Fenerbahce Beko completed the 2023 VTB SuperCup tournament in third place after defeating Nizhny Novgorod 82 – 80.

Johnathan Motley led Fenerbahce with 22 points and five rebounds, making 5-6 key free throws in the last decisive minutes. Marko Guduric added 14 points, Nate Sestina scored 12 and Yam Madar had 11 points.

For Nizhny, Bryon Allen dropped 19 points while veteran Andrei Vorontsevich posted 12 points plus five rebounds. Mikhail Belenitsky notched 12 points plus six boards.

Earlier, Besiktas won fifth place by beating powerhouse CSKA Moscow 91 – 87 behind Matt Mitchell’s 19 points and Jonah Matthews’ 18 points. Casper Ware went off for 41 points but they weren’t enough for CSKA.

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Being hosted in the VTB Supercup 2023, Fenerbahce couldn’t get the job done as the Turkish time lost against Lokomotiv Kuban 105-89, losing the opportunity to bring back to Istanbul the trophy.

The former Galatasaray player DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell felt it good and ended the encounter against his former city rivals with 25 points and 9/13 from beyond the arc. The frontcourt duo of Jordan Morgan and Okaro White, already seen in UNICS Kazan, combined for 34 points.

On the other side, Johnathan Motley had 13 points in the losing effort against his former team, where he shone in the 2021-22 7DAYS EuroCup. Marko Guduric had an all-around performance of 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists for the yellow-and-blue team.

VTB Super Cup | Maç Sonucu | Fenerbahçe Beko Lokomotiv Kuban: 89-105

Skor dağılımımız: Motley 13, Sertaç 13, Guduric 12, Sestina 10, Wilbekin 9, Madar 9, Calathes 8, Pierre 5, Papagiannis 7, Dorsey 3. #YellowLegacy pic.twitter.com/pibT1UjwR2

— Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) September 23, 2023

PHOTO CREDIT: VTB

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Belgian national team center Ismael Bako (208 cm, 103 kg) successfully passed a medical examination and signed a contract with UNICS. Last season, the big man defended the colors of the Italian Virtus in the Euroleague. The agreement with the 27-year-old Belgian was concluded according to the “1 + 1” scheme.

This year, Bako, as part of a club from Bologna, won the Italian Super Cup and also became the finalist of the national Cup and vice-champion of the country.

The Belgian big man has 85 matches in the Euroleague – the previous season with Virtus and the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons with the French ASVEL. In the last Euroleague season, he played 34 games with averages of 6.1 points and 2.7 rebounds on 67% of hits from the field. In 23 league games in 2022/23, the center averaged 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds.

In addition to Virtus and ASVEL, Ismael played for the Spanish Manresa, as well as the Belgian Antwerp Giants and Leuven Bears. The UNICS rookie has a rich collection of trophies. Bako is the champion of France (2021), winner of the Italian Super Cup (2022), winner of the French Cup (2021) and Belgian Cup (2019), MVP of the Belgian Cup (2019), member of the symbolic five of the Champions League (2019) and the award for the best young player of the Belgian championship ( 2017).

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Leaving the EuroLeague in February 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine that forced Russian teams to be excluded from the competition, Alexey Shved could come back to it soon.

Interviewed by former player Viktor Pavlenko, in fact, the 34-year-old shooting guard commented he’s on the verge of leaving once again CSKA. As reported by Russian journalist Artem Komarov, Alexey Shved confirmed he will soon leave Moscow after having received interest from China and the EuroLeague. Moreover, the 2008 EuroLeague champions said he had conversations with Olympiacos.

Coming back to CSKA Moscow in 2021 after playing first with the Russian capital’s team from 2006 to 2012, Alexey Shved averaged 16.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game in 25:58 minutes of playing time over 34 appearances. He couldn’t bring his team to the VTB Finals.

Before playing once again with his first professional team, the 34-year-old experienced Russian player spent six years with Khimki Moscow, being named the 2016-17 EuroCup MVP and inserted into the competition’s First Team. He also had several NBA experiences with Minnesota, Philadelphia, Houston, and New York.

At the beginning of May, he was the victim of an assault by a hooligan in Moscow that caused him a serious head injury. Fortunately, as can be also seen through the video interview, Alexey Shved is now back in shape.

