Zenit St Petersburg vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul

2020-21Regular SeasonRound 21

January 21, 2021 CET: 18:00

Local time: 20:00 SIBUR ARENA

Ukraine: SETANTA SPORTS	Italy: EUROSPORT PLAYER
Georgia: SETANTA SPORTS	Philippines: TAPSPORTS
CIS countries: SETANTA SPORTS	Poland: POLSAT SPORT EXTRA
Balkans: SPORTKLUB3	Russian Federation: MATCH!STRANA
Bulgaria: MAX SPORT 2	Spain: DAZN
China: CCTV	Turkey: beIN SPORTS NEWS
Czech Republic: O2 TV SPORT	United Kingdom: UKTV
France: RMC SPORT LIVE 5	Ireland: EUROSPORT PLAYER
Georgia: SILK SPORT 2 HD	Vietnam: FPT
Germany: MAGENTA SPORT	India: DISCOVERY
Greece: NOVASPORTS 3HD	Thailand: 3BBTV
Israel: 5LIVE	Internet: EUROLEAGUE.TV

Records

12-6	Regular Season	11-9
12-6	Overall	11-9

Referees

Crew Chief

CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS

Umpire 1

LATISEVS, OLEGS

Umpire 2

PERUGA, CARLOS

The Take

Zenit (12-6) is on a three-game home winning streak, in which it has consolidated some of the many road victories it earned earlier this season. Kevin Pangos (11.6 ppg., 6.4 apg.), Arturas Gudaitis (10.6 ppg.) and Will Thomas (8.1 ppg., 5.4 rpg.) have been leading the team. Efes (11-9) is on a three-game winning streak. Vasilije Micic (14.6 ppg., 5.2 apg.), Shane Larkin (13.5 ppg., 4.6 apg.) and Bryant Dunston (10.3 ppg., 4.2 rpg.) are its main pillars.

Marquee matchup

Gudaitis has been in outstanding shape this month, proving that his injuries belong to the past. He has averaged 20.6 points and a PIR of 26.7 in the last three games in which he's made 20-of-26 two-point shots (76.9%). Gudaitis must use his power and aggressiveness against Dunston, a two-time EuroLeague Best Defender and the competition's all-time leader in blocks. Dunston has stepped up on offense in Tibor Pleiss's absence, averaging 11.7 points and a PIR of 15.3 in his team's current streak.

Earlier this season

In the teams' opening game of the season, Zenit routed Efes 69-73 at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall. Pangos scored a career-high 23 points – including 4 free throws in the final 23 seconds to seal the win – and dished 7 assists in his Zenit debut to lead the winners. K.C. Rivers added 14 points for Zenit. Micic led Efes with 17 points and 9 assists, Simon netted 14 points for the home team, which was without Larkin.

Keys to victory: Zenit

Zenit has the best defensive numbers in the competition, allowing just 72.9 points per night without forcing a lot of turnovers (11.9 per game). That means there are a lot of contested shots, which is important against a team with great shooters like Micic, Simon, Larkin and Rodrigue Beaubois. On offense, Pangos and Mauteusz Ponitka should find a balance to get sharpshooters Billy Baron and Austin Hollins involved without forgetting that Gudaitis and Thomas are in great shape and ready to contribute in the low post.

Keys to victory: Efes

Efes has averaged 95.0 in its current streak, so speeding the game tempo against a team that feels more comfortable in half-court situations is almost mandatory for the Turkish powerhouse. Efes has outrebounded its opponents in all of its last three wins and that is where it is all starts in Coach Ergin Ataman's philosophy - locking down the defensive boards to quickly find Micic or Larkin and play in transition. If Dunston stops Gudaitis down low, Efes should have a better chance of winning at Sibur Arena.

Monday, January 18, 2021

Euroleague.net

Zenit St Petersburg

#	Player	Pos.	H.	Age
1	RIVERS, KC	G	1.96	33
3	ZAKHAROV, DENIS	G	1.92	27
4	PANGOS, KEVIN	G	1.86	27
7	FRIDZON, VITALY	G	1.94	35
8	VOLKHIN, IGOR	F	1.99	23
9	HOLLINS, AUSTIN	G	1.93	29
10	THOMAS, WILL	F	2.03	34
12	BARON, BILLY	G	1.88	30
13	KHVOSTOV, DMITRY	G	1.90	31
14	PUSHKOV, ANTON	C	2.08	32
16	TRUSHKIN, VLADISLAV	F	2.01	27
17	KARVANEN, MAKSIM	F	2.04	21
20	ZUBKOV, ANDREY	F	2.06	29
22	POYTHRESS, ALEX	F	2.06	27
25	PONITKA, MATEUSZ	F	1.98	27
77	GUDAITIS, ARTURAS	C	2.08	27

