Update Post: November 28, 2023 10:24 am
Loko recovered against Fener, Zenit defeated Paris NN. Game day review.
Andrey Antson September 23, 2023, 23:20 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Now we know the Super Bowl finalists.
MBA-CSKA
VTB United League Super Cup. For 5-8 seats
September 23, 2023, Saturday. 11:00 Moscow time
MBA: Khomenko – 21, Lopatin – 16, Kasatkin – 15, Yakushin – 14, Konovalov – 12, Minchenko – 10, Trushkin – 4, Barashkov – 3, Sheiko – 3, Klyuev, Aksenov, Savchenko
CSKA: Ware – 21, Dzhekiri – 20, M’Bai – 16, Kurbanov – 16, Ukhov – 14, Ruzhentsev – 7, Antonov – 6, Kardanakhishvili – 3, Gafurov – 2, Mikhailovsky, Zaitsev, Zakharov
MBA, despite the lack of importance of the tournament, entered the court with great motivation and was not going to give in to CSKA. The first quarter was close and ended with a score of 25:23 in favor of the young team from the capital.
In the second ten minutes, the Moscow Basketball Association continued its attack and began to escape on the scoreboard, taking advantage of the errors of the Army team’s point guard, Casper Ware. At half-time the team had a comfortable lead of 53:45.
The third quarter was a turning point in the game. The red and blue came out with a completely different mentality and began to defend well. During the entire ten-minute period, MBA scored only 10 points. Ware started creating shots and CSKA started making three-pointers. Before the last break, the army team was already ahead by 66:63.
The final segment was exemplary in terms of intrigue. Neither team was far ahead by even a moment, but the red and blue mostly had a slight advantage. In the last minute, Kasper went solo again and started making important shots: seven points in the last 70 seconds of the game. At the end of the match, a free throw shootout began. Seven seconds before the end, MBA lost 91:94, Alexander Khomenko missed an open shot from under the rim, which in the end became the best option for the team, since the point guard took advantage of the rebound after his miss and passed. the ball to Barashkov, who sent the game to extra time.
Maxim Barashkov
Photo: Press service of the VTB United League
Already during the additional five minutes it was clear that MBA had used all his emotional resources during the main time. CSKA slowed down the game and advanced monotonously, largely thanks to the good play of Tony Jekiri in the paint.
The title of the most productive player of the match was shared by the clubs’ main point guards: Khomenko and Ware (both – 21 points). The Moscow Association relied more on long-distance shots (19 of 36 successes), while CSKA relied more on work under the basket (25 of 50).
Yigit Arslan, Jalen Reynolds and Dmitry Kulagin
Photo: Press service of the VTB United League
UNICS – Besiktas
VTB United League Super Cup. For 5-8 seats
September 23, 2023, Saturday. 14:00 Moscow time
Besiktas
Istanbul
UNICS: Reynolds – 16, Labery – 15, D. Kulagin – 12, Bako – 10, Dimitrievich – 7, Caballero – 6, Zaitsev – 2, Komolov, Tikhonenko, Stulenkov, Kolesnikov, Odinokov
Besiktas: Needham – 18, Delgado – 16, Arslan – 12, Ugurlu – 9, Mitchell – 8, Matthews – 4, Hammonds – 2, Durmaz – 2, Konan – 2, Yigitoglu – 2, Choban
From the beginning, the Kazan team began to justify its status as favorite, taking the lead in the first quarter by 20:17. However, with the help of Besiktas reserve point guard Derek Needham, the Turkish team was not going to give up. Thus, the Russian club lost the advantage and at the big break it was losing by 35:37.
The pace of the game was quite tough, the basketball players could not make any long shots. With this basketball, Besiktas looked better, at one point in the third quarter they already had a +9 advantage. UNICS was still able to stop the Turkish advance, but at the end of the third ten minutes they continued to lose (50:55).
In the middle of the last quarter UNICS managed to take the lead, four minutes before the end the score was 64:61. But the opponent immediately responded with a 7:0 and the Kazan team could only score five points in the last half of the match. Result: 75:68.
