2017–18 VTB United League

VTB United League
The VTB Ice Palace in Moscow hosted the Final Four
Season2017–18
Games played156
Teams13
Regular season
EuroLeagueKhimki
EuroCupUNICS
Zenit Saint Petersburg
Lokomotiv Kuban
Season MVPNando de Colo
Finals
Champions CSKA Moscow (9th title)
Runners-up Khimki
Third place Zenit Saint Petersburg
Fourth place UNICS
Final Four MVPSergio Rodríguez
Records
Biggest home winLokomotiv Kuban 106–57 Enisey
(5 May 2018)
Biggest away winVEF 64–104 Khimki
(9 October 2017)
Highest scoringCSKA 108–100 Kalev/Cramo
(4 December 2017)
Avtodor 98–110 CSKA
(4 March 2018)
Winning streak12 games
CSKA
Losing streak7 games
Enisey
Highest attendance7,389
Lokomotiv Kuban 93–78 Khimki
(21 January 2018)
Lowest attendance350
VEF 82–70 Tsmoki
(28 January 2018)

The 2017–18 VTB United League was the 9th complete season of the VTB United League. It is also the fifth season that the league functions as the Russian domestic first tier level. It started on 5 October 2017 with the first round of the regular season and ended on 10 June 2018 with the championship game of the Final Four. CSKA Moscow were the defending champions.

CSKA Moscow successfully defended its title as it won the final over Khimki.

Format changes

From this season, the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs. These are played in a best-of-five format with a 1–2–2 structure. The four teams that win their playoff series qualify for the Final Four tournament, which decides the new champion.[1]

Teams

A total of 13 teams from five countries contest the league, including nine sides from Russia, one from Belarus, one from Estonia, one from Kazakhstan and one from Latvia.

Venues and locations

Locations of teams in the 2017–18 VTB United League
Team Home city Arena Capacity
Astana Astana Arena Velotrack 9,270[2]
Avtodor Saratov Saratov DS Kristall 5,500[3]
CSKA Moscow Moscow USC CSKA 5,000[4]
Enisey Krasnoyarsk Arena.Sever 4,000[5]
Kalev/Cramo Tallinn Saku Suurhall 5,500[6]
Khimki Khimki BCMO 4,000[7]
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar Basket-Hall 7,500[8]
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod Trade Union Sport Palace 5,500[9]
Parma Perm UDS Molot 7,000
Tsmoki Minsk Minsk Minsk-Arena 15,000[10]
UNICS Kazan Basket-Hall 7,000[11]
VEF Rīga Riga Arēna Rīga 12,000[12]
Zenit Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg SK Yubileyniy 6,381[13]


Personnel and sponsorship

Team Head coach Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Astana Kostas Flevarakis Tuta
Avtodor Saratov Vladimir Anstiferov Digs
CSKA Moscow Dimitrios Itoudis Nike Rostelecom
Enisey Oleg Okulov Nike
Kalev/Cramo Donaldas Kairys Nike Cramo
Khimki Georgios Bartzokas Adidas Khimki Group
Lokomotiv Kuban Saša Obradović Under Armour Russian Railways
Nizhny Novgorod Zoran Lukić Nike T+ Group
Parma Vyacheslav Shushakov Peak T+ Group
Tsmoki Minsk Igor Griszczuk Adidas
UNICS Dimitrios Priftis Peak
VEF Rīga Jānis Gailītis Adidas
Zenit Saint Petersburg Vasiliy Karasev Nike Nipigas

Regular season

In the regular season, teams play against each other twice (home-and-away) in a double round-robin format. The top eight teams advance to the playoffs. The regular season started on 5 October 2017.