CSKA later confirmed releasing Shved.

“Thank you to PBC CSKA and all the fans for the last two seasons! Thanks you to Andrey Vatutin, Natasha Furaeva, Natasha Kuznetsova, all the guys from the club who were always there and helped a lot. Thank you to all the coaches, we had a great atmosphere within the team. Thank you to the players with whom we fought together on the floor and spent good time off the floor, we talked a lot and it was interesting. Together we have done a great job. I wish you all only the best, good luck and victories! I’ll miss you!” mentioned the 34-year-old guard.

Per the press release: “The second arrival of the Shved in CSKA turned out to be individually bright. At the end of each of the two seasons, the basketball player became the best scorer of the team (13.6 points in the 2021-22 season, 16.6 in the 2022-23 season), set several club and league records. Unfortunately, injuries – a broken finger in the Game 7 of 2022 Finals and an ankle injury at the finish of the last regular season – prevented both Alexei and the whole team from winning the gold medals.

In total, the graduate of the Army Youth Project played eight seasons for the main team, 271 games, including 127 starts, scored more than 2,500 points and 600 assists, recorded many double-doubles and spectacular, memorable moments. Alexey is one of the most popular players in the modern era of Russian basketball. It is not in vain that from year to year he has invariably become one of the leaders in All-Star Games votings, and was recently chosen by fans in the All-CSKA post-Soviet team.”

PHOTO CREDIT: VTB

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After spending the 2021-22 season in the VTB League with UNICS Kazan, Tonye Jekiri is coming back to Russia to sign a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow, as the club officially announced on the 20th of July, one day after the initial Eurohoops report.

In the 2022-23 EuroLeague season, the experienced center averaged 4.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game starting off the bench in Fenerbahce behind Johnathan Motley. In the BSL, instead, he had 5.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per domestic league night.

Before signing with Fenerbahce in the summer of 2022 and after coming out of college with the Miami Hurricanes, the 28-year-old Nigerian center played for Bandirma, Oostende, Gaziantep, ASVEL, Baskonia, and finally UNICS Kazan.

O Τόνι Τζεκίρι υπέγραψε στην ΤΣΣΚΑ για 2 χρόνια @arbarkas , @Eurohoopsnet , @eurohoopsGR pic.twitter.com/FOm8a6DkX7

— VIoannou (@VaggelisIoanno2) July 19, 2023

PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

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The 50-year-old Spanish coach Xavi Pascual will complete his three-year contract with the St. Petersburg club. Pascual has been working in Zenit since 2020 and last season helped the team win the first VTB United League title in the club’s history.

If we count the incomplete season 2019-20, when Pascual arrived in St. Petersburg, then the upcoming season will be the fifth for the Spaniard at the head of the team.

Many European clubs showed interest in Pascual, including Bayern, Anadolu Efes, and Monaco. Spanish media reported that Pascual wanted to lead Real or Barcelona.

Together with Pascual, the entire coaching staff remained at Zenith.

Spaniard Inigo Zorsano, Greek Adamantios Panagiotopoulos, Russian Maxim Uchaikin, and scout Kuzey Kilic will assist the head coach, as happened the previous season. Slovenian Jure Draxler became the physical training coach, and the Russian specialist Evgeny Rozhenkov will continue to be the chief doctor of the main team.

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Thomas Heurtel has officially signed an extension with Zenit Saint Petersburg, confirming his stay in Russia until the summer of 2025.

Following his impressive performance in the 2022 EuroBasket, the experienced French point guard agreed to continue his journey with Zenit. The club confirmed the contract extension, solidifying their partnership with Heurtel for the foreseeable future.

During the previous season, the 34-year-old showcased his skills, averaging 13.3 points, 8.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game in the VTB League.

Zenit has been making significant moves to strengthen their team further. They have retained Xavi Pascual as the head coach, secured a new contract with Adrian Moerman, and also welcomed new additions in Bojan Dubljevic and Kyle Kuric.

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After a lifetime career with Valencia that started back in 2012, Bojan Dubljevic will now wear another jersey, moving out of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague to make the jump to the VTB League and signing with Zenit Saint Petersburg on a one-year deal.

