Zenit-2 will host Vladivostok's Dynamo
The farm team of St. Petersburg will face the leader of the regular season and reigning Fonbet SuperLeague champion, Vladivostok's Dynamo, after a two-week break.
Unlike the blue-whites, the team from Primorsky Krai has already played a match following the international break. On Monday, November 25, Alexey Golyakhov's squad defeated Grozny's Dynamo on the road with a score of 93:70, maintaining their position at the top of the standings.
For Daniil Aksenov, the upcoming match will be his first appearance in the Zenit-2 jersey against his former team. With Dynamo, the guard won the championship and was named MVP last season. The loss of Daniil has been partially offset for the Primorsky team by the arrival of Ivan Strebkov (13.3 points per game) and Anton Ponkrashov (12.6), who joined from Pari Nizhny Novgorod. Incidentally, Ponkrashov is no stranger to St. Petersburg — during the 2019/20 season, the guard played for Zenit's main team, appearing in 39 games in the EuroLeague and the VTB United League. Additionally, key players from last season’s championship roster, such as Vyacheslav Grachev (13) and Mikhaylo Bogdanovich (12.6), continue to deliver strong performances for the visitors.
Dynamo and Zenit-2 are the two highest-scoring teams in the Super League. The Primorsky squad averages 83.6 points per game, while the blue-whites are just 0.7 points behind at 82.9.
The head-to-head record between the two teams stands at four games, with an even split of 2:2.
Zenit-2 head coach Oliver Popovic shared his expectations for the home game against Dynamo:
We’re hosting the team currently in first place in the standings and last year’s Super League champions. They’re an experienced, solid team, so we’re in for a tough game tomorrow. I don’t even know our final roster yet, as we’re dealing with injuries again. Krivyh is definitely out. So, we expect a challenging match.
The game will take place on November 28 at the Zenit Basketball Academy court (Severnaya Road, 12). The match starts at 18:00 St. Petersburg time. Entry is free for all fans, and the game will be streamed live on the Russian Basketball Federation's website.
