On Saturday, May 12, the capital basketball club will hold the final game of the regular VTB United League Championship against «Avtodor» from Saratov.
 
Chronicle of past games:
Basketball club from the city of Saratov has been participating in the VTB United League since 2014. Prior to VTB, the Saratov team has successfully played in the Super League of Russia, where they became numerous prize-winners and champions of the tournament. Regarding personal games «Astana» — «Avtodor», the teams met 7 times, 4 of which ended in favor of the Kazakh team.
This season the teams have already met in Saratov. Back then in a dramatic match with two overtime, the victory went to the hosts with a score of 92:86.

Interesting fact:
The head coach of «Astana» Mikhail Karpenko worked in Saratov from 2007 to 2011. In different years, Mikhail Vladimirovich worked as a head coach in DUBL, was an assistant and head coach in the main team of «Avtodor», when the team took part in the Higher League and in the Super League of Russia. With «Avtodor», Karpenko became the Super League champion in the 2008/2009 season.
 
Current situation:
Italian team Andrea Masson took the lead of the team earlier this season, but for family reasons, Masson left Saratov in November 2017. He was succeeded by the famous Russian expert Evgeniy Pashutin.
The leader of the team is an American center Coty Clark, who on average brings his team 20 points per game.
 
Standings:
Basketball club «Avtodor» stands on the comfortable 5th place and has long secured a place in the playoffs. «Saratov» has in its asset 13 wins from 23 games played.
The capital club takes 10th place and continues its fight for the playoffs.
 
Commentary of the head coach of BC «Astana», Mikhail Karpenko:
- We are approaching the final game in the regular season of the VTB League with a great desire to win. It so happened that we still have standing chances of getting into the playoffs, but two conditions must be fulfilled. The first, and most important, of them — we need to win «Avtodor». Secondly, we are satisfied only with the victory of «Zenit» over «Tsmoki-Minsk». Not everything depends on us, but the players of «Astana» are determined to do their best preparing for this match.

 »Avtodor» plays well, and we do not expect an easy match, because our rivals are fighting for the fifth place in the final table. This team uses a rapid style of play, seeks to score points in a quick breakthrough and early attack, and in this component, they are some of the best in the league. In positional attacks, «Avtodor» prefers to play through the pick-n-roll or creates «isolation» for its leaders. Undoubtedly, Koti Clark is the most dangerous player in their team, who was has been called MVP in April by VTB League, and he is also the best player in the championship in terms of performance.

We have several main tasks in this match: to stop the opponent's fast transition, to choose the best defense system against picks, to cope in the one-on-one game with the leaders of «Avtodor». In attacks, we should be smart and patient and attack more through weak links in defense of the opponent. The most important factor will also be the fight for rebounds. We all realize this and are preparing for a decisive battle. I believe that our guys will give it all on Saturday on the court for the good of victory!

Where, when, at what time?
Arena: Cycling track «Saryarka»
Time: 15.00 by the time of Astana
Broadcast: VTB United League website, BC «Astana» website, «QazSport» TV channel

Today in the final match of the regular season of the VTB United League the capital basketball club has been defeated by Saratov «Avtodor» with a score of 92:75.

During three periods, Astana players competed on an equal footing, but the turning point was the last quarter, during which the guests extended the gap in the score, and the hosts could not catch up.
The best players of the match: Malcolm Grant (22), Ike Udano (12 + 10 rebounds), Anthony Clemmons (11 + 5 rebounds + 7 assists).

Head Coach of «Astana» Mikhail Karpenko:
- Unfortunately, we fought, in fact, only for three quarters, kept the pace in the game. Partially the plan for the game was carried out, but in the fourth quarter, we completely lost our game. Now it is difficult to analyze hot on the trail, you need to rewatch the match. There is a feeling that some of our players just could not stand the pressure. We realized only 7 free throws out of 23 attempts, this is the worst result, which is not permissible for a professional team. We made a lot of stupid losses, but I'm not trying to hide behind the mistakes of the players — players and coaches lost together.

This regular season of the VTB United League has come to an end for «Astana», which means that the capital club has not qualified for the playoffs and completed its performance in the 2017/2018 season. Thank you, everyone, who has been with us for all season!