VTB League Finals. Zenit at CSKA Moscow. Game 1. Preview

On May 20, Xavi Pascual’s Zenit will play the first game of the final series of the VTB United League playoffs against the reigning champion – CSKA Moscow. The game will be held at the Megasport Sports Palace. It starts at 20:00.

Opposition

CSKA’s forces in the VTB United League

Points
16.0 – Alexey Shved (Russia, Guard, 198cm)

Rebounds
9.7 – Nikola Milutinov (Serbia, Center, 213 cm)

Assists
5.3 – Alexey Shved (Russia, Guard, 198 cm)

Steals
1.6 – Alexey Shved (Russia, Guard, 198 cm)

Zenit’s forces in the VTB United League

Points
14.5 – Billy Baron (USA, Guard, 187 cm)

Rebounds
5.5 – Alex Poythress (USA, forward, 205 cm)

Assists
4.1 – Jordan Loyd (USA, Guard, 197 cm)

Steals
1.2 – Jordan Loyd (USA, Guard, 197 cm)

Quote

Dmitriy Kulagin, Zenit BC Guard:

Congratulations to all the fans and the entire organization on the first final in club’s history. We have been striving for this since the very beginning of the season, we have worked very hard, we have been a single team and a single mechanism all season, no matter what, we have reached our goal. Now we will work further to achieve what we want.

Xavi Pascual, Zenit BC Head Coach:

Now all the details are important: the quality of the preparation of the two teams, motivation, control over emotions, following the game plan. After that, the basic things are already going on – control over the rebounds, the effectiveness of free three-point shots, the accuracy of free throws. Every detail in the series of seven games. CSKA is the winner of many seasons, we know that it will be difficult, they have excellent players, we know how it will be, but we are thinking about something else, about how to emphasize our best qualities and minimize our weaknesses. We need to find an opportunity to always be in the game and look for an opportunity to win. We are all in full force now and fully ready for the final series.