2016–17 VTB United League

The 2016–17 VTB United League was the 8th complete season of the VTB United League. It is also the fourth season that the league functions as the Russian domestic first tier level. CSKA Moscow was the defending champion and successfully defended its title. This season, 13 teams participated in the league after four sides from the previous year left.^[1]

VTB United League
Season	2016–17
Duration	2 October 2016 – 23 April 2017 (Regular season) 1 May – 13 June 2017 (Playoffs)
Teams	13
Regular season
Season MVP	Alexey Shved
Finals
Champions	CSKA Moscow (8th title)
Runners-up	Khimki
Playoffs MVP	Nando de Colo
Statistical leaders
Points Nick Minnerath 23.3 Rebounds Frank Elegar 9.0 Assists Quino Colom 8.4 Index Rating Nick Minnerath 20.6
Records
Highest attendance	7,316 Parma 55–116 CSKA Moscow (13 April 2017)
Lowest attendance	250 Astana 76–92 CSKA Moscow (8 October 2016)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Teams

VITA Tbilisi, Bisons Loimaa, ČEZ Nymburk left the league, after participating in the 2015–16 season. Parma Perm from the Russian Basketball Super League joined the league.^[1]

On August 30, 2016, the league announced that BC Krasny Oktyabr would not play in the league, because the host arena of the team was not approved to support events.^[2]

Because of these changes, the number of teams was reduced to 13.

Venues and locations

Avtodor

CSKA

Enisey

Parma

Khimki

Lokomotiv

Nizhny Novgorod

UNICS

Zenit

Astana

Kalev/Cramo

VEF

Tsmoki-Minsk

Locations of teams in the 2016–17 VTB United League

Team	Home City	Arena	Capacity
Astana	Astana	Saryarka Velodrome	10,000
Avtodor Saratov	Saratov	Kristall Ice Sports Palace	6,100
CSKA Moscow ●	Moscow	Universal Sports Hall CSKA	5,500
Enisey	Krasnoyarsk	Arena Sever	4,100
Kalev/Cramo	Tallinn	Saku Suurhall Arena	7,000
Khimki	Khimki	Basketball Center	4,000[3]
Lokomotiv Kuban	Krasnodar	Basket-Hall	7,500
Nizhny Novgorod	Nizhny Novgorod	Trade Union Sport Palace	5,600
Parma ◆	Perm	Universal Sports Palace Molot	7,000
Tsmoki Minsk	Minsk	Minsk Arena	15,000
UNICS	Kazan	Basket Hall Arena	7,500
VEF Rīga	Rīga	Arēna Rīga	12,500
Zenit Saint Petersburg	Saint Petersburg	Yubileyni Arena	7,044

Notes

◆ Team makes its debut in the VTB United League.

● The defending champions, winners of the 2015–16 VTB United League.

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	PCT	Qualification
1	CSKA Moscow	24	22	2	2274	1782	+492	.917	Advance to Playoffs
2	Zenit Saint Petersburg	24	21	3	2187	1930	+257	.875
3	Khimki	24	19	5	2108	1895	+213	.792
4	Lokomotiv Kuban	24	19	5	1959	1688	+271	.792
5	UNICS	24	15	9	2136	2021	+115	.625
6	Enisey	24	13	11	1974	2041	−67	.542
7	VEF Rīga	24	11	13	1857	1961	−104	.458
8	Astana	24	9	15	1806	1930	−124	.375
9	Nizhny Novgorod	24	8	16	2051	2173	−122	.333
10	Avtodor Saratov	24	8	16	2073	2184	−111	.333
11	Kalev/Cramo	24	5	19	1876	2109	−233	.208
12	Tsmoki Minsk	24	5	19	1757	1987	−230	.208
13	Parma	24	1	23	1840	2197	−357	.042

