Almost two months ago, on January 24, Zenit lost to CSKA in Moscow (90:93) and hasn’t lost since, at least in the VTB United League. They’ve won 10 league games in a row, so now, the second-longest streak belongs to Lokomotiv and BETCITY PARMA (two wins each).
But strictly speaking, Zenit’s winning streak is 6 games, as they lost 67:81 at home to Uralmash in an intra-season cup game on February 12. That night, only Trent Frazier (23 points in almost 38 minutes of play) and Andrei Vorontsevich (11 points) were not bad for the St. Petersburg team. Vorontsevich is one of only two players on our opponent’s roster who haven’t missed a single game this season (the other being Andrei Martyuk). The 38-year-old, 14-time Russian champion is averaging 21 minutes per game this season (6.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks), and his 3-point shot remains as dangerous as ever—42.5%, or 1.6 hits out of 3.8 attempts per game.
A week later, Zenit got revenge, defeating Uralmash in Yekaterinburg 78:60 in the VTB United League game. Frazier once again led the scoresheet with 22 points, while we’ll highlight the performance of Vladislav Yemchenko (14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals). The Lokomotiv alum is averaging 7.2 points for his new team, boasting a master’s-level long-range shooting (45% – 1.1 of 2.5), 2.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals.
Then, on February 22, the St. Petersburg team defeated BETCITY PARMA in Perm (84:78), limiting their opponent to score just 1 point in the final 7 minutes. Levi Randolph scored 20 points in that game, while Frazier added 18. However, Randolph has since left the league, so Frazier remains the top scorer on Zenit’s current roster: he averages 14.4 points (on 41.5% 3-point shooting—2.7 of 6.5), makes 5.7 assists (the best among his players), and makes 1.3 steals.
Following the international break, Zenit ended UNICS’s winning streak—for a year and a half the Kazan team hadn’t lost to anyone at home in the VTB United League regular season. After an even first half, Dejan Radonjić‘s guys swept their opponents in the 3rd quarter, 31:13. The final score was 82-75. Andre Roberson had a powerful performance: 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. This season, the power forward averages 9.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.6 blocks, with a plus/minus of +11.9. Roberson leads the team in the latter two metrics.
Three days later, Zenit defeated BETCITY PARMA again, this time in St. Petersburg – 74:64. As in their previous encounter, the decisive moment was again a 4th-quarter spurt. Roberson recorded a double-double (13+13), while Xavier Moon, who returned from a serious injury, scored the most points (14) for Zenit. The point guard has played 7 games this season, averaging 11.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.9 steals (which ranks him best on Zenit and 2nd in the league).
A week ago, our opponent took victory from Krasnoyarsk. The score was 74:71, which shouldn’t be misleading; Yenisei only managed to get close in the final minute. Power forward Luka Šamanić (17) led the St. Petersburg team in scoring, raising his season average to 13.8 points. He also averages 5.1 rebounds and 0.5 blocks, and opponents foul him an 4.2 times per game – the same number as Moon, who is joint-leader on the team in this metric.
Against Yenisei, center Ismaёl Bako made his debut for Zenit – he played 3.5 minutes and did not score.
In their previous game, on March 18, Zenit crushed the newly crowned Russian Cup champions, MBA-MAI, in Moscow with a score of 83:65. Georgy Zhbanov‘s performance (22 PIR points) that day was the most effective thanks to 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. This shooting guard has been posting solid season averages: 8.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.3 blocks.
One more Zenit debutant, shooting guard Johnny Juzang, was in the starting lineup against MBA-MAI. He played 20 minutes, scored 6 points, made 3 rebounds and 1 steal.
The game starts at 1:00 PM. Go, Loko!