From September 11 to 14, an international pre-season tournament called the VTB United League Super Cup will be held. Leading clubs from Russia and abroad will take part in this exciting competition, which promises to make the atmosphere at the VTB Arena in Moscow really warm. “Championship” will tell you in detail about the participants and the most intriguing moments of the upcoming basketball festival.
CSKA
CSKA out of 2024 season
Photo by: PBC CSKA
The reigning United League champions have not won the Super Cup since 2021. CSKA, coached by Andreas Pistiolis, showed character last season: after a failed second half of the regular season, the club decided to change coaches just before the playoffs. And he was right. The team showed a completely different appearance in the most important period of the season, easily beating UNICS 4-1 in the final series.
The army team did not completely re-draw the roster, relying on those who had already brought the team the championship. But there were still specific reinforcements: Alexa Avramovich, the best defensive player of the 2024 Olympics, Ruslan Abdulbasirov, Alexander Gankevich and Yuri Umrikhin, who showed themselves excellent in the last season of the United League. CSKA will also have Melo Trimble, Casper Ware, Amat M’Bye, Tony Jekiri, Livio Jean-Charles, Ivan Ukhov, Nikita Kurbanov, Semyon Antonov and Anton Astapkovich.
“The team is still in the process of getting into shape, it’s only been 18 days since we met, and Avramovic arrived 10 days later. And ideally, pre-season training should last five to six weeks. We are counting down to the first match of the official VTB United League season, which will take place on September 21. Therefore, we perceive the Super Cup rather as the final stage of pre-season preparation. After all, before, for more than 10 seasons, we had our traditional Gomelsky Cup, which we always scheduled for dates before the start of the championship. As for whether winning is important… I think that any athlete who answers that is not lying. This is the essence of sport. We will try,” CSKA vice-president Natalia Furaeva told Match TV about the team’s preparation for the Super Cup.
UNICS
UNICS, out of season 2024
Photo by: BC UNICS
The 2023 United League champion and the 2024 runner-up have already taken part in one pre-season tournament – the Kondrashin and Belov Cup. The Kazan team lost to Nizhny Novgorod after the first half, but turned the tide of the match by reaching the final, where Velimir Perasovich’s team was destined to face the organizer of the competition, Zenit. In the decisive match of the tournament, the St. Petersburg club turned out to be stronger by 63:50, and UNICS had to be content with silver medals.
The main loss for the Kazan club is the departure of Nenad Dimitrievich, MVP of the United League regular championship for the 2023/2024 season, as well as MVP of the 2023 playoffs. Replacing a player of this caliber is not an easy task, but UNICS definitely tried to do it. He was replaced by Alexander Platunov and Tony Taylor. In addition, the Kazan team intercepted Devon Akun-Purcell from Lokomotiv-Kuban and took one of the best players in Russia at the moment, Andrei Lopatin, from MBA-MAI.
UNICS President Evgeny Bogachev, in an interview with Match TV, assessed the strength of the squad for the season with the following words. “In general, our composition from last season is 90% the same. And we have also reinforced it with very decent Russian players. In addition, Belenitsky stayed with us. Stulenkov is getting fit. Komolov underwent a lot of treatment last year, but now he looks very good. Our squad is not worse than last year. In some places even better. As long as there are no injuries.”
“Zenith”
Zenit, preseason 2024
Photo by: BC Zenit
The St. Petersburg club is the current winner of the United League Super Cup. Last year, Javier Pascual’s team defeated Lokomotiv-Kuban in the final (85:83). This time the battle for the trophy will be serious. Moreover, Zenit comes to the tournament after winning the Kondrashin and Belov Cup. By the way, this is the fourth consecutive victory in this pre-season competition. But will they be able to prove themselves in the Super Bowl? After all, the composition has changed a lot.
