UNICS' Perasovic admits struggles; Reynolds' record saves win vs Parma

“It's nice that we're not inferior to them in athleticism and size”

It seems that the guys from the Perm region have become a genuine “Kryptonite” for UNICS. Their head coach Evgeny Pashutin has built a giant-killing team: in October, they defeated CSKA (83:80), in November, the white-greens lost to the Perm team on the road (82:90), and in December, “Lokomotiv-Kuban” (93:85), then under Anton Yudin, fell. Three leaders of the tournament table successively stumbled against the powerful physique of the Perm squad.

The recent meeting turned into a viscous confrontation, where the leader changed 17 times! The teams went neck and neck, responding with accurate shots to every effective attack by the opponent. Truly dominating in this chaos was Jalen Reynolds. The center updated his personal season record, scoring 30 points and adding 6 rebounds. UNICS played through him that evening, making Marcus Bingham's result look more modest (12 points + 12 rebounds), even though he secured a double-double. Parma's defense repeatedly allowed Reynolds to “waltz” in their paint:

“There was a choice here: either stop Reynolds but let the other players score 15, 20 points each, or let Jalen score 30. Basketball is also mathematics and geometry, after all," Pashutin pointed out. “It's nice that we're not inferior to them in athleticism and size, but that's not enough to win, especially on the road.”

Indeed, Reynolds' performance stood out from the rest. Ruslan Abdulbasirov and captain Dmitry Kulagin each scored 8 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Paris Lee was limited to seven points, missing all five of his attempts from beyond the arc! Ty Brewer was also inaccurate on his four three-point attempts, scoring only two points.

“If [people] think that, they don't understand basketball”

UNICS's last three games cannot be called calm. The meeting with CSKA ended in defeat, and in matches against “Uralmash” and “Lokomotiv-Kuban," the Kazan team trailed after the first half. Against the backdrop of these results, Velimir Perasović reacted sharply to criticism directed at the team:

“We are going through a difficult period now: many road games, there are injuries, and fatigue is accumulating <...> Maybe someone will say that something is happening with the team, but such an approach is categorically wrong. In the end, we won! If [people] think that, they don't understand basketball! I think this is a bad approach, and [they] do not respect our victories. After all, one must look at the facts: we won, three tough matches," Perasović said heatedly.

At the start of the match, the Kazan team's starting five underwent forced changes: instead of Andrey Lopatin, Ruslan Abdulbasirov took to the court, who also opened the scoring in the game. As the head coach reported, Lopatin will miss several games due to pain in the rib area.

The biggest lead of the game was achieved by the perm team — they pulled ahead by "+8”

The entire first quarter was a gritty battle — neither team managed to get more than one possession ahead. The size of Parma's centers, Gleb Firsov and Terrell Carter, became a serious obstacle even for the Kazan leaders — Jalen Reynolds and Marcus Bingham.

In the second period, defense prevailed over offense — UNICS scored its first points of the quarter only after 1.5 minutes. The end of the first half turned into a series of fouls and stoppages, robbing the game of its earlier dynamism.

“Two of our 'bigs' had four fouls at the end — I think that's an indicator that they fought in every episode. And our tactics worked, everything was fine, but we made 19 turnovers, just passing the ball out of bounds and on clear-outs," Pashutin explained.

The third quarter almost proved disastrous for UNICS — after a series of mistakes, the Kazan team let Parma pull away by "+8”. However, a three-pointer by Mikhail Belenitskii and a drive by Paris Lee restored the intrigue, cutting the deficit to two points by the start of the final assault.

The endgame turned into a battle of nerves. In the decisive exchange of blows, following a score by Brandon Adams, UNICS responded with a powerful dunk from Reynolds, setting the final score at 74:72. The Perm team had a chance to win, but Adams' long-range shot at the buzzer was off target.

Despite the defeat, Parma can credit Lev Svinin for a strong performance — the forward showed excellent accuracy, sinking all five of his three-point attempts against the Kazan team and setting a new career high.

The next opportunity for fans to see UNICS's leaders will be on February 15th in Moscow at the VTB League All-Star Game. Velimir Perasović and Evgeny Pashutin will meet again on the court. The Kazan head coach will lead the “World Stars” team, which will include Bingham and Reynolds. Dmitry Kulagin and Alexey Shved will play for the “Russian Stars.” Evgeny Pashutin himself noted the atmosphere of the event, emphasizing that “everyone dreams of being there.” The basketball celebration will begin at 5:00 PM Moscow time.

Game statistics:

UNICS — “Betcity Parma” — 74:72 (18:18, 22:21, 19:22, 15:11).

UNICS leaders: Reynolds (30 + 6 rebounds), Bingham (12 + 12 rebounds).

Perm team leaders: Svinin (17), Adams B. (15 + 7 assists), Carter (13 + 7 rebounds).