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.
