and Avtodor (68:72). But the team is able to demonstrate character and will to win, having proved it in the past games. So, if in the first meeting with PARMA-PARI the team lost by a difference of 8 points, then, having done work on the mistakes, Vasiliy Karasev's wards were able to win in the second match of the season with Permians, breaking the 100-point mark on the scoreboard (102:87).
The average age of the Moscow team is 25 years, the average height is 199 cm. The MBA leader is captain Eugeniy Voronov, who took part in 13 matches of the season and spent an average of 25 minutes on the floor per game, scoring 11.9 points, making 2.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists. The leader in rebounds for the opponent is Andrey Lopatin, his average statistics per game: points – 11.4, rebounds – 5.4, assists – 1.6, interceptions – 1.6. While the opponent is playing without the key point guard Alexander Khomenko, who was injured and out of action indefinitely. The second MBA point guard, Makar Konovalov, did not play in the previous match due to injury.
In the last MBA match against Loko, which took place on December 12, Daniil Kasatkin became the leader of the team. The defender scored 26 points, making 7 of 7 shots from an average distance, as well as 2 “three-point" shots, made 6 rebounds and 9 assists.
MINSK guard Uladzislau Mikulskii: “Tomorrow the MBA will play for the first time on our home court. After a difficult match in Perm, which was earlier this week, we are getting ready for the upcoming game. To show high-quality and competitive basketball, we must play as a whole and be as focused as possible”.
MBA pre-game roster (Moscow)
Guards:
7. Alexander Khomenko, 25.01.1999, 189 cm, Russia,
9. Daniil Kasatkin, 25.01.1999, 198 cm, Russia,
18. Evgeniy Voronov, 07.05.1986, 192 cm, Russia,
32. Yegor Pokinko, 20.06.2002, 185 cm, Russia,
33. Timofey Yakushin, 16.01.1997, 195 cm, Russia,
38. Konovalov Makar, 06.12.2000, 187 cm, Russia.
Forwards:
3. Nikita Remizov, 13.08.2000, 197 cm, Russia,
8. Gleb Goldyrev, 19.04.1993, 199 cm, Russia,
11. Ilya Platonov, 31.07.1998, 199 cm, Russia,
20. Daniil Kochergin, 29.10.1999, 207 cm, Russia,
25. Vladislav Odinokov, 22.03.2000, 202 cm, Russia,
27. Sergey Klyuev, 13.05.1998, 208 cm, Russia,
28. Andrey Lopatin, 27.08.1998, 207 cm, Russia,
31. Valiev Evgeniy, 03.05.1990, 204 cm, Russia.
Centers:
14. Anton Pushkov, 11.22.1988, 208 cm, Russia,
16. Savchenko Maksim, 09.02.2004, 208 cm, Russia,
71. Vladislav Sharapov, 17.11.1999, 201 cm, Russia.
The head coach is Vasiliy Karasev (Russia).
Tickets for the match are available on the KVITKI.by website and at points of sale, and will also be on sale an hour before the game at the ticket office of the Falcon Club Arena.
Photo: VTB United League