St. Petersburg will host the WINLINE Basket Cup group stage game between Zenit and UNICS.
Zenit (St. Petersburg) vs UNICS (Kazan)
Time: 19:00
Place: Russia, St. Petersburg, CSC Arena
Broadcast: VK Video, WINLINE Basket Cup website
Zenit: The St. Petersburg team is going through a difficult period. Many players are injured, and even those who are playing are not always in optimal condition. At the time of the last game against Enisey, Nenad Dimitrijevic, Andre Roberson, Georgy Zhbanov and Levi Randolph were in the infirmary, and key big man Alex Poythress was out for the rest of the season. The hosts will surely solve problems during the long regular season (on Tuesday, the club announced the signing of former NBA player Luka Samanic), but in the fast-paced Cup format, it will be more difficult.
UNICS: The Kazan team started the season with 6 wins, then lost to CSKA and returned to winning in Nizhny Novgorod. The dominant Marcus Bingham was named VTB League MVP of October. UNICS has already defeated Zenit in St. Petersburg earlier this season (104:77) and will try to repeat that in its first WINLINE Basket Cup game. The Kazan team responded to Samanic’s transfer with the equally high-profile signing of Alexey Shved, who finished last season with Zenit.