Right now, Zenit has some strong arguments to be considered the most dangerous team in the VTB United League.
Firstly, the Petersburgers have won 10 games in a row – no one else in the championship has such a streak. The last team to beat Zenit was Loko on January 11. That defeat probably motivated Javier Pascual and his team, which had never conceded 117 points before in their history. (By the way, at the beginning of the season, Loko spoiled Zenit’s celebration of the 10th anniversary of their debut in the VTB United League, winning on October 6 in St. Petersburg with a score of 83:76. And on November 3, they beat us in Krasnodar, 71:77. So far only the guests are winning.)
Secondly, it’s a Zenit player who is awarded the MVP of February title. Point guard Trent Frasier averaged 17.5 points and 5.0 assists last month. Considering that his statistics for the season as a whole are 11.4 + 4.2 assists, it is obvious that Frasier (pictured below) is doing well in replacing Xavier Moon, who is out for the rest of the season.
Zenit’s leading scorer is small forward Dwayne Bacon, who has 207 games under his belt for the Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic. He scores 16.3 points per game, which is the 5th best result in the VTB United league this season.
Except for Frasier and Bacon, one more Zenit player scores over 10 points per game – shooting guard Alexey Shved (10.4). He has only played 7 games since returning from China, but already looks like he fits perfectly into Pascual’s game schemes. Proof of this is Shved’s leadership in the team in assists (5.7).
Another Zenit newcomer we know very well is power forward Okaro White. So far, he has played five games in the 2024/25 season, averaging 17 minutes, 6.8 points and 3.6 rebounds. Okaro had better numbers at Lokomotiv, so he may just be settling up.
The key player of Zenit’s front line is Vince Hunter, who plays either center or power forward. This season, his stats is 8.0 points, 5.2 rebounds (the best on the team), 1.1 steals and 0.6 blocks.
Center Alex Poythress leads Zenit in blocks (0.9), and also scores 9.5 points and makes 4.9 rebounds.
The best in steals in Zenit is shooting guard Georgy Zhbanov (1.3, as well as 6.8 points and 3.1 rebounds).
What about Loko?
After the game against Yenisei, the Krasnodar team flew home the next night, had a day off on Thursday, and then two days of intensive training.
Andrei Martyuk returned to full-contact training. If he will play against Zenit, will be decided by the coaching staff on Sunday.
John Jenkins, whose contract was signed on Friday, will arrive to Krasnodar in about a week.
For Vsevolod Ishchenko, the Lokomotiv staff has chosen a program that will allow the player to recover more efficiently, but his return to action will take place closer to the playoffs.
At the time this preview was published, there were 4 tickets left for the lower tier and less than 100 for the upper tier. Hurry to take your seats to see one of the most interesting games of the rest of the regular championship!
The game will be broadcasted live on the Krasnodar and Match TV channels, as well as on the VTB United League and Loko websites.
Go, Loko!