The players of the basketball club «Astana» returned from the disposition of the National team after successfully performing in the decisive matches of the Asian Cup Qualification 2021. Big basketball is returning to Kazakhstan together with our guys! On March 1, the capital will host a return game against the Estonian «Kalev» in the framework of the VTB United League. The game will take place on Monday, March 1, starting at 7:30 pm Nur-Sultan time.

ATTENTION! — In connection with the restrictive measures introduced in the capital due to the coronavirus pandemic, the match will be held without spectators with empty stands.

«Kalev» is an Estonian professional men's basketball club from Tallinn, founded in 1920.

Achievements:

• USSR Champion — 1991
• Estonian Champion — 2000, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016-2019
• Silver medalist of the Estonian Championship — 2015
• Estonian Cup Winner 2005-2008, 2016, 2017

The first game of «Astana» with the Estonians this season took place on November 5, 2020, and then our team took away the victory from Tallinn. Since then, the Estonian team has played 11 matches. After playing with the Kazakh team, “Kalev” won the first victory of the season, beating “Tsmoki-Minsk” at home. Then the team suffered three defeats in the away games from «UNICS», «Nizhny Novgorod» and «Avtodor», and also lost at home to «Zenit». “Kalev” won the second victory of the season, again beating “Tsmoki-Minsk”, but in Minsk this time, and then again failed in the confrontation with “Zielona Gora” and “Yenisey”. On February 7, the Estonian team made a sensation, snatching victory from CSKA on their court. The last two matches “Kalev” played in Perm, where they competed in two matches against the local PARMA, and in one of the games they were nominal hosts. The Permians won both matches.

Tournament position:

Both “Astana” and “Kalev” are still quite far from the playoff zone. Emil Rajkovic's team, after four wins in fifteen games, is on the 10th line, and the Estonians are two positions lower, and they have 3 wins in 15 games. Now the competition at the bottom of the standings is pretty tight and the teams are very close to each other. Thus, the result of the upcoming game can significantly change the balance of power. In case of victory, “Astana” will remain on the 10th line, but will improve its rate of victories and defeat, with this outcome, “Kalev” will also remain in its current position, but will lag behind “Yenisey” and “Astana”. If the Estonians win, then “Astana” will definitely go down one line lower, again skipping ahead of “Yenisey” based on the results of the games. Also, in the event of the victory of the guests, our guys will equal them in terms of results. It is important to note that Estonians have one technical defeat this season and even if they win, they will have one less, that is, in any case, they will remain on the twelfth line.

Roster changes:

In December, the Estonian “Kalev” broke the contract with the American guard Gabe Biller and he was replaced by the Serbian guard Brano Djukanovic. However, he did not last long with the Estonians and left the team on 26 February. In December, one of their leaders from last season, Estonian forward Janari Joessar, returned to Kalev. His career mainly took place in Estonia, since 2015 he played in the Estonian teams «Rapla», «Rakvere Tarvas» and «University of Tartu», and since 2017 he has been defending the colors of «Kalev». He started last season in the Spanish team “Canarias”, and in the course of the season he returned to the Estonian team. This season, about the same happened, Janari just started the season for the Spanish team “Manresa”. December brought many changes in the Estonian roster and before the New Year, “Kalev” was strengthened by another newcomer — American forward Maurice Kemp. Maurice started his career with the Hungarian team «Alba Fehervar» and then spent one season in the NBA Development League with Canton Charge. Then they played in the teams of Greek “Kavala”, the Estonian “Rapla”, the Lebanese “Tadamon Zuk”, the Argentine “Orbas Basket” and the Spanish “Fuenlabrada”. This season Kemp started in the Uruguayan team “National”.

And, of course, it is worth noting the changes in Astana's roster. Latvian center Martins Meiers left our team, and was replaced by American center Eric Buckner, who will make his debut in «Astana» in the upcoming match with «Kalev».

Rival leaders:

The leader of the team is now Markus Keene with the best results, both in efficiency and effectiveness. Also worth noting is the newcomer — Maurice Kemp and the conditional newcomer — Yanari Joesaar, who perfectly fit into the team and quickly became one of the leaders of the team. The main players are also Devin Thomas and Chavon Lewis, although Chavon played only four games this season, but played in one of the matches in Perm. In addition, the coaching staff of “Kalev” often engages the Estonians Martin Dorbek, Kregor Hermet, Stan Sokka, Tanel Kurbas and the Latvian Janis Kaufmanis.
 
The match will take place on Monday, March 1 in Nur-Sultan at the arena of the Republican Cycling Track «Saryarka», beginning at 19:30 Nur-Sultan time. Online broadcast of the match will be available on our website in the Match Center section.

Detailed information about the tournament, tournament tables, schedule and match results are published in the Tournaments section.

The excellent opening quarter performed by the basketball club «Astana» against the Estonian «Kalev» was completely crossed off by the second one, which played a decisive role in the outcome of the whole match.

