On Saturday, January 21 metropolitan basketball club «Astana» will host «Zenit» basketball club (St. Petersburg) in the championship of VTB United League.
 
FAQ about the opponent:

Zenit basketball team was founded in the summer of 2014, becoming the department in the structure of the football club of the same name. The backbone of the team and the coaching staff were representing   Triumph BC in the previous season. In addition, Zenith succeeded a right from the Moscow Region club to participate in the VTB United League Eurocup in 2014/2015 and in 2014/2015.
 
In the season 2014/2015, Zenit in its first season won the 4th place in the regular season VTB United League, and conceded in quarterfinals to Nizhny Novgorod after a row of five games, taking 5th place in the end of the day. In the Eurocup team won in two group stages, but lost to Khimki in the 1/8 finals.
 
In season 2015/2016 Zenit won the bronze medal of the VTB United League for the first time in its history.
In the off-season in 2016 the club roster was strengthened by 22-year-old shooting guard Sergey Karasev, who previously played in the NBA, and Serbian point guard Stefan Markovic, becaming one of the leaders of the team.
 
Well-known Russian expert, ex-head coach of the National Men’s Basketball Team Vasiliy Karasev leads the team. Last season, it was this coach who received the VTB United League «Coach of the Year» award.
 
Now Karasev's team occupies the 4th place in the league table with the result of 9 wins, 3 defeats. This season the teams have already met on the court in St.-Peterburg, where hosts brought home the bacon (99-72). Now there will be a completely different game. But, nevertheless, the match won't be a piece of cake for our team.
 
Ilias Papatheodorou commented on the upcoming match:
«The match with Zenit will be one of the most difficult home games this season. Zenit is a very strong team in the attack, they can score literally from anywhere, and easy find an opportunity to attack. Now they are in streak of good luck, wining several consecutive games, and in order to win we have to be focused and aggressive throughout all 40 minutes of the game. «
 
Ladies and gentlemen, the game will take place at «Saryarka» Republican cycle track. Beginning at 16.00 hours. Free admission!

Russian «Zenit» beat Kazakhstan «Astana» on the road — 105: 82 (25:17, 33:22, 24:23, 23:20).
 
Accurate and coordinated actions at both sides of the court allowed Zenit to take over the game completely even before the half time. A team from St.-Petersburg dominated the boards, punished an opponent ruthlessly for their mistakes, and had sharp throws in the final stages of attacks. Russian team broke away shortly after the first quarter has passed the equator: Sergey Karasev scored 5 points in 27 seconds, this rush was supported by sub-in Kyle Landry. Robert Lowry attempted later to organize a counter-attack, but the breakthrough of 12 points by navy-white-blue team in the middle of the second quarter brought the team to a 20-point lead (58:39 after 20 minutes). After switching the sides, Zenit tied all loose ends in order to win that allowed them to catch up UNICS ranking third in the standings so far. In addition, Zenit has gained more than 100 points in the third match in a row.
 
Scoring leaders:
 
«Astana»: Robert Lowry (22), Roderick Odom (18 + 7 rebounds), Ousman Kruballi (13).
 
«Zenit»: Ryan Toolson (24+5 ast), Janis Timma (21), Sergey Karasev (16)

Head coach of Astana, Ilias Papatheodorou:
- Congratulations to Zenit on a victory, it has been completely deserved. We played without energy, defence was not aggressive, and this is our problem. And, of course, Zenit is a high-level team with good players. Today we conceded the game easily. We need to continue to work, we have a very difficult and busy schedule now.
 
Head coach of Zenit, Vasily Karasev:
– We played well in defense, and used a big rotation. The important thing is that we didn’t relax when having a 20-point lead. What is crucial, we made it both in defence and in attack. There were some good fast breaks. We played under basket, then we moved the attack to the perimeter for 3-pointers. Overall, I’m happy with the game.
 
The next match of Astana will take place at a home court, on January 25 and 26.  The capital team will host Caspian from Aktau in the frame of the National League of Kazakhstan.