Preview of the WINLINE Basket Cup home game against Uralmash
Tomorrow, February 12, Zenit will face Uralmash in Round 5 of the WINLINE Basket Cup group stage. A win over the Yekaterinburg side will secure the Blue-White-Sky Blues a spot in the tournament’s Final Four. The stakes are higher than ever, so we’re definitely in for an exciting showdown!
Opponent
So far, in Group B, only Bosnia’s Igokea has lost its chances of reaching the final stage. Zenit, along with UNICS and Uralmash, remains in contention for a Final Four berth. Zenit currently has three wins in four games (their only loss came at home against UNICS). The Kazan team has the same record, while the Ural side sits at 2-2. That record was boosted by a hard-fought 77:74 victory over UNICS in the final game under head coach Rostislav Vergun.
Vergun has now joined the coaching staff of the club from the banks of the Neva, while Uralmash is led by Anton Yudin, who left Lokomotiv Kuban during the season and is well known to St. Petersburg fans for his work with Zenit-2.
Since the arrival of the new head coach, the Yekaterinburg team has picked up momentum in the VTB United League and currently sits sixth in the standings. Over the past month, Uralmash has defeated Samara, Enisey (twice), Lokomotiv Kuban, and BETCITY PARMA, and although they lost to CSKA (84:87) and UNICS (68:72), they put up a strong fight in both games.
The team’s last couple of games have been extremely tough — including the aforementioned clash with Kazan and an overtime win over the Krasnoyarsk side. Despite some injury issues, one thing remains unchanged: the foreign quartet of Nevels, Nelson, Ellis, and Dalton leads the team’s play and poses the biggest threat on both ends of the court.
Head-to-head
The Round 1 group stage matchup of the WINLINE Basket Cup, held in Yekaterinburg in October, ended with a 63:92 victory for Zenit.
Direct speech
Zenit head coach Dejan Radonjić shared his thoughts ahead of the game against the Ural side:
First of all, I would like to say it's a good team, they are in really good shape right now. So we need to be ready to play a good game, to be very focused and put a lot of energy on the court. Of course, defensively to do a lot of things and offensively, very, very important, maybe most important to read the game well.
Who. Where. When.
Opponent: Uralmash
Location: CSC Arena, St. Petersburg
Date: February 12, 20:00 (local time)
Broadcast: Match! Strana, WINLINE Basket Cup website, VK Video