Zenit, along with Loko, made some noise in the off-season. A large number of key players left the club, including leaders Thomas Ertel, Kyle Kuric, Josh Carlton and Juwan Morgan. They were replaced by Alex Poythress, already well-known in St. Petersburg, as well as Omari Spellman, Xavier Moon, Dwayne Bacon and top Russian basketball players Andrei Vorontsevich and Alexander Shcherbenev. It should not be forgotten that the management of the blue and white renewed the contract with Pascual, who has been an integral part of the club since 2020, bringing the team its first United League championship in 2022.
Newcomer to the club Xavier Moon commented on the upcoming season in general and the Super Cup match in particular: “This is our first real challenge. We trained in Turkey for about a week and a half, trying to get ready for the competition. This is the first time we’ve played together, so we’re still trying to get used to each other, but it’s great that we’ve been able to get these wins. Playing two games in two days was definitely tough. I think the last time I played was around July. This is my first real game since then, but it felt good to get those wins and I hope we can keep it up. We’ll have a competitive season this year. I’m looking forward to it, but I know we’ll be ready for every game, so I’m not worried.”
“Lokomotiv-Kuban”
Lokomotiv-Kuban out of 2024 season
Photo by: BC Lokomotiv-Kuban
One of the main protagonists of the off-season spent training in Turkey and is now ready to show himself in the Super Cup, where he finished second last season. We need to improve the results, right? Many were surprised by the news of the termination of cooperation with Alexander Sekulic, and literally everyone was stunned that the club president Andrei Vedishchev became the new head coach. A very interesting season awaits the Krasnodar team.
Loko has not only changed, but has literally become a different team. Veterans Alexander Shcherbenev, Devon Akun-Purcell and Jaylen Burford have left the club, and Okaro White is also reported to be leaving soon. The team was strengthened during the offseason with BJ Johnson, Antonius Cleveland and Isaiah Whaley. It will be interesting to watch the new players under Vedishchev’s leadership.
“We are preparing for the tournament, we will soon return home. The first two opponents are well-known: the United League champion CSKA and Crvena Zvezda, which plays in the Euroleague and is also a famous club. It is great that we have the opportunity to play matches like this. It depends only on us whether we can win the Super Cup or not, but, naturally, we really want to win this tournament, we will do everything to make it happen,” Lokomotiv-Kuban defender Vladislav Yemchenko told Match TV about preparations for the Super Bowl.
“Besiktas”
Besiktas out of 2024 season
Photo by: BC Besiktas
The Turkish club is participating in the European Championship for the second consecutive season. Besiktas is one of the most popular clubs in Turkey along with Anadolu Efes and Fenerbahce. Last year the team took fifth place in the tournament, beating United League giants UNICS and CSKA. The club is managed by Dusan Alimpievich, known to Russian fans for his work at Avtodor.
The two-time champion and two-time winner of the Turkish Basketball Cup last season reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Fenerbahce 0-3. In the off-season, the Club signed a player with NBA experience, Kelan Martin. The forward played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics. In addition, the team retained its main star, Jonah Matthews, who became Besiktas’ most productive player last season. He averaged 14.8 points per game.
“Crvena Zvezda”
“Crvena Zvezda” out of season 2024
Photo by: BC Red Star
The famous Serbian club is the reigning champion of the Adriatic League. Red Star turned out to be stronger in the final than its eternal rival Partizan. Previously, Serbian clubs (Partizan and Mega) already participated in the United League Super Cup in 2022, but missed out in 2023. Time to improve! In addition to the Adriatic League, Red Star also participates in the Euroleague. Last season, the team ranked 16th in the Euroleague, winning only 11 games out of 34. That is why, in the offseason, Red Star decided to work hard on the transfer market. Isaiah Kanaan, known for his performances at Olympiacos, as well as Cody Miller-McIntyre (Basque Country) and Nikola Kalinic (Barcelona) joined the club. They all played in the starting five of the Euroleague teams and should definitely help the Serbian club at least improve the result and, at most, compete for the playoffs.
Where to watch online streams
You can follow all the matches of the United League Super Cup on the official United League website, as well as on Match TV and Match! Game. Basketball fans are in for an excellent tournament, with not only good teams but also top teams taking part. Will Zenit manage to win the Super Cup again, or will someone else take home the trophy this time?
Currently reading:
