Zenit vs Astana. Preview

The blue-whites team returns after a long break in the championship. The home match against Astana will kick off the spring part of the season and the final stretch of the tournament, where the St. Petersburg team aims to peak in form before the playoffs.

Context

At the end of January, the Kazakhs finally ended their long losing streak, defeating Samara on their home court — 75:67. However, the calendar then presented new challenges: in matches against MBA, Uralmash, Loko and CSKA, Gleb Plotnikov's team failed to put up a fight. Now, they face another tough away game in St. Petersburg.

Despite inconsistent results, Astana demonstrates solid defense. The Kazakh team is among the best in the league in terms of rebounds on their own boards (24.6 per game) — largely thanks to Danila Pokhodiaev (4.2 rebounds, fifth in the championship). The team also stands out for the number of block shots (2.9 per game), with Galin Smith being especially effective (1.1 block shots, third in the league).

The offensive leader of Astana is forward Daniel Utomi, who averages 15 points per game. This is the ninth-best result among all players in the championship.

Head-to-head

In head-to-head matchups, Zenit holds the advantage: 16 wins against 5 for Astana.

Quotes

The head coach of St. Petersburg’s team Xavi Pascual shared his thoughts ahead of the match:

After 16 days we are coming back to play, also we are coming back here at home. So, we want to continue in the rhythm that we were, playing good game defensively and offensively and hopefully to make enjoy our fans and to win this game. All the games are very important now. We are in the last part of the competition and we have 12 games to play. 

Who. Where. When. 

Opponent: Astana

Location: CSC Arena, St. Petersburg

Date: March 1, 14:00 (local time)

Broadcast: VTB United League website

Tickets are available on tickets.bc-zenit.com