Zenit will fight for a spot in the WINLINE Basket Cup Final Four. Preview
For Zenit, tomorrow’s game will be crucial — in order to reach the tournament’s Final Four, which will, however, be held in Saint Petersburg, Dejan Radonjić’s team will only be satisfied with a victory. Let’s take a look at the key facts ahead of the matchup in the capital of Tatarstan.
Opponent
In fact, UNICS have not yet officially secured a spot in the Final Four. Since Uralmash won their last game, if UNICS were to lose to Zenit by a margin of 73 points, the Kazan side could still be eliminated. However, looking at the situation objectively, Velimir Perasović’s team had a confident group stage and approach the game against the Blue-White-Sky Blues in first place in Group B with four wins and one loss.
If we look at the past few weeks in the VTB League, UNICS are currently in excellent form. After losing at home to Zenit on March 7, the green team have recorded four consecutive victories, including a win over CSKA (86:80).
The home team’s top scorer in both tournaments is Jalen Reynolds, who is well known to Saint Petersburg fans. In the WINLINE Basket Cup, the American averages 18.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Head-to-head
The first-round game in Saint Petersburg went UNICS’ way — 72:91 in favor of the opponent
Direct speech
Zenit head coach Dejan Radonjić commented ahead of the decisive game:
It is our last chance to make the Final Four, so it’s crucial for us to come out with high energy and full focus from the very beginning. We need to execute on both ends of the floor, control the rhythm of the game, and stay locked in for all forty minutes.
UNICS is always strong at home, especially after a win over CSKA, so to control the game in Kazan we must be solid defensively and make the right reads offensively. These will be the key factors.
Who. Where. When.
Opponent: UNICS
Location: Basket Hall, Kazan
Date: March 26, 19:00 St. Petersburg time
Broadcast: Match! Igra, WINLINE Basket Cup website, VK Video
