(Not so) brief history of Games #7 in our league
This will be the fifth Game #7 in the history of the VTB United League since they introduced best-of-4 series.
And the very first such series – the 2021/22 season finals – ended in Game #7. It took place on June 5, 2022, and CSKA quite unexpectedly lost to Zenit, 75:81.
Alex Poythress (13 points, 2 blocked shots), Sergei Karasev (6 points, 4 rebounds) and Denis Zakharov (5 points) played for the St. Petersburg team in that game – all three are participating in the current semi-final series as part of our opponent.
Just like Alexey Shved, who played for CSKA in that game, scored 13 points, but was unable to add the title of VTB United League champion to his collection of awards (must be noted, that in his younger years Shved won several Russian championships as part of CSKA, but that was not yet the VTB United League – Alexey still hasn’t been able to win this tournament).
Chronologically, the second Game #7 took place on May 1, 2023, again it was CSKA at their Megasport arena. It was a semi-final that Lokomotiv Kuban fans remember very well, because we won it – 100:103. There was overtime, three players from our starting lineup were fouled out, but the young substitutes did an excellent job.
Shved lost his second Game #7 in the VTB United League – despite a heroic double-double of 22 points and 13 assists.
The following players from the current Lokomotiv roster took part in that game: Andrei Martyuk (12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block), Anton Kvitkovskikh (9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Vladislav Yemchenko (6 points, 3 assists, 2 steals) and Dmitry Uzinsky (5 points). Also, there were Okaro White (21 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block shot) and Alexander Shcherbenev (15 points, 4 assists), both of whom now play for Zenit.
Zenit lost the third VTB United League Game #7 the following day, on May 2, 2023 – in Kazan to UNICS, 79:80; it was a parallel semi-final of that season. The game was also very dramatic: the star of the Tatarstan team, Nenad Dimitrijević, tied the score 4 seconds before the end of the 4th quarter, the St. Petersburg team made a technical error after a timeout when carrying the ball out of bounds (Andrei Zubkov stepped into bounds), and Vince Hunter, who at that time played for UNICS, led his team to the final from the free-throw line with a 1-point advantage.
It is interesting that in addition to Hunter (he scored 11 points then), there were Andrei Vorontsevich (3 points) and Georgy Zhbanov (2 points) who played for UNICS in that game – all three are now playing for Zenit. As well as Trent Frazier – the only one who still remains on the St. Petersburg team from the 2022/23 roster (that evening he scored 9 points and made 2 steals).
The fourth Game #7 took place in the VTB United League exactly one year before the date of the fifth one – May 22, 2024. UNICS vs Lokomotiv played in the semifinals. Due to a 7:0 run, our team tied the score 1.27 before the buzzer, but then Dimitrijević shone again – the Macedonian managed to score 8 points before the end of the game, bringing Kazan a 92:87 victory.
Of the current Zenit players, Vorontsevich (for UNICS, 5 points, 4 assists, 1 block shot) and White (for us, 5 points) played in that match. As part of Lokomotiv-Kuban that evening, we probably saw Patrick Miller in “playoff beast” mode for the first time – he scored 18 points and made 6 rebounds. Yemchenko added 6 points, 1 steal and 1 block shot; Martyuk – 5 points and 4 rebounds; Uzinsky – 4 points and 1 block shot; Kirill Temirov – 3 points.
Any conclusions?
In the previous Games #7 in the VTB United League, the hosts and guests won equally – twice each.
The Top 4 teams also participated in games #7 equally – twice each. UNICS won both of its attempts, CSKA lost both, Lokomotiv-Kuban and Zenit are 1-1 each.
The current roster of the Krasnodar team includes six players with experience of Games #7: Yemchenko, Kvitkovskikh, Martyuk, Miller, Temirov, Uzinsky (there is also Kirill Yelatontsev, who was on the roster both times, but hadn’t got any playing minutes, and Karvel Anderson, who scored 9 points a year ago, but this time, unfortunately, will definitely not appear on the court).
Zenit has as many as ten players with experience of Games #7. There is Vorontsevich, who has never lost in these games, and Shved who has never won. Whose magic will be stronger? Our opinion is that is – we don’t care; everything must be decided by ourselves, not by superstitions.
A significant part of the fan sector of Krasnodar’s Basket Hall is on their way to Saint Petersburg to support Lokomotiv Kuban in person. Also, fans of our club from Moscow, Yaroslavl, Novgorod and even from the St. Pete are expected in the stands of the Arena Sports Complex.
The game will be broadcasted live on the Krasnodar, Match! Strana and Start TV channels, as well as on the main page of our website.
We believe that our team will write a glorious page in the club’s history on May 22, 2025.
Go, Loko! We are pushing to the end, we are gaining momentum!
