Russian player outshines foreign player, rookie scores 30 points: UNICS sets another record in the League
All the players from the roster took to the court at the Basket Hall, and the result exceeded expectations.
More than three thousand Kazan residents chose basketball over a frosty evening and didn’t regret it. UNICS set a new season record for points in a home game against Pari NN, and the individual performance of rookie Ty Brewer and the confident play of the Russian center were the main highlights of the game. Read about the results of the crushing defeat in the «Volga derby» with a score of 119:76 and the delayed return of Paris Lee in the «Real Time» material.
The American is the best, and the former CSKA player is the discovery of the match
The game was obviously not difficult for UNICS. Pari NN is currently in ninth place out of 11, trying to reach the eighth position to have a chance to qualify for the playoffs through the play-in. But UNICS did not become a springboard for them — the Nizhny Novgorod team already has 18 defeats and six wins.
The greatest damage today was inflicted by the Kazan rookie Ty Brewer, who scored 30 points in 28 minutes on the court. For comparison, the same number of points was scored by the next leaders of the game — Jalen Reynolds and Ruslan Abdulbasirov (unexpectedly!). Brewer was able to make eight three-pointers out of 13 attempts. The American repeated his record results from his university days — he scored the same number of points for the Southeast Louisiana team against the Mississippi team. At the University of Alabama in Birmingham, he scored 30 points in the NIT semifinal and made the all-star team of the tournament.
UNICS coach Velimir Perasovic is not in a hurry to call Ty Brewer’s current game his «prime». The coach values the forward’s game intelligence and wants to see him as a stable support in games against the league’s strongest rivals. According to the coach, Brewer still needs time to adapt and improve his performance.
However, the result of Brewer and other players led to the season record for scoring. The Kazan team scored 119 points, and most importantly, all (!) players took to the court. For example, Roman Ilyuk scored 2 points and Alexander Stulenkov scored 6 points. But the main surprise was the performance of 31-year-old center Ruslan Abdulbasirov, who was signed to the team this summer from CSKA. In his position, he competed with Jalen Reynolds and Marcus Bingham, who were more successful. The player himself admits this: he expected more playing time, but assured that the coach knows best.
Today, the big man scored 14 points with a perfect four two-pointers and two three-pointers. Ruslan missed only once, and that was on a free throw. But in return, he brought six rebounds to the team. He made it into the top three players of the game, pushing the usual leader Marcus Bingham out of the list.
«When I joined this club, I was aware of my role and understood that I wouldn’t be the leading player, but I still expected a little more playing time. At the beginning of the pre-season, everything was going well: they trusted me, a lot of things worked out. However, with the arrival of the legionnaires, the situation changed, and the playing time decreased. But legionnaires are legionnaires — I will continue to work <...> Today’s performance also surprised me a bit. I was given a chance to prove myself, and the team helped a lot. My teammates saw when I was left alone and passed the ball to me in time. I just did my job: I found an open zone and shot,» Abdulbasirov admitted after the game.
«With the current roster, we are not in the best situation»
All healthy players got a chance to prove themselves, but the list of injured players in UNICS is still impressive: CJ Bris, Denis Zakharov and Dishon Pierre are still recovering. The return of Paris Lee has also been delayed — Perasovic has postponed his appearance on the court until the next game against Igokeya in the Winline Basket Cup. «I was told that Lee is not ready yet. So I can’t promise you anything right now. We are now waiting for him for the next game,» the Kazan coach confirmed.
The game against Igokeya will be just a prelude for the Kazan team to the main confrontation — the battle with CSKA for first place. Currently, UNICS is level with the «army team», losing only in statistical nuances. As Abdulbasirov admitted, there are no talks about the table position in the locker room, but everyone understands that beating the current champions in Moscow is a matter of principle. However, Perasovic is not in a hurry with loud predictions: personnel problems still limit the capabilities of his team.
«Obviously, with the current roster, we are not in the best situation. I hope that someone will recover from injuries, because it is really not easy to confront top teams. We have two very difficult games ahead,» the coach said.
«Pari NN is going through hard times: salary delays and players leaving...»
It was not easy for the rivals to play, including mentally. The day before, it became known that Pari NN had completely eliminated the debt to the players and coaching staff, paying salaries for three and a half months at once. Financial difficulties had previously threatened the contracts of the leaders — Isaiah Washington and Hunter Dean. Both have already left the team. It also became known about the departure of heavy forward Sergey Grishaev. The club’s general director Mikhail Velmuzhov emphasized that changes in the lineup are not solely related to the financial issue.
«The departure of any player is always a complex decision that takes into account sports, personal and contractual aspects. It is incorrect to reduce everything to the non-payment of salaries, which had already been repaid by the time of the departure. As of today, all debts to the team have been fully repaid,» the head said in the club’s official social networks.
From the first minutes, there was intense competition on the court, in which the Kazan team looked much more confident. With equal accuracy in free throws (75%), UNICS forced the opponent to foul much more often: 12 attempts by the hosts against only four by the Nizhny Novgorod team. This allowed Perasovic’s team to secure a comfortable lead of eight points already at the end of the first quarter.
At the beginning of the segment, Andrey Lopatin scored points, compensating for Ty Brewer’s miss. Pari NN’s game did not go well right away: a miss and a loss led to Sergey Kozin having to take a coaching challenge already at the debut. Taking advantage of their size advantage, the Kazan team systematically «put pressure» on their opponents under the basket. The Nizhny Novgorod team tried to respond with speed, but the abundance of their own mistakes only led to more fouls. After an impressive alley-oop by Brewer, the hosts’ lead became double-digit — «+11».
In the second quarter, UNICS only strengthened its dominance. The Kazan team demonstrated exemplary ball movement, making 15 результативных passes in half the game, and went into the big break with a crushing score of 53:31.
After the break, the game became more open. Pari NN added to the attack, but could not contain the pressure of the hosts. UNICS launched a real barrage from behind the arc, making a total of 18 three-pointers. In the middle of the final ten-minute period, the Kazan team reached the 100-point mark for the sixth time this season, bringing the match to a confident victory.
Match statistics:
UNICS — Pari NN — 119:76 (24:16, 29:15, 31:22, 35:23).
Leaders of the Kazan team: Brewer (30), Reynolds (16 + 5 rebounds), Abdulbasirov (14 + 6 rebounds), Shved (10 + 8 assists).
Leaders of the Nizhny Novgorod team: Popov (24 + 8 rebounds), Zotkin (20 + 5 assists), Karpenkov (16 + 6 rebounds).
The next UNICS match will take place in Kazan on January 28. In the framework of the Winline Basket Cup intra-season tournament, the team will host the Igokeya club. The game will start at 19:00 Moscow time.