After ball jump, the guests took possession of the ball, but in the first attack they did not manage to open a score but the second attempt of the Estonians was crowned with success. Astana's response was not long in coming — Michael Thompson, who scored the first three-pointer in the match, brought our team forward. Then «Kalev» took the lead again, but their attack was parried by the newcomer of the capital team Eric Buckner, who gained his first points for «Astana» and in the VTB United League. This was followed by a series of effective attacks — Adonis Tomas, Ojars Silins and Michael Thompson distinguished themselves. After that, the coaching staff of “Kalev” had to take a time-out to slow down the pace of the Kazakh team, and this partially helped. Estonians reduced the gap from seven to three points, but “Astana” did not allow rivals to catch up and the main reason for this was Ojars Silins, who was accurate from behind the arc, and also scored twice from the free-throw line. Until the end of the quarter, Jeremiah Hill, Devin Marble and Askar Maidekin earned their first points in the match, and the difference was around seven points. In the last seconds of the quarter, our players made an unfortunate loss, which the opponents took full advantage of, setting the final score of the first period - 23:18 in favor of the hosts. If in the first period the performance figures of “Astana” were quite decent, then in the second, especially this indicator turned into a failure. It took “Kalev” just over a minute to level the score, after which Emil Rajkovic was forced to take a time-out, but unfortunately he did not give the desired effect and the Estonians continued to go forward. The first points in the second ten minutes for “Astana” were earned by Michael Thompson, who distinguished himself with three-pointer in the fourth minute of the period. However, it did not change the situation on the court. “Kalev” continued to lead, and “Astana” could not score the rivals' ring. Three minutes before the end of the first half, the score difference became double-digit, and then it quickly passed 15 points. Thompson, a little less than two minutes before the end of the second quarter, made the floater, which was the last effective action in the first half of the game, which ended with the score — 28:43.


 
After a good start, “Astana” in the second quarter was able to score only five points, but at the same time missed 25. During the break, the coaching staff made adjustments in the game, and the 15 point difference was not yet fatal. Jeremiah Hill opened the scoring in the third quarter, but immediately missed three effective attacks of the opponents. Our team did not go well not only in the attack, but in defense as well. Three more effective attacks by “Kalev” proved this. By that time, the backlog of “Astana” had already exceeded twenty points. Until the end of the quarter, points for our team were scored by Michael Thompson, Jeremiah Hill and Devin Marble, but the difference between the teams remained above the twenty-point line. Askar Maidekin, having sent the ball into the basket from a difficult pass, set the final score in the third period — 43:64. More than twenty points gap is quite a lot for the final quarter and it was no longer very easy to recoup in this situation. Moreover, “Kalev” continued to dominate and it was the guests who scored the first points in the last period. Points from Michael Thompson and Devin Marble reduced the gap, and after one effective attack from “Kalev” Maxim Marchuk marked the beginning of a good breakthrough for our team. He was supported by Michael Thompson, he was twice accurate from beyond the arc. After the realized free throw from Jeremiah Hill, four minutes before the end of the match, the difference was reduced to 13 points, and the intrigue in the game significantly intensified. Nevertheless, “Astana” could not consolidate its success, and for the next couple of minutes the initiative was again on the side of the guests, who returned to twenty points' advantage, in fact, were already celebrating the victory. In the last minute and a half, only Michael Thompson scored points, hitting the target four times from the penalty line — 61:77 (23:18, 5:25, 15:21, 18:13).

Consequences: With each defeat, “Astana” loses its chances in the race for the playoffs, lagging more and more behind the top eight. After today's game, our team again went down to the 11th line of the standings, letting «Yenisey» ahead. Now three teams — “Yenisey”, “Astana” and “Kalev” have the same number of victories and defeats. The Krasnoyarsk team bypasses “Astana” according to the results of the matches, and “Kalev” lags behind both teams in the number of tournament points, since they had a technical defeat this season.
   
Most productive:

• «Astana» — Michael Thompson today took a lot on his shoulders and was the clear leader in the team — 24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. And Jeremiah Hill has 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a block shot. 10 points and 2 rebounds for Ojars Silins. But Eric Buckner's debut was not as successful  - 2 points, although he performed 7 rebounds.
• «Kalev» — Janari Joesaar and Chavon Lewis became the main creators of the victory for their team. Janari earned an impressive double-double — 17 points and 18 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals. Chavon — 21 points and 6 assists. Markus Keene had 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

 
«Astana» head coach — Emil Rajkovic:
- Congratulations to «Kalev» on the victory — they were better today. The opponents dominated the rebounds, which showed their attitude and desire. We weren't in the best shape, we weren't fighting for rebounds. It is very difficult to count on winning with 61 points at home. Therefore, we must think about what to do next. 

«Kalev» head coach — Roberts Stelmahers:
- I would like to say thank you to the whole team, I am very pleased with the result. It was a good win after a short break. The difference in the score allowed us to win back the “-7” which we lost at home. Therefore, we are very satisfied with this result.
 
Next match: Next, Emil Rajkovic’s team will have to prepare for the away meeting with «Nizhny Novgorod» in the VTB United League, which will take place next weekend on March 7.

Detailed information about the tournament, tournament tables, schedule and match results are published in the Tournaments section.