Source: VTB United League

Results

Home \ Away	AST	AVT	CSK	ENI	KAL	KHI	LOK	NIZ	PAR	TSM	UNI	VEF	ZEN
Astana		83–78	76–92	98–97	72–78	87–90	51–71	93–84	88–73	84–67	68–84	66–64	82–105
Avtodor Saratov	78–79		103–104	94–87	90–63	109–118	79–88	95–92	110–99	88–81	77–84	96–84	90–96
CSKA Moscow	81–63	95–80		85–63	100–68	95–79	83–77	105–78	98–74	109–74	92–88	82–51	105–56
Enisey	88–78	97–92	84–97		99–90	64–104	85–86	99–93	87–82	88–70	75–66	88–71	75–100
Kalev/Cramo	84–67	86–94	68–87	82–91		77–84	64–95	87–91	85–79	79–70	86–110	74–82	95–98
Khimki	83–66	102–70	70–92	72–64	81–57		73–65	90–84	92–66	80–72	87–70	73–76	66–74
Lokomotiv Kuban	67–59	79–61	83–74	66–68	86–75	84–89		88–75	86–61	81–72	75–64	107–64	80–83
Nizhny Novgorod	76–72	110–68	65–101	80–93	102–81	90–99	66–93		115–94	102–95	98–112	74–81	93–97
Parma	65–82	97–101	55–116	79–81	72–86	83–87	71–84	75–84		61–67	98–105	74–81	86–119
Tsmoki-Minsk	70–80	89–83	63–100	78–86	88–81	73–77	63–87	77–52	62–71		87–85	69–72	58–71
UNICS	83–78	95–83	91–105	100–56	104–91	73–98	77–83	104–81	89–73	98–71		89–84	84–109
VEF Rīga	73–62	87–76	83–99	84–81	78–66	90–104	69–80	73–78	91–80	88–85	82–86		73–82
Zenit Saint Petersburg	99–72	89–78	90–77	94–78	89–73	114–110	62–68	101–88	101–72	84–56	84–95	90–76

Source: VTB United League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

Main article: 2017 VTB United League Playoffs

All series were played in a best-of-five play-off series, which were played in a 2-2-1 format. The Playoffs started on May 1 and ended on June 13.^[4]

	Quarterfinals 1–12 May					Semifinals 25 May–4 June					Finals 8–13 June
	1	CSKA Moscow	3
	8	Astana	0
						1	CSKA Moscow	3
						4	Lokomotiv Kuban	0
	4	Lokomotiv Kuban	3
	5	UNICS	1
											1	CSKA Moscow	3
											3	Khimki	0
	2	Zenit Saint Petersburg	3
	7	VEF Rīga	0
						2	Zenit Saint Petersburg	2
						3	Khimki	3
	3	Khimki	3
	6	Enisey	0

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
CSKA Moscow	3–0	Astana	77–54	94–74	91–73	0	0
Lokomotiv Kuban	3–1	UNICS	62–71	92–76	83–71	84–79	0
Zenit Saint Petersburg	3–0	VEF Rīga	93–81	79–74	92–51	0	0
Khimki	3–0	Enisey	91–84	109–81	89–68	0	0

Semifinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
CSKA Moscow	3–0	Lokomotiv Kuban	101–95	84–71	74–66	0	0
Zenit Saint Petersburg	2–3	Khimki	99–95	92–89	73–97	71–73	84–90

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
CSKA Moscow	3–0	Khimki	94–88	99–79	95–72	0	0

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification or relegation
1	CSKA Moscow[a] (C)	33	31	2	3083	2454	+629	Qualification to EuroLeague
2	Khimki	35	25	10	3080	2835	+245
3	Zenit Saint Petersburg	31	26	5	2870	2580	+290	Qualification to EuroCup
4	Lokomotiv Kuban	31	22	9	2512	2244	+268
5	UNICS	28	16	12	2433	2342	+91
6	Enisey	27	13	14	2207	2330	−123	Qualification to Champions League
7	VEF Rīga	27	11	16	2063	2225	−162
8	Astana	27	9	18	2007	2192	−185
9	Nizhny Novgorod	24	8	16	2051	2173	−122	Qualification to Champions League
10	Avtodor Saratov	24	8	16	2073	2184	−111
11	Kalev/Cramo	24	5	19	1876	2109	−233
12	Tsmoki-Minsk	24	5	19	1757	1987	−230
13	Parma	24	1	23	1840	2197	−357	Qualification to Europe Cup qualifying rounds

Source: VTB United League
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. CSKA Moscow was already qualified for the 2018–19 EuroLeague, as the team holds a 10-year license contract with the league.