Head coach: PASCUAL, XAVI

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

#	Player	Pos.	H.	Age
0	LARKIN, SHANE	G	1.82	28
1	BEAUBOIS, RODRIGUE	G	1.90	32
2	SINGLETON, CHRIS	F	2.06	31
3	SAYBIR, YIGITCAN	F	2.03	21
4	BALBAY, DOGUS	G	1.85	32
8	GECIM, TOLGA	F	2.06	24
11	GAZI, ERTEN	G	1.90	23
13	MUSA, DZANAN	F	2.06	21
15	SANLI, SERTAC	C	2.12	29
18	MOERMAN, ADRIEN	F	2.02	32
19	TUNCER, BUGRAHAN	G	1.93	27
21	PLEISS, TIBOR	C	2.21	31
22	MICIC, VASILIJE	G	1.96	27
23	ANDERSON, JAMES	F	1.98	31
42	DUNSTON, BRYANT	C	2.03	34
44	SIMON, KRUNOSLAV	G	1.97	35

Head coach: ATAMAN, ERGIN

Player Stats

Points

Pangos, K. / 11.6 Gudaitis, A. / 10.6 Poythress, A. / 9.3

Micic, V. / 14.6 Larkin, S. / 13.5 Simon, K. / 12.3

Rebounds

Thomas, W. / 5.4 Poythress, A. / 4.9 Ponitka, M. / 4.6

Moerman, A. / 4.8

Assists

Pangos, K. / 6.4 Ponitka, M. / 3.3

Micic, V. / 5.2 Larkin, S. / 4.6 Simon, K. / 3.2

Steals

Hollins, A. / 1.2

Larkin, S. / 1.5 Micic, V. / 1.1

Blocks

Poythress, A. / 0.8

Dunston, B. / 1.2 Singleton, C. / 0.6

2PT

Zubkov, A. / 65.9% Poythress, A. / 64.2% Gudaitis, A. / 64.1%

Sanli, S. / 68.8% Simon, K. / 59.7% Pleiss, T. / 59.0%

3PT

Thomas, W. / 45.7% Baron, B. / 43.8% Ponitka, M. / 40.5%

Beaubois, R. / 47.3% Moerman, A. / 45.0% Simon, K. / 39.4%

Pangos, K. / 88.6% Thomas, W. / 84.4% Gudaitis, A. / 80.5%

Micic, V. / 82.1% Larkin, S. / 77.8% Anderson, J. / 75.0%

PIR

Gudaitis, A. / 13.4 Thomas, W. / 13.2 Ponitka, M. / 13.1

Larkin, S. / 15.4 Simon, K. / 14.3 Micic, V. / 14.1

Team Roster - Zenit St Petersburg

Team Roster - Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Team Stats - Offense

Ave.		Ave.
76.8	Points	79.4
31.8	Rebounds	31.0
9.1	O. Rebounds	9.0
22.8	D. Rebounds	22.1
17.3	Assists	17.7
5.8	Steals	6.9
1.9	Blocks	3.1
57.2%	2PT	54.1%
36.7%	3PT	37.5%
81.0%	FT	77.8%
86.4	PIR	91.0

Team Stats - Zenit St Petersburg

Team Stats - Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Team Stats - Defense

Ave.		Ave.
72.9	Points	76.8
29.1	Rebounds	34.2
8.8	O. Rebounds	10.6
20.3	D. Rebounds	23.7
14.9	Assists	18.1
6.8	Steals	6.2
2.1	Blocks	2.8
52.2%	2PT	53.3%
35.4%	3PT	38.4%
77.6%	FT	75.4%
77.1	PIR	82.9

Team Stats - Zenit St Petersburg

Team Stats - Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Head Coaches

ATAMAN, ERGIN

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"Zenit St Petersburg has a very good guard - center combination with Kevin Pangos and Arturas Gudaitis, and is one of the teams that plays the best basketball of the season. Also, their perimeter shooters Billy Baron, Austin Hollins and KC Rivers are very effective offensively. We must defend well and must have the minimum turnovers in offense. We want to win this time, as known we have lost at home in the first game day against Zenit St Petersburg in the last minutes with the absence of some missing players of ours."

Players

SANLI, SERTAC

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"It will be a tough game on the road. We are in good shape and have three victories in a row. We want to win this game and want to continue our winning streak against a team which we have lost in the first game. We are not happy of our spot in the standings and we want to climb to the top with as many victories as we can get."

Zenit St Petersburg vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul

· This will be the first-ever time Efes visits Zenit. They have only played twice so far, both games in Istanbul. This season in Round 1, Zenit bested Efes 69-73 behind Kevin Pangos, who scored a career-high 23 points and dished 7 assists.

· In the first official meeting between two teams in November last season, Efes held off Zenit 90-88. In that game, Zenit set a club record with 26 assists and Austin Hollins set a Zenit mark with 7 three-pointers made.