Standings

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD PCT Qualification
1 CSKA Moscow 24 22 2 2268 1894 +374 .917 Advance to playoffs
2 UNICS 24 22 2 2074 1829 +245 .917
3 Lokomotiv Kuban 24 17 7 2036 1755 +281 .708
4 Zenit Saint Petersburg 24 16 8 2053 2052 +1 .667
5 Avtodor Saratov 24 14 10 2107 2104 +3 .583
6 Khimki 24 13 11 2038 1942 +96 .542
7 Nizhny Novgorod 24 10 14 2046 2094 −48 .417
8 VEF Rīga 24 8 16 1864 1980 −116 .333
9 Tsmoki Minsk 24 8 16 1792 1982 −190 .333
10 Astana 24 7 17 1836 1932 −96 .292
11 Parma 24 7 17 1951 2086 −135 .292
12 Kalev/Cramo 24 6 18 2030 2196 −166 .250
13 Enisey 24 6 18 1892 2141 −249 .250
Source: VTB United League

Results

Home \ Away AST SAR CSK ENI KAL KHI LOK NIZ PAR TSM UNI VEF ZEN
Astana — 75–92 72–92 92–75 102–92 84–79 50–83 73–85 78–84 77–59 73–78 67–53 87–64
Avtodor Saratov 92–86 — 98–110 102–83 82–77 104–92 77–110 84–75 82–87 104–82 78–80 89–84 92–107
CSKA Moscow 79–63 93–66 — 108–73 108–100 90–71 79–90 97–80 101–94 90–54 80–63 94–69 100–84
Enisey 90–76 83–88 72–87 — 88–91 84–89 49–75 98–90 96–77 91–80 89–93 68–75 84–104
Kalev/Cramo 83–73 95–89 95–105 97–88 — 92–84 62–88 97–103 74–76 80–85 67–75 98–94 89–95
Khimki 72–71 88–75 81–96 92–62 96–85 — 83–90 90–87 90–87 83–55 80–83 73–77 66–76
Lokomotiv Kuban 79–78 90–93 75–78 106–57 95–62 93–78 — 94–64 94–64 67–56 67–77 83–70 87–84
Nizhny Novgorod 79–78 84–82 90–104 79–85 103–85 79–82 92–86 — 73–88 82–91 89–91 80–64 100–90
Parma 84–90 94–96 76–111 96–73 104–84 69–106 73–86 80–82 — 81–88 81–88 87–69 94–99
Tsmoki Minsk 75–66 82–85 83–93 74–88 87–84 79–82 88–84 70–78 66–65 — 65–91 84–77 81–82
UNICS 90–75 89–82 75–88 91–76 104–78 80–79 93–65 99–93 84–70 87–62 — 89–81 94–60
VEF Rīga 89–77 79–82 83–102 94–67 87–83 64–104 69–71 94–90 78–67 82–70 69–81 — 80–90
Zenit Saint Petersburg 84–73 79–93 87–83 85–73 85–80 80–98 79–78 92–89 98–73 83–76 82–99 84–83 —
Source: VTB United League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Playoffs

In the playoffs, a best-of-five games format is used. The team that wins the series will be the first team to win three games. The first game will be played on the playing court of the four highest-place teams, the second and third game will be played on the playing court of the next four highest-place teams and the fourth and fifth game, if necessary, will be played on the playing court of the four highest-place teams. The playoffs started on 23 May 2018.

Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5
CSKA Moscow 3–0 VEF Rīga 112–83 100–80 99–73
Zenit Saint Petersburg 3–0 Avtodor Saratov 91–80 79–73 90–78
UNICS 3–1 Nizhny Novgorod 84–66 74–77 95–94 101–86
Lokomotiv Kuban 0–3 Khimki 66–79 72–77 73–86

Final Four

The four winners of the quarterfinals qualified for the inaugural Final Four. The Final Four will be held from 8 until 10 June. In April 2018, it was announced that the VTB Ice Palace in Moscow, Russia will host the tournament.[14]

The four winners of the play-offs during the 2017–18 season qualified for the Final Four. The tournament will be hosted between 8 June and 10 June 2018.[15]

The last final four was held in 2012, as the league was decided through playoff series in the previous years. Khimki, the runners-up of the Final Four, qualified for the 2018–19 EuroLeague (as CSKA Moscow was already qualified).

