Including the intra-season cup, this will be our 5th game this season – and Perm has won 3 of them, including the cup game in Krasnodar on January 22. That evening, Lokomotiv held the lead for most of the game, but let their opponents overrun and lost 92:93. Center Gleb Firsov led the visitors with 20 points. In the VTB United League, the 21-year-old All-Star Game participant averages 9.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game.
During the first half of the season, Perm’s Molot Sports Palace was rightfully considered one of the toughest venues to play – BETCITY PARMA was almost guaranteed to win at home. But the situation has changed recently – and it all started with Yevgeny Pashutin‘s team’s 73:79 loss to MBA-MAI on January 25. Even an impressive stats from point guard Brendan Adams (14 assists, 6 assists, and 7 assists) didn’t help. Of the two Perm Adamses, this one averages perhaps the most court time in the championship (33:20), ranks 4th in the league in assists (6.0) and 8th in scoring (15.6). He has the team’s best plus-minus (+5.1), a great 3-point percentage (37.4% – 2.2 hits on 6 attempts per game), 2.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals.
On January 29, BETCITY PARMA secured a predictable victory in Samara (93:74), returned home and lost again on February 1, to Uralmash in overtime (85:91). This time, Jalen Adams (22 points) was the best scorer for the home team. This season, the point guard is averaging 13.6 points (on 37.7% three-point shooting – 2.2 of 5.8), 3.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.4 steals (ranking 7th in the league).
On February 5, Perm lost their third consecutive game at Molot – this time to CSKA in the intra-season cup (83:88). The home team’s shooting guard, Viktor Sanders, was close to a double-double, with 24 points and 8 assists. In the VTB United League, he has double-digit scoring (10.5 points on 36.4% three-point shooting – 1.9 of 5.2), equal numbers of rebounds and assists (2.8 each), and the same 1.4 steals as J. Adams.
On February 8, BETCITY PARMA won in Nizhny Novgorod (87:62). This time, South Ural captain Stanislav Ilnitsky came close to a double-double, with 10 points and 9 rebounds. He is one of two players on our opponent’s roster who hasn’t missed a single game this season, and his plus/minus (+4.7) is third on the team. Overall, his stats are sound: 3.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks.
Finally, just before the All-Star break on February 12, BETCITY PARMA played evenly until the final seconds against UNICS, but still lost (72:74). Things started off well for the Perm team – Lev Svinin was a consistent long-range scorer, hitting 5, and at one point, the visitors’ lead approached 20 points. Overall this season, Svinin is shooting 35.9% from beyond the arc (1.0 of 2.9), which helps him average 6.4 points, along with 2.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.3 blocks. Like Ilnitskiy, he has played all 27 league games for his team so far, without missing a single one.
But the main star of the current BETCITY PARMA roster is center Terrell Carter, as was showed by Sunday’s All-Star Game: Carter played as much as his 3 other teammates combined, scoring 8 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals. In league games, the 291-pound athlete eagerly engages in contact, which is confirmed by the statistics: he commits the most fouls on the team (3.7 times per game) and is fouled the most (5.2). Terrell averages 13 points, and his 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.0 blocks contribute significantly to the Perm team’s 3rd place in the league in those three stats.
The game starts at 5:30 PM Moscow time. Go, Loko!