Since our 89:80 home win over Zenit on November 9th, our opponents have put together a decent run: 6 wins and 1 loss. They’ve beaten MBA-MAI (83:69) and Pari NN (102:80) at home, lost to CSKA in Moscow (88:93), secured their second victory in the in-season cup in Bosnia against Igokea (83:80), clawed out a win in Yekaterinburg against Uralmash (86:79), swept Samara (95:56) and Yenisei (105:81) at home. Now, they have the same win-loss ratio as we do (10-5), being ahead us in point difference (we have “+85” and they have “+159”).
The “new frontcourt players” our coach talks about are, first and foremost, Croatian talent Luka Šamanić. The 19th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft played 86 games in that, then moved to Europe, and his previous club Baskonia. In the VTB United League, he averages 11.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.8 blocks, and also draws 4.2 fouls per game—the highest average on Zenit.
Another new big man for our opponent is center Noah Vonleh, who has played 372 NBA games, peaking at 8.4 points (for the Knicks in 2018/19). He has played 3 games for Zenit so far, averaging 16 minutes, 6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks (best on the team and 3rd in the league).
After recovery, point guard Nenad Dimitrijević continues to put up strong stats: he currently has 12.4 points (on 46.2% 3-point shooting – 1.5 hits out of 3.3 attempts), 2.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists (6th in the league) and 0.6 steals.
Another Zenit’s point guard, Trent Frazier, is averaging 13.9 points on 48.4% 3-point shooting (2.8 out of 5.8 per game), 1.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals (best on the team).
Our opponent’s leading scorer is shooting guard Levi Randolph (14.9 points). He also shoots 3-pointers at a top rate – 47.6% (1.4 of 3.0), along with 3.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 0.8 steals.
Loko’s alumnus Andrei Martyuk leads Zenit in rebounds with 7.9, which is currently 2nd in the VTB United League. Besides that, the 2022 Kuban Athlete of the Year has 10.9 points and 1.0 blocks this season.
Another of our graduates, Vladislav Yemchenko, leads Zenit in 3-point accuracy at 53.7% (1.6 of 2.9) – second in the league among players who average more than one long-range shot per game. The Krasnodar native also brings his new team 9.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 0.9 steals.
Zenit’s epic 3-point percentage is co-provided by Russian basketball legend forward Andrei Vorontsevich. This season, he’s shooting 45.2% (1.9 of 4.1) from beyond the arc, along with 7.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 0.7 blocks per game.
Our coach has already noted that Zenit leads the league in 3-pointers (40.8%). They’re also doing well in 2-pointers: 2nd (57.7%), and 3rd in free throws (79.2%). The only statistic that still places them in the league’s Top 3 is points scored (89.2). Oh, wait, they’re also 2nd in fewest turnovers (11.4).
As we see, it’s quite possible to compete with this opponent. May the red-green hearts beat in unison on December 17 at 7:00 PM. May Lokomotiv Kuban win. Go, red-greens!
