Today our team continued a series of away matches with the newcomer of the VTB United League – MBA. Having met for the first time on the court with the Moscow team, our guys lost with a score 62:81 (16:19, 9:24, 20:20, 17:18).
Starting five
MINSK: Daniil Kasko, Aliaksei Trastsinetski, Darol Hernandez Zinenko, Zach Smith, Uladzislau Blizniuk.
MBA: Ilya Platonov, Anton Pushkov, Andrey Lopatin, Timofey Yakushin, Makar Konovalov.
Game scenario
Moscow players were able to get the first points of the match from free throw line, while Uladzislau Blizniuk in an effective attack brought the debut two points to MINSK. MBA managed to get easy points from a free throw in several attempts due to aggressive fighting. Without slowing down, Zach Smith and Vlad Mikulskii from our side were able to get points of the second pace – 7:6. Next, Darol Hernandez Zinenko brought 2 more points to our team's piggy bank, and the “three-point” from Daniil Barysevich allowed to reduce the difference in the score. With a spectacular slamdunk, Zach Smith gained an advantage on the court – 14:13. However, the Moscow team in a quick attack regained the lead on the home court. In another beautiful duel, Zach again pleased the audience with a second throw from above. The teams went to the break with a score of 19:16.
At the start of the second quarter, Minsk residents worked well in defense, preventing Vasiliy Karasev's wards from making open throws. However, the opponents began to build up the advantage quite quickly, and our team took a timeout, failing to get to the MBA ring in two minutes of the quarter. Kiryl Sitnik and Uladzislau Blizniuk scored 4 more points with throws from an average distance. Unfortunately, this didn't save from a double–digit advantage of the MBA - 30:20. Kiryl Sitnik saved the situation with a throw from behind the arc, and Zach Smith then demonstrated the third slamdunk in a row for the game (43:25).
In the third quarter Zach Smith again became the undisputed leader of the team, once again making an effective throw. Daniil Barysevich scored with an accurate three-point throw (51:32). Unfortunately, the efforts of our guys couldn't keep the pressure of the owners of the site and Rostislav Vergun was forced to take another timeout. After a conversation with the coach, Zach Smith and Benjamin-Pavel Dodoo scored 3 points from the free throw line. Uladzislau Blizniuk helped the team with a scoring run of 4 points, but the advantage at the end of the quarter remained with the Moscow team – 63:45.
Interchange
Unfortunately, offensive losses of the ball and misses, as well as numerous attempts to throw the MBA with a free throw line, led to a 20–point gap closer to the end of the match - 70:50. Having made a number of efforts, our guys were able to make several effective attacks, and Aliaksei Trastsinetski finished the match in Moscow with an accurate captain's “three-point” shot. The final score was in favor of the owners of the site – 81:62.
Number
5 – Zach Smith demonstrated so many spectacular slamdanks to the audience today, proving himself a worthy candidate for the “VTB United League All-Star Match".
The most productive
"MINSK": Zach Smith – 20 + 7 REB + 3 STL + 1 block, Uladzislau Blizniuk – 9 + 2 REB + 9 AST + 1 STL, Kiryl Sitnik – 8 + 1 REB + 2 AST.
MBA: Alexander Khomenko – 14 + 1 AST + 1 STL, Makar Konovalov – 11 + 2 AST + 1 STL.
Rostislav Vergun, head coach of MINSK:
— The atmosphere left very cool and positive impressions, I hope that people liked basketball. Congratulations to the opponent on a well-deserved victory. They used their aggressive defense and advantage under the ring very well, in some positions on the perimeter. The task for us is to look for our own game, and we must have at least 8 players in the squad who will play at "8-9", and not so that 3-4 people give out a good game, and we are sagging in the game from the bench. Then we should work on our mistakes and become the best version of ourselves.
Next game
'MINSK' will hold the next VTB United League match on October 17 at the Falcon Club Arena with 'Avtodor' Saratov. The meeting starts at 7:00 PM. Tickets for the match can be purchased on the website KVITKI.by. Also, tickets will be sold directly at the arena 1 hour before the start of the game. Let's support our guys!