In 27 total games in the EuroLeague last season, Montenegro’s captain put up 11.7 points and 4.8 rebounds for Valencia. In the 2022-23 ACB, Zenit’s newcomer played 32 games, averaging 10.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.

He’s only the latest of several arrivals for the blue-and-white Russian representative, which managed to add Kyle Kuric from Barcelona, Vince Hunter from UNICS Kazan, Timofey Gerasimov, and Georgy Zhbanov. Xavi Pascual’s team, moreover, parted ways with Caleb Homesley and renewed Adrien Moerman’s contract.

Welcome, Dubi 🤌 pic.twitter.com/gjORPkxEVL

— Basketball club Zenit (@zenitbasket) July 10, 2023

PHOTO CREDIT: ACB

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Adrian Moerman joined Zenit St. Petersburg mid-season and is staying for the next full season, as the club officially announced.

After not finding his place in Monaco, Moerman moved to Russia in January and now decided to stay for another season.

“Moerman joined our team in the course of last season and managed to play 22 matches in the United League for blue-white-blue. In the starting lineup, the Frenchman went out 13 times, his average statistics: 8.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game.

The forward will continue to wear number 18.

We will be glad to see you again in our ranks, Adrien“, Zenit wrote in the official announcement.

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After parting ways with Valencia at the beginning of June and attracting interest from several European teams, Nenad Dimitrijevic decided to come back to the VTB League, rejoining UNICS Kazan after coming to Russia for the first time in the summer of 2022.

With UNICS, the 25-year-old North Macedonian guard put up 12.8 points, 5,6 assists, and 2,5 rebounds per game in 47 appearances between the Regular Season and VTB Playoffs, dragging his time to the triumph against Lokomotiv Kuban in the Finals, being named MVP.

The Skopje native, who grew up between 2012 and 2016 in the academy of Joventut Badalona, stayed five years with the green-and-black side on a professional note until 2021, moving to Valencia in the 2021-22 season. Following his loan to UNICS, he then signed a 1+1 deal with Kazan to stay in Russia.

PHOTO CREDIT: VTB League

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Following Turkey and Italy, Amath M’Baye sets his sights on Russia and the VTB United League.

M’Baye, 33, signed a one-year contract to join CSKA, the team announced Friday. The two sides were indeed nearing a deal, Eurohoops reported earlier this week.

“I am excited to be a part of such a legendary organization, and discover a new league,” mentioned the French forward, per the announcement of the Moscow outfit, “Looking forward to getting to work!”

Per the press release: “The red-blue rookie is a typical example of an athlete who blossomed late. Perhaps because he did not immediately lean towards basketball, at first he was seriously interested in surfing in the homeland of his parents, in Senegal. After graduating from college in the United States, he began his professional career in Japan and showed up in front of the top European teams only at the age of 27, when he ended up in the Brindisi, in Italy. Since then, M’Baye has played for Olimpia and Virtus in Italy, Karsiyaka and Efes in Turkey, participated in the EuroLeague and the FIBA Champions League, helped the National Team win bronze at the 2019 World Cup and silver at 2022 EuroBasket.

The past season was one of the best in the forward’s career. He joined Efes, at that moment the reigning EuroLeague champion, and earned a position in the starting lineup. He played in 33 EuroLeague games, averaging 7.0 points (52.5% two-pointers, 51.7% three-pointers, 85% free throws) and 2.8 rebounds in 21.5 minutes. In 25 games of the Turkish championship he averaged 12.1 points (59.1% two-pointers, 37.1% three-pointers, 89.9% free throws), 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 31.0 minutes, he also had a significant contribution to the difficult path of the Istanbul team to the title of Turkish champion.”

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After spending five years with Barcelona, Kyle Kuric has rejoined the team from which he came to the Palau Blaugrana – Zenit Saint Petersburg.

As officially announced by the Russian club, the 33-year-old American-Slovak guard has signed for two seasons with the VTB League team.

Kuric spent the 2017-18 season with Zenit, dominating in the VTB League and the EuroCup. Barcelona then picked him up, and he won two ACB titles and three Spanish Cups during his time with the Catalan club.

In the previous season, the sharpshooter played only 22 games in the EuroLeague, mostly due to injury, and averaged five points and 1.2 rebounds.

Basketball club Zenit is happy to welcome Kyle Kuric back to the team, a player well-known to our fans.