· Efes guard Krunoslav Simon and Khimki forward Andrey Zubkov were teammates at Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar during the 2014-15 campaign.

· Zenit's Will Thomas and Efes center Tibor Pleiss shared the frontcourt at Valencia Basket during the 2017-18 season.

· Zenit's Kevin Pangos was a teammate of Efes point guard Vasilije Micic at Zalgiris Kaunas in 2017-18. They helped the team reach the 2018 Final Four.

· Efes big man Chris Singleton was a teammate of Zenit's Andrey Zubkov during the 2015-16 season at Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar. They helped Lokomotiv reach the EuroLeague Final Four.

· Zenit sharpshooter K.C. Rivers posted his career-high in assists with 6 playing for Real Madrid against Efes in November 2014.

· Zenit's Dimitry Khvostov had a career-high with 14 points in a December 2014 road win against Efes while playing for Nizhny Novgorod.

· Zenit center Arturas Gudaitis matched his career-high with 3 steals playing for AX Armani Exchange Milan in an 81-80 home win against Efes in November 2018.

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Euroleague.net

Zenit St Petersburg

Roster
Fifteen different players have appeared in games for Zenit this season.
Nine different players have started for Zenit so far this season; Kevin Pangos and Will Thomas are the only players to start every game.
Alex Poythress has been unavailable for Zenit's last three games.

Streaks
Kevin Pangos has made at least 1 three-pointer in 12 of his last 13 games.
Billy Baron has made at least 1 three-point shot in nine of his last 10 games.
Arturas Gudaitis has posted double-digit PIRs in five consecutive games.

Rankings
Kevin Pangos ranks fourth this season with 6.4 assists per game.
Alex Poythress leads the league in fouls committed with 3.3 per game.

Records/Milestones
Arturas Gudaitis has exactly 100 blocks for his career.
Kevin Pangos needs 1 more three-pointer to reach 200 for his career.
Will Thomas needs 30 points to reach 1,000 for his career.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Roster
Coach Ergin Ataman has used 13 different players in his starting lineups so far this season. No player has started every game.
Chris Singleton has never sat out of a EuroLeague game. He has made 181 appearances in five seasons in the competition, which is the fourth-longest streak in the EuroLeague all-time.
New signing Dzanan Musa is set to make his Efes debut.

Streaks
Bryant Dunston has posted a PIR in double figures in eight of his last nine games.
Vasilije Micic has made at least 1 three-pointer in eight of his last nine games.
Micic has scored at least 14 points in eight of his last nine games.
Micic has recorded a PIR in double-digits in eight of his last nine games.
Shane Larkin has at least 1 steal in 11 of his last 12 games.
Larkin has made at least 1 three-point shots in five of his last six games.

Rankings
Vasilije Micic ranks seventh this season with 5.2 assists per game.
Shane Larkin ranks third in steals this season with 1.5 per game.
Bryant Dunston ranks fifth this season with 1.2 blocks per game.

Records/Milestones
Shane Larkin set the EuroLeague all-time single-game scoring record with 49 points in a Round 11 win over FC Bayern Munich last season. In that game, he also tied the competition record with 10 three-pointers made.
Larkin also knocked down a record-tying 10 triples again against Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 28 last season, when he scored 40 points, becoming the first player this century to score 40 or more points twice in his career.
Bryant Dunston is the all-time leader in blocked shots with 260.
Dunston ranks ninth in EuroLeague history with 435 career offensive rebounds. Ioannis Bourousis is eighth with 439.
Sertac Sanli ranks third all-time in two-point accuracy at 68.99%.
Tibor Pleiss ranks seventh all-time with 179 blocked shots. Ioannis Bourousis is sixth with 194.
Chris Singleton needs 4 more blocks to crack the EuroLeague career top 20. He enters this round tied for 23rd place with 120 blocks. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv GM Nikola Vujcic (122) is 22nd and Darjus Lavrinovic (123) is 21st. Gustavo Ayon is in 20th place with 124.
Singleton has exactly 200 steals for his career.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Euroleague.net

Head-to-head records

Home team		Away team
	1 - 1
Zenit St Petersburg		Anadolu Efes Istanbul
* overall record in EuroLeague since 2000

Zenit St Petersburg
Home record vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul:	0-0
Away record vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul:	1-1

Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Home record vs. Zenit St Petersburg:	1-1
Away record vs. Zenit St Petersburg:	0-0

Results

Season	Date	Phase	Home	Result	Away
2020-21	01 October 2020	Regular Season	Anadolu Efes Istanbul	69 - 73	Zenit St Petersburg
2019-20	14 November 2019	Regular Season	Anadolu Efes Istanbul	90 - 88	Zenit St Petersburg