Tomorrow, December 25, the Falcon Club Arena will host the final match of 2022 in the VTB United League between MINSK and Astana. The rivals will meet for the first time in the current game season. Read more about the Kazakh team in our preview.
History and achievements
Astana Basketball Club was established in March 2011, and Italian specialist Matteo Boniciolli was invited as the head coach of the club, who in 2008 was recognized as the “Coach of the Year" in Italy. In 2011/2012 BC Astana made its first appearance in the VTB United League, the team became the first in the League from Central Asia.
In Kazakhstan, the team has won the title of national champions 10 times since 2012, is a 9-time winner of the Kazakhstan Cup. In 2014 Astana took part for the first time in the European club competitions – the FIBA Challenge Cup, completing its performance at the TOP-16 stage in a step from the 1/4 finals. In 2017, she became the bronze medalists of the FIBA Asian Champions Cup.
Head Coach
Russian specialist Oleg Kiselev was appointed as the head coach of Astana and the national team of Kazakhstan in June 2022. The coach already had experience working with the national team – in 2009 Kiselev worked in the coaching staff of the national team of Kazakhstan, then the team took 9th place at the Asian Championship. The coach won the gold of the championship in 2016 and won the bronze 4 times (2009, 2012, 2013, 2014).
In 2017, Oleg Kiselev headed the youth team of Avtodor, and at the end of the 2016/17 season he returned to Kazakhstan, having signed a contract with the Almaty Legion. In 2020, Kiselev was a member of the coaching staff of the national team of Kazakhstan.
Season 2022/23
In total, the history has 16 meetings of both teams in the VTB United League, of which there are 9 victories in MINSK's piggy bank. Now Astana is on the 11th line in the standings. The team has already played in 16 matches with all other participants of the VTB United League, having won 2 matches against PARMA-PARI (84:72) and Avtodor (70:69).
In November, two point guards joined the team – Markell Johnson (prev. club – “Pieno Zvaigzdes", Lithuania) and Kwame Vaughn (“Ploiesti”, Romania). Markell immediately became one of the leaders of Astana and makes the most assists – an average of 5.2 per game. Also, the American point guard demonstrates average statistics of 11.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals.
The average age of the team is 28 years, the average height is 195 cm. The leader in scoring the opponent is Michael Myers, the average statistics of the player in 12 matches: points - 12.9, rebounds – 9.1, assists – 1.3.
MINSK point guard Uladzislau Blizniuk: “On Sunday we will have the final match in the VTB United League this year. Our team faced serious personnel problems before the previous match, but I hope that before this game everyone will return to the ranks and show a great game. Astana will come to visit us: we have not met them yet this season, but we know for sure that it will not be easy, so we must be as focused as possible on each of our actions. It's nice that we are holding the final match at home this year, we will try to give our fans a New Year's gift!”
Astana's pre-match roster (Kazakhstan):
Guards:
2. Markell Johnson (25.08.1998, 188 cm, USA),
3. Rustam Murzagaliev (24.05.1992, 190 cm, Kazakhstan),
8. Kwame Vaughn (31.05.1990, 191 cm, USA),
9. Vadim Sherbak (24.05.1993, 194 cm, Kazakhstan),
27. Daniil Aksenov (11.07.1995, 183 cm, Russia),
76. Alexandr Orazbekov (30.07.2002, 180 cm, Kazakhstan),
99. Oleg Balashov (07.05.1999, 185 cm, Kazakhstan).
Forwards:
21. Roman Marchuk (04.03.1993, 198 cm, Kazakhstan),
23. Valeriy Likhodey (23.10.1986, 204 cm, Russia),
25. Maksim Marchuk (17.01.1994, 195 cm, Kazakhstan),
47. Ruslan Aitkali (19.12.1997, 195 cm, Kazakhstan).
Center:
15. Michael Myers (02.07.1992, 206 cm, USA),
24. Dmitriy Gavrilov (27.11.1986, 204 cm, Kazakhstan),
35. Igor Kanygin (30.06.1994, 207 cm, Russia),
55. Askar Maidekin (28.05.1997, 203 cm, Kazakhstan).
The head coach is Oleg Kiselev (Russia).
The entrance to the Falcon Club Arena will be carried out from 13:30. In the program of the event, all guests will enjoy live music, a lot of New Year's gifts, surprises and a great festive atmosphere. We are waiting for you at the final game of the year!