The American guard has signed a two-season contract

Welcome back, @KingKK_14 🫡 pic.twitter.com/BJ9WuYADkt

— Basketball club Zenit (@zenitbasket) June 29, 2023

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After officially parting ways with Anadolu Efes, the 33-year-old French forward Amath M’Baye is set to join CSKA Moscow for the next season, as the two sides are near to closing an agreement, according to Semih Tuna of Eurohoops.

In 33 EuroLeague appearances this year, he averaged 7.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, shooting 52.5% from two, 51.7% from beyond the arc, and 85.0% at the free throw line. Winning this year’s BSL in the Finals against Pinar Karsiyaka, his numbers were way better in the domestic league, putting up 12.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per night in Turkey.

Before joining Anadolu Efes in the summer of 2022, Amath M’Baye was a central piece of Pinar Karsiyaka, where he played from 2019 until 2022 in the Basketball Champions League. He won the same competition with Virtus Bologna in the 2018-19 season, after playing in Italy for Happy Casa Brindisi and Olimpia Milano as well. Under Vincent Collet, he got the bronze medal with France at the 2019 World Cup and the silver medal at EuroBasket 2022.

Amath M’Baye is in advanced talks with CSKA Moscow for next season with the two sides closing on a deal. More on @Eurohoopsnet and @EurohoopsTR

— Semih Tuna (@semih_tuna) June 26, 2023

PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

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First reported by the Russian outlet Sport Express, Xavi Pascual will stay for another season with BC Zenit Saint Petersburg.

The Spanish coach has been the subject of numerous rumors across Europe, but reportedly did not receive an offer that best suited him. He is highly motivated to bring the championship title back to Zenit.

Pascual was rumored to be in contention for the head coaching position at Monaco, but the club decided to continue with Sasa Obradovic.

Similarly, Anadolu Efes considered Pascual as a potential candidate to take over the team after Ergin Ataman, but ultimately chose Erdem Can for the job.

Xavi Pascual joined Zenit in 2020 and signed a contract extension last summer for an additional three years. In 2022, he led the St. Petersburg club to the VTB League title.

Lokomotiv Kuban re-signed White, Labeyrie inked new deal with UNICS

Regarding the VTB League, teams have made significant efforts to retain as many foreign players as possible. According to Artem Komarov, Lokomotiv Kuban and UNICS have successfully convinced Okaro White and Louis Labeyrie to stay.

Komarov reports that Lokomotiv Kuban has re-signed White, and he will remain in Krasnodar. White joined the team in January and played 21 games, averaging 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds. Meanwhile, former French national team player Labeyrie has signed a two-year deal with the Kazan team. Labeyrie spent the entire previous season with the champions, averaging 11.6 points and 6.6 rebounds.

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Croatian coach Velimir Perasovic will stay in Russia. As Unics announced, Perasovic signed a new 1+1 contract with the club. He signed his first contract with the club back in 2021 when he first arrived in Russia.

Velimir Perasovic led Unics to the VTB title this season, the first in club history.

He had an outstanding career as a basketball player starting with the legendary Yugoplastica Split. He became a three-time Euroleague champion (1989-91), won 4 times Yugoslavian championships (1988-1991), and 5 times was named the top scorer of the Spanish championship (1993, 1999-2002).

Immediately after his playing career ended in 2003 Perasovic headed back to Split. During his 18 years as a head coach, he has led teams from Croatia, Spain, and Turkey. He was also the head coach of the Croatian national team.

As a head coach, Perasovic won the European Cup (2014), the Spanish Cup and Super Cup (2006), the Turkish Cup (2010), and was twice Croatian champion (2009-10). He was named Spain’s coach of the year in 2014.

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From players established in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague switching teams and potential NBA adventurers to the VTB United League.

The incoming connection is EuroLeague teams emerging as hopeful suitors for VTB free agents, who in many cases are EuroLeague-level material, and some of them, including, for example, Nikola Milutinov, may end up having a bigger value in the market compared to players who spent last season in the EuroLeague.

Euroleague Basketball decided to withdraw the participation of teams located in Russia upon the country’s invasion of Ukraine resulting in the ongoing war, late in the 2021-22 season.