UNICS was ahead of Besiktas in many aspects: rebounds (41 against 36), blocked shots (6 against 0), three-point efficiency (22.2% against 16.7%), but this was not enough to win. Needham was the most productive player of the game, and Jalen Reynolds and Angel Delgado scored 16 points each.
Kazan will play MBA for 7-8 place, and Besiktas will play CSKA for 5-6 place.
Jordan Morgan and Shehmus Khazer
Photo: Press service of the VTB United League
Fenerbahce – Lokomotiv-Kuban
VTB United League Super Cup. 1/2 ends
September 23, 2023, Saturday. 17:00 Moscow time
Fenerbahce
Istanbul
Lokomotiv-Kuban
Krasnodar
Fenerbahce: Motley – 13, Sanli – 13, Guduric – 12, Sestina – 10, Wilbekin – 9, Madar – 9, Calathes – 8, Papayannis – 7, Pierre – 5, Dorsey – 3, Hazer, Mahmutoglu
Lokomotiv-Kuban: Akun-Purcell – 25, Morgan – 18, White – 16, Kvitkovskikh – 10, Yemchenko – 10, Martyuk – 8, Shcherbenev – 7, Bliznyuk – 6, Elatontsev – 2, Uzinsky – 2, Temirov – 1
In the first quarter, the Turks offered a very fast pace of play, which Krasnodar found difficult to cope with. After 11-0, Loko called an urgent timeout, after which they were able to adjust the game, but Fener continued to make the vast majority of all shots. The first ten minutes ended with the score 36:24.
Lokomotiv continued to counterattack: at one point they managed to reduce the difference to -4, but the experienced foreign players of the Turkish team Nick Calathes and Jonathan Motley did not allow the Russians to take advantage of the advantage. The score was 58:51 at the big break.
After changing sides, the railroaders played the third ten minutes in the style of the Golden State Warriors and completely changed the course of the game. The Fenerbahçe coach’s timeouts did not prevent the Krasnodar team from going on the attack. Midway through the final ten minutes, the Russians’ lead at one point was “+19.” After a successful first quarter, the Turks made only 5 of 20 three-pointers. Final score: 105:89.
The Kuban club finished the match with an astonishing long-distance shooting efficiency of 57.1%. The Russians also defeated the Turks in rebounds: 36 to 24. The most productive player of the match was Lokomotiv forward Devon Akun-Purcell with 25 points.
Sergei Karasev
Photo: Press service of the VTB United League
Paris Nizhny Novgorod – Zenit
VTB United League Super Cup. 1/2 ends
September 23, 2023, Saturday. 20:00 Moscow time
Pari Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Zenith
St. Petersburg
Pari Nizhny Novgorod: Apich – 12, Chadov – 10, Allen – 8, Gankevich – 8, Cousy – 7, Khvostov – 5, Zechevich – 3, Belenitsky – 3, Vorontsevich – 3, Baburin – 2, Ivlev, Strebkov
Zenit: Kuric – 18, Dublevich – 14, Hunter – 14, Morman – 9, Fraser – 8, Ertel – 7, Zubkov – 7, Karasev – 4, Gerasimov – 2, Zhbanov – 2, Volkhin – 1, Toropov
The Nizhny Novgorod team hoped to make a second sensation in the tournament after winning the match against UNICS. In the first minutes the game was even, but then, thanks to the foreign stars Kyle Kuric and Boyan Dubljevic, Zenit went into the break with a big lead: 23:13. The Volga residents did not give up and were able to approach the St. Petersburg team at a distance of “-2”. Kuric again helped stop Paris NN’s advance. The final score of the first half is 42:37.
The blue and white coach clearly did not like the development of the match and knew how to charge his players to make an excellent ten-minute third. The defense of the St. Petersburg team was especially impressive: in the fourth they limited their rival to 11 points.
The final segment seemed like a formality. The final score is 86:61.
The most productive player of the match and the main reason why Zenit reached the final was Kuric. He scored 18 points (seven of nine field goals, four of six three-pointers). Also worth highlighting is center Vince Hunter. Today he was able to record a double-double: 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Neva club showed amazing shooting efficiency: 72.2% on two-pointers, 40% on three-pointers.
In the final, the St. Petersburg team will face Lokomotiv.