Aliaksei Sukhavetski's wards will play a match against the team of the same name in Astana on March 6. Earlier in the season, the rivals met in early December 2023. Since then, both teams have undergone changes in both playing squads and coaching staffs. For more information, see the preview.
Season 2023/24
Today, Astana occupies the 5th place in group B of the second stage of the regular season. The Kazakh team has 10 wins in 28 matches of the season. The last 4 games of the opponent from Astana are haunted by defeats in matches against Runa (67:80), Enisey (69:97), Avtodor (65:82) and Pari Nizhny Novgorod (64:82). The upcoming match in the second stage for “Astana” will be the third in a row, which will be held on the home court. Therefore, Kazakhstanis in the game against Minsk residents will set up to please their fans with the first victory of the second stage.
Since the last meeting with our PBK team “Defenders Adam Kunkel, Vadzim Tratsiak and forward Felipe Haase left Astana. They were replaced by two players. Serbian defender Vasile Pushica, already well-known in the VTB United League, joined the Kazakh club from Avtodor. Astana has also signed a contract with American forward Jordan Skipper-Brown. As a student, he played first for Eastern Illinois University, then as part of the Murray State University team. After graduating from university, Jordan signed a contract with the Belgian Leven Bears, and then moved to Brussels. His last club was Slovenian Hopsi, where he scored 15.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists on average per game in the national championship.
Head Coach
In February 2024, Russian specialist Oleg Kiselyov left the post of head coach of Astana, which he had held since June 2022. He was replaced by a coach from Greece, Fotis Takianos. He was born on April 14, 1969 in Thessaloniki. As a player, he played for various clubs in Greece, in 1994 he won the Korach Cup with PAOK.
He began his coaching career in 2004 as an assistant, and made his debut as head coach in 2007, heading the Greek Panorama. Subsequently, he headed various clubs in Greece, Qatar, Cyprus and Kosovo. In the 2021/22 season, working with the Larisa team, he reached the semifinal series of the Greek championship and was recognized as the coach of the year in the league, having won two victories over the Euroleague participant, Panathinaikos, in the playoffs. The specialist's last club was PAOK, which he has coached since February 2023.
The center of MINSK Vadzim Stubeda: “We have been preparing for this match during a break of two and a half weeks. In the last game against Avtodor, we returned to the rhythm of the game. Now our guys will be added to us, Zach has arrived, who is not exactly a newcomer to MINSK. We played well that year. So we can assume that he has already joined the team and will help us in the game against Astana. We have arrived in Kazakhstan and are preparing for the match. Set your mind only to win!”
The roster of the opponent:
Astana, Kazakhstan
Guards:
2. Markell Johnson, 08.25.1998, 188 cm, USA,
3. Rustam Murzagaliev, 05.24.1992, 190 cm, Kazakhstan,
8. Vasile Pushica, 09.12.1995, 196 cm, Serbia,
9. Vadim Shcherbak, 05.24.1993, 194 cm, Kazakhstan,
25. Maxim Marchuk, 01.17.1994, 195 cm, Kazakhstan,
31. Carvel Anderson, 06.03.1991, 188 cm, USA.
Forwards
7. Davin Davis, 03.29.1995, 198cm, USA,
11. Jordan Skipper-Brown, 01.07.1998, 198cm, USA,
21. Roman Marchuk, 03.04.1993, 198cm, Kazakhstan,
47. Ruslan Aitkali, 19.12.1997, 195 cm, Kazakhstan.
Center:
17. Royce Hamm, 03.17.1999, 206 cm, USA,
24. Dmitry Gavrilov, 11.27.1986, 204 cm, Kazakhstan,
55. Askar Maidekin, 05.28.1997, 203 cm, Kazakhstan.
The head coach is Fotis Takianos, Greece.
The starting face-off will take place at 18:00 Belarusian time. The broadcast of the game will be available on the website of the VTB United League and Belarus 5 Internet.