Lokomotiv Kuban has two regular season games left (they also play Yenisei on Wednesday), and for BETCITY PARMA, this will be their final game of the regular season. After playing us on Saturday, they’ll travel home, have some time there, and return to play us on April 27 and 29 in the first games of the quarterfinals.
It’s unlikely that Jalen Adams (whose season averages are 13.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals) and Alexander Shashkov (7.4 points on 40.7% three-point shooting, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.0 assists) will play for BETCITY PARMA in the upcoming game. We’ll talk about the rest of their team through the prism of their recent games.
Our last game against Yevgeny Pashutin‘s team took place on February 17th in Perm. Lokomotiv won 88:81, taking the final five minutes by a margin of 10. Kirill Temirov led our way with 21 points, and Jeremiah Martin had an inspired 2nd half, posting a double-double (17 points, 10 assists). For BETCITY PARMA, 21-year-old center Gleb Firsov had the best game of his senior career – 33 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a 46 efficiency rating. This player (who often played with Vsevolod Ishchenko for the Rostov Region team in his age group) averages 9.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1 block per game.
Since then, BETCITY PARMA has played Yenisei three times, winning twice. The March 4 victory (81:70) was notable not only for Firsov‘s double-double (16+11) but also for Lev Svinin‘s strong performance: 21 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block in 37 minutes on the court. The 19-year-old forward averages almost 21 minutes per game in the championship, posting a lineup of 6.3+2.9+1.1+0.7+0.3.
On March 19, Perm defeated UNICS at home for the second time this season, 80:77, limiting their opponent’s attack to just 8 points in the 4th quarter. This game was a bonanza for Victor Sanders: 28 points (including 7 three-pointers), 4 assists, 3 steals, and his team’s only block. The American shooting guard is second on BETCITY PARMA in three-point accuracy (behind Shashkov) at 37.9%, or 2.1 made on 5.5 attempts. This helps Sanders average 11.2 points, along with 2.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.6 steals—a clear leader in this category for the South Ural team.
Three days later, on March 22, Perm had a tangible chance to beat CSKA–the score was tied, 72-72, in the 34th minute of their away game against them. Later, however, the reigning champion took the victory–91:83. But this in no way negates the quality of Terrell Carter’s play: 17 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocks. The 290-pound center has become one of the most impressive rookies in the VTB United League this season: he’s averaging 13.4 points, 6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1 block, while also fouling more than anyone else on his team (3.7 times per game) and being fouled the most (5.4 times).
A little later, on March 31st, PARMA faced a crucial match in the intraseason Winline Basket Cup (they competed in this tournament without the word “BETCITY” in their name) against Belgrade’s Mega. The Ural team needed to avoid losing by 17 points, but they exceeded that goal, winning 92:70. This game was the first time Yevgeny Minchenko, who had made his debut for the club a week earlier, truly showed his skills: against the Serbians, the 7’1″ center scored 12 points. Minchenko has so far played five games for the Perm team in the VTB United League, averaging 2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 13 minutes. It’s interesting that Yevgeniy (in the next photo, on the right) hasn’t yet made a single three-pointer for his new team, which he excelled at on his previous team, Samara (37.8%).
On April 9, our opponent almost caused a big upset: Samara was leading 39:23 after just 19 minutes in Perm, but the home team finally pulled themselves together and won 76:65. Stanislav Ilnitsky, the BETCITY PARMA captain, was close to a double-double (10+8), and his season stats (3.5+4.5+1 assist) seem modest until you get to the plus/minus column, where he leads his team by far (+4.7).
Next came the WBC (Winline Basket Cup) Final Four, where it initially seemed like PARMA has no chance: Firsov dropped out with rotavirus, and the team lost the semifinals to UNICS without much of a fight, 83:104. However, Perm’s leader, Brendan Adams, was quite good that night: 28 points on 7 three-pointers and 9 assists. We call this point guard a leader based on the numbers: he spends more time on the court than anyone else in the league (33 minutes), scores more than anyone else in his team (14.9 points on 37.8% three-point shooting), and is also in the top 5 in the league for assists (5.7).
A day later, after Ilnitsky also dropped out with rotavirus, PARMA staged one of the most impressive comebacks of the season, essentially playing with seven players, overcoming a 20-point deficit against Zenit in the WBC bronze medal match. The Urals team won the final four minutes 20:0, and the total score was 95:89. Alexander Zakharov was especially unstoppable, scoring 22 points and hitting 5 three-pointers.
BETCITY PARMA played their most recent game on April 15 in Saratov, where they initially allowed Avtodor to have some fun (33:36 after the first half), but then clamped down on its opponent and crushed them, 73:60. Three players from the Perm team each scored 19 points. Ivan Yegorov stood out in particular – this was the best game of the 20-year-old club alumnus’s career. Since the start of the season, the point guard has already appeared in 27 VTB United League games, averaging 2.7 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 0.3 steals per 9 minutes.
Among other homegrown players who are regularly making the Perm main team’s roster but haven’t yet received much minutes, we note Grigory Golovchenko. The 19-year-old center was named MVP of the month in the VTB United Youth League in March, where his season statistics are 11.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 0.5 blocks.
The game will begin at 3:00 PM, and the Basket Hall will open to fans at 1:30 PM. See you in the stands! Go, Loko!