Troublemakers: VEF And Astana Break Stereotypes

They talked quite a lot during the summer about the poor competition from the League’s foreign teams. But the regular season crosses the t’s. During the 2014-15 season, for example, Astana, Kalev and VEF finished better than Enisey, Krasny Oktyabr and Krasnye Krylia in the standings. Last year, Nymburk stole the show, winning 16 of 30 games and depriving Enisey and Krasny Oktyabr of any chances to enter playoff.

Foreign clubs make changes this seasons as well. VEF and Astana exceeded expectations, ranking 6th and 7th in the standings, and getting ahead over Avtodor and Nizhny Novgorod leaps and bounds.
The Latvians and Kazakhs have been especially good against the League’s Russian teams, having 4-4 records.

Here are several reasons why VEF and Astana are looking like challengers for a playoff.

Interesting decisions

VEF experienced the most significant changes than any  other team in the League this summer. Only one player has remained from last season’s roster: center Martins Meiers. Riga took a conventional approach, bringing back experienced players (Blums, Skele), scouting several underrated foreigners (Richard, Gaddy, Labuckas) and snapping up talented young Latvians (Gromovs, Helmanis, Vecvagars).

The team impressed immediatly winning Khimki on the road in the first game of the season. Since then, the team went through ups and downs, but has steadily improved. VEF’s biggest issue is its short bench. Forward Mareks Mejeris has recently returned from France, while basketball insider David Pick says the club is looking for a foreign guard.

Astana has somewhat different situation. Over the last 2 or 3 years, the club signed big names. But Calathes, Caner-Medley and Hayes did not always meet expectations, with last season turning to be especially disappointing. This summer, the head office decided to sign less known foreigners with high ambitions.

So far, the strategy is working. Americans Odom, Krubally, Miller and Greek Katsivelis have been quite capable of leading the team. But Rob Lowery has been the biggest revelation. An explosive guard, he’s impressed the fans with his leadership skills and his appearance.


 

Schedule

The calendar has been good for VEF and Astana in the first three months of the season. Astana played eight of its first 11 games at home, where the club historically is tough to beat. So far, the Kazakhs had a 5-3 record at home.

Riga, meanwhile, played seven of 11 on the road. All four home games have been against their direct  playoff rivals (Tsmoki-Minsk, Avtodor, Kalev, Enisey) and VEF took advantage, setting a 4-0 record. So far, the team has only faced top-tier competition on the road. Once the tables turn (elite teams visit Riga and VEF has to battle rivals on the road), Blums and his team has to take a lot of effort to win.



No European contests

Another common factor for these two teams is that they do not participate in any Europen competitions. Yes, they do compete in domestic leagues, but the demands are remarkably different. In the Latvian league, for instance, there are only bus trips, and away games do not take much time or energy. In Kazakhstan, meanwhile, only three teams compete in the top league. Taken together, VEF and Astana have more time to recover, scout and prepare for each game than almost any other team in the VTB United League.

The  non-competition in Europe cups is perhaps the primary factor separating Astana and VEF and Tsmoki-Minsk. The Belarusians also started strong, but once the continental flights started to pile up, the Dragons’ momentum vanished. Even an automatic berth in the Belarusian league playoffs hasn’t helped.

Motivation

For players in Riga and Astana, playing well in the League can lead to exciting new opportunities. VEF, for example, had plenty of athletes moving to the bigger clubs after a year or two in Riga: Janis Timma (Zenit), Francisco Cruz (Fuenlabrada), Ludwig Hakanson (Fuenlabrada), Andzejs Pasecniks (Gran Canaria), Dairis Bertans (Darussafaka), E.J. Rowland (Khimki) and many more. Each of these players  advanced their careers and earned promotions.



According to Enisey head coach Oleg Okulov, stars of foreign teams are so eager to prove themselves that playing them can be quite difficult. It’s tough to break through CSKA or UNICS’s defense, but ambitious players know they have an opportunity against smaller clubs. This season, Enisey has succumbed to mutually scored 53 points of Lowery and Miller ,and 11 4th-quarter points of VEF’s Richard.

 Ending wins

VEF and Astana lead in ending wins. Both teams won three times in the final minutes of the game. Riga knocked off Khimki (76-73), Tsmoki-Minsk (88-85) and Enisey (84-81). The Kazakhs were better than Avtodor (83-78), VEF (66-64) and Enisey (98-97).

There are a lot of reasons for this: good skills, fresh blood, heady play, and fan support (most of these wins were at home) can do miracles. Even fortune can go long. Just recall  Astana's guard Rob Lowery’s game-winning shot against Enisey.

Astana and VEF started the season impressively. But it is too early to relax with half of the season ahead. The upcoming months will revel how tough these two teams really are: Astana has a lot of flights, while Riga will be hosting some of the League’s strongest teams. The way they cope will show whether they are worthy for a playoff.