The 2022-23 season was the first entire campaign without Russian clubs with plenty of quality players staying away from the European spotlight. That’s why most of the non-Russian players who sign in to the VTB are now free agents or have very manageable opt-out clauses on their contracts.

The talent pool is impressive, that’s why we need also to mention four players who didn’t make the cut, Okaro White of Lokomotiv Kuban, Casper Ware of CSKA Moscow, plus Avtodor’s Malik Newman, and Zenit’s Trent Frazier who joined the league mid-season but also proved that they are ready for the highest level.

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VTB League season 2022-23 is concluded, with Unics Kazan becoming the champion for the first time in the club’s history after defeating Lokomotiv Kuban in Game 5 of the finals 98-89, for an overall 4-1 win in the series.

Nenad Dimitrijevic excelled with 34 points in the decisive game, while Marcos Knight added 16, Louis Labeyrie 13, and Vince Hunter 12 points for the winning side.

For Lokomotiv Kuban, Jaylen Barford had 22 points, Okaro White 21, Chris Horton added 13, and Zakhar Vedishcheev 10 points.

Unics played in the finals on two occasions in 2016 and 2021 but now finally made it all the way.

In the battle for third place, CSKA Moscow defeated Zenit, also in five games, with the decisive match ending 82-79 in favor of Emil Rajkovic’s team, which entered the playoffs as a first-seeded, losing just two out of 32 games in the regular season.

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The Russian authorities arrested the main suspect in the attack on CSKA Moscow player Alexey Shved, as a 31-old man named Yusuf was taken into custody at the airport.

Along with him, three other young men (17, 19, and 20 years old) were arrested, denying the charges for the attack and injuring of the CSKA player, who is in hospital after he sustained a head injury.

The 31-year-old Yusuf is considered the main suspect for the blow to Sved’s head, while the other three will be detained for at least two months, as the report says.

The Russian Police have proceeded with interrogations and examination of the videos from the scene of the attack, looking to clarify the case and find the motives for the attack on the experienced player of CSKA.

The attack on Shved was committed while he was leaving one of the Moscow restaurants on Monday night (01/05), and Shved suffered a severe head injury due to a fall.

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As PBC CSKA Moscow officially announced, Alexey Shved was attacked by a hooligan on Monday night.

The attack was committed while a CSKA Moscow player was leaving one of the Moscow restaurants, and Shved suffered a serious head injury as a result of a fall.

The 34-year-old Russian player was taken to the hospital by ambulance and contacted the police to investigate the incident.

Due to the injury, Shved will not be able to participate in the team’s next matches in a VTB third-place playoff series.

Shved rejoined CSKA in 2021 and, during the regular season in the VTB League, averaged 17 points and 7,8 assists, and 15 points with 8,1 assists in the playoffs. The Moscow team got eliminated after seven games in the semifinals by PBC Lokomotiv Kuban.

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Entirely different situations for leading Russian clubs through the 2022-23 season in the aftermath of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the VTB United League Playoffs are nearing completion of the Semifinals.

With both best-of-seven series going the distance, Lokomotiv Kuban was the first to punch in a ticket to the Finals after defeating CSKA, 103-100, in overtime Monday.

The top scorer for the visitors at Megasport Arena, Okaro White combined 21 points with eight rebounds in winner-takes-all Game 7. Jaylen Barford went for 17 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Aleksandr Shcherbenev chipped in 15 more points.

The team located in Moscow created a game-high nine-point separation in the fourth quarter but failed to deliver the knockout blow. Instead of competing for the championship, CSKA will battle for third place in a best-of-five series. Alexey Shved’s 22 points were not enough.

CSKA actually finished the Regular Season in the first place and swept Avtodor in the Quarterfinals best-of-five series. Fifth-seeded Loko followed up from a three-game sweep against Pari Nizhny Novgorod to break yet another homecourt advantage against the Moscow team.

The team coached by Aleksander Sekulic is now four more wins away from possibly winning the VTB championship for the first time in team history. The only exceptions so far to the 11 titles captured by CSKA, Zenit is the defending champion and Khimki Moscow Region went all the way in 2011.

The other Semifinals best-of-seven series between UNICS and Zenit will conclude tomorrow, Tuesday. The winner will face the Krasnodar outfit in the best-of-seven championship series.

Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net

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