All-Star Game

The VTB League's inaugural All-Star Game was held this season on February 11, 2017.^[5] The game was played at the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi, Russia. The game was played in a Russia Stars vs. the World Stars format. The Russian Stars won the game against the World Stars, by a score of 131:121.^[6] Andrey Vorontsevich was named the MVP of the game.^[7] Jānis Timma won the All-Star Game's slam dunk contest,^[8] and Sergey Karasev won the 3-Point Contest.^[9]

Russian Stars[10][11] Pos Player Team Selections Starters G Alexey Shved Khimki 1 G Sergey Karasev Zenit Saint Petersburg 1 G Dmitry Khvostov Lokomotiv Kuban 1 F Victor Khryapa CSKA Moscow 1 F Andrey Vorontsevich CSKA Moscow 1 Reserves G Anton Ponkrashov UNICS 1 G Sergey Bykov Avtodor Saratov 1 G Evgeny Voronov UNICS 1 G Evgeny Kolesnikov Avtodor Saratov 1 G Ivan Strebkov INJ Nizhny Novgorod 1 F Sergei Monia Khimki 1 F Vladislav Trushkin Enisey 1 C Andrey Zubkov Lokomotiv Kuban 1 C Petr Gubanov INJ Nizhny Novgorod 1 Head coach: Evgeniy Pashutin (UNICS)

World Stars[10][11] Pos Player Team Selections Starters G Miloš Teodosić INJ CSKA Moscow 1 G Nando De Colo CSKA Moscow 1 F Keith Langford UNICS 1 F Jānis Timma Zenit Saint Petersburg 1 C Artsiom Parakhouski UNICS 1 Reserves G Stefan Marković Zenit Saint Petersburg 1 F Jānis Blūms VEF Rīga 1 G Danilo Andjušić REP UNICS 1 G Taylor Rochestie Lokomotiv Kuban 1 F Ryan Broekhoff Lokomotiv Kuban 1 F DeAndre Kane Nizhny Novgorod 1 F Nick Minnerath Avtodor Saratov 1 C Frank Elegar Enisey 1 Head coach: Dimitrios Itoudis (CSKA Moscow)

• INJ^ Petr Gubanov, Ivan Strebkov and Miloš Teodosić didn't play because of injury.
• REP^ Danilo Andjušić was named as Teodosić' replacement.

Russian Stars v World Stars

February 11, 2017	Russian Stars	131–121	World Stars	Sochi
19:20 (MSK)	Scoring by quarter: 45–40, 22–30, 36–28, 28–23
	Pts: Vorontsevich 28 Rebs: Khryapa 10 Asts: three players 7 Eff: Vorontsevich 36	Boxscore	Pts: Blūms, De Colo 18 Rebs: De Colo, Langford 5 Asts: Rochestie 9 Eff: De Colo 24	Arena: Bolshoy Ice Dome Attendance: 12,000 Referees: Jakub Zamojski (POL), Alexey Davydov (RUS), Semen Ovinov (RUS)

Awards

Season Awards

Scoring Champion^[12]

• Nick Minnerath – Avtodor Saratov

Young Player of the Year^[13]

• Ivan Ukhov – Parma

Defensive Player of the Year^[14]

• Nikita Kurbanov – CSKA Moscow

Sixth Man of the Year^[15]

• Suleiman Braimoh – Enisey

Coach of the Year^[16]

• Dimitrios Itoudis – CSKA Moscow

Regular Season MVP^[17]

• Alexey Shved – Khimki

Playoffs MVP^[18]

• Nando de Colo – CSKA Moscow

All-Tournament First Team

• Alexey Shved – Khimki
• Nando de Colo – CSKA Moscow
• Sergey Karasev – Zenit
• Nick Minnerath – Avtodor
• Frank Elegar – Enisey

All-Tournament Second Team

• Miloš Teodosić – CSKA Moscow
• Kevin Jones – Lokomotiv Kuban
• Jānis Timma – Zenit Saint Petersburg
• Mardy Collins – Lokomotiv Kuban
• Artsiom Parakhouski – UNICS

MVP of the Month

Month	Player	Team	Ref.
2016
October	Keith Langford	UNICS	[19]
November	Alexey Shved	Khimki	[20]
December	Andrey Zubkov	Lokomotiv Kuban	[21]
2017
January	Sergey Karasev	Zenit Saint Petersburg	[22]
February	Alexey Shved (2)	Khimki	[23]
March	Stefan Marković	Zenit Saint Petersburg	[24]
April