 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
8 June
 
 
 CSKA Moscow 84
 
10 June
 
 Zenit Saint Petersburg 67
 
 CSKA Moscow 95
 
8 June
 
 Khimki 84
 
 UNICS 71
 
 
 Khimki 76
 
 Third place game
 
 
10 June
 
 
 UNICS 79
 
 
 Zenit Saint Petersburg93

Semifinals

8 June 2018 CSKA Moscow 84–67 Zenit Saint Petersburg Moscow
18:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 14–10, 30–20, 19–11, 21–26
Pts: Rodríguez 21
Rebs: Clyburn 5
Asts: Rodríguez 5
Eff: Rodríguez 29 		Boxscore Pts: Harper 16
Rebs: Harper 7
Asts: Harper 4
Eff: Harper 18 		Arena: VTB Ice Palace
Attendance: 5,700
Referees: Sreten Radović (CRO), Jakub Zamojski (POL), Alexey Davydov (RUS)
8 June 2018 UNICS 71–76 Khimki Moscow
21:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 18–23, 14–15, 15–14, 24–24
Pts: Smith 23
Rebs: Lasme 12
Asts: Smith 4
Eff: Lasme, Smith 22 		Boxscore Pts: Shved 36
Rebs: Thomas 8
Asts: Shved 5
Eff: Shved 24 		Arena: VTB Ice Palace
Attendance: 5,350
Referees: Fernando Rocha (POR), Oļegs Latiševs (LAT), Petri Mäntylä (FIN)

Third place game

10 June 2018 UNICS 79–93 Zenit Saint Petersburg Moscow
16:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 15–26, 26–26, 20–18, 18–23
Pts: Smith 16
Rebs: Ponkrashov 9
Asts: Ponkrashov 4
Eff: three players 18 		Boxscore Pts: Kuric 29
Rebs: Whittington 7
Asts: Karasev 3
Eff: Kuric 28 		Arena: VTB Ice Palace
Attendance: 6,230
Referees: Jakub Zamojski (POL), Robert Vyklický (CZE), Semen Ovinov (RUS)

Final

10 June 2018 CSKA Moscow 95–84 Khimki Moscow
19:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 27–18, 27–23, 25–28, 16–15
Pts: Higgins 20
Rebs: Hines 8
Asts: Rodríguez 8
Eff: Hines 22 		Boxscore Pts: Shved 21
Rebs: Thomas 7
Asts: Shved 9
Eff: Thomas 19 		Arena: VTB Ice Palace
Referees: Sreten Radović (CRO), Fernando Rocha (POR), Oļegs Latiševs (LAT)

Final standings

Pos Team Pld W L Qualification
1 CSKA Moscow[a] 29 27 2 Qualification to EuroLeague
2 Khimki 29 17 12
3 Zenit Saint Petersburg 29 20 9 Qualification to EuroCup
4 UNICS 30 25 5
5 Lokomotiv Kuban 27 17 10 Qualification to EuroCup
6 Avtodor Saratov 24 14 10 Qualification to Champions League
7 Nizhny Novgorod 28 11 17
8 VEF Rīga 27 8 19
9 Tsmoki Minsk 24 8 16
10 Astana 24 7 17
11 Parma 24 7 17
12 Kalev/Cramo 24 6 18
13 Enisey 24 6 18
Source: VTB United League
Notes:
  1. ^ CSKA Moscow was automatically qualified for the 2018-19 EuroLeague as it holds a 10-year contract with the league.

Attendance

Attendance include playoff games:

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Parma 57,499 6,254 3,517 4,792 −6.3%†
2 Lokomotiv Kuban 58,688 7,389 2,856 4,514 +3.7%†
3 UNICS 54,195 6,223 1,786 3,871 +167.1%†
4 Zenit Saint Petersburg 45,304 5,670 1,780 3,485 −3.0%†
5 Avtodor Saratov 38,016 5,048 1,470 2,715 +2.5%†
6 CSKA Moscow 28,896 4,500 600 2,064 −5.5%†
7 Khimki 27,721 3,500 1,014 1,980 −10.8%†
8 Nizhny Novgorod 24,905 2,598 1,078 1,779 +133.8%†
9 Astana 14,994 1,952 734 1,250 +79.3%†
10 Tsmoki Minsk 13,570 1,363 851 1,131 +2.3%†
11 Kalev/Cramo 13,350 2,800 600 1,113 −1.7%†
12 Enisey 10,810 3,000 400 901 −44.8%†
13 VEF Rīga 8,100 1,500 350 623 −22.9%†
League total 396,048 7,389 350 2,343 +7.1%†

Updated to match(es) played on 31 May 2018. Source: VTB United League

Awards

Season Awards

Scoring Champion[16]
Young Player of the Year[16]
Top Performance of the Year[16]
Defensive Player of the Year[16]
Sixth Man of the Year[16]
Coach of the Year[16]
Regular Season MVP[16]
Final Four MVP[17]

All-Tournament First Team

All-Tournament Second Team

MVP of the Month

Month Player Team Ref.
2017
October Quino Colom UNICS [18]
November Nando de Colo CSKA Moscow [19]
December Mardy Collins Lokomotiv Kuban [20]
2018
January Sergey Karasev Zenit Saint Petersburg [21]
February Justin Robinson Avtodor Saratov [22]
March Jamar Smith UNICS [23]
April Coty Clarke Avtodor Saratov [24]
May Stevan Jelovac Nizhny Novgorod [25]

VTB United League clubs in European competitions

Team Competition Progress
Avtodor Saratov Champions League Third qualifying round
FIBA Europe Cup Regular season
CSKA Moscow EuroLeague Fourth place
Enisey Champions League Regular season
Kalev/Cramo Champions League Second qualifying round
Khimki EuroLeague Playoffs
Lokomotiv Kuban EuroCup Runner-up
Nizhny Novgorod Champions League Second qualifying round
FIBA Europe Cup Quarterfinal
Parma FIBA Europe Cup Second qualifying round
Tsmoki Minsk Champions League Third qualifying round
FIBA Europe Cup Round of 16
UNICS EuroCup Quarterfinal
Zenit Saint Petersburg EuroCup Quarterfinal

References

  1. ^ "League Board Approves New Final Four Format | VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. Arena Velotrack Capacity: 9270 spectators
  3. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. DS Kristall Capacity: 5500
  4. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. USC CSKA named after Alexander Gomelskiy Capacity: 5000 spectators
  5. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. Arena.Sever Capacity: 4000 spectators
  6. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Saku Suurhall» Capacity: 5500 spectators
  7. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. Sportscomplex «BCMO» Capacity: 4000 spectators
  8. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Basket-hall» Capacity: 7500 spectators
  9. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Nizhniy Novgorod Trade Union Sport Palace» Capacity: 5500 spectators
  10. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Minsk-Arena» Capacity: 15,000 spectators
  11. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. Basket-Hall Capacity: 7000 spectators
  12. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Arena Riga» Capacity: 12000 spectators
  13. ^ "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. SK Yubileyniy Capacity: 6381 spectators
  14. ^ "Moscow to host the VTB League Final Four". Eurohoops.net. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  15. ^ "VTB Final 4 Website". VTB-League.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g "League Announces Individual Awards At Gala". vtb-league.com. 9 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  17. ^ "Sergio Rodriguez – Final Four MVP (VIDEO)". Vtb-league.com. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  18. ^ "Quino Colom Wins October MVP". www.vtb-league.com. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  19. ^ "Nando De Colo Wins November MVP". www.vtb-league.com. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  20. ^ "Mardy Collins Wins December MVP". www.vtb-league.com. 7 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  21. ^ "Sergey Karasev Named January MVP". www.vtb-league.com. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  22. ^ "Justin Robinson Named February MVP". www.vtb-league.com. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  23. ^ "Jamar Smith Named March MVP". www.vtb-league.com. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  24. ^ "Coty Clarke Wins April MVP". www.vtb-league.com. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  25. ^ "Stevan Jelovac Wins May MVP". www.vtb-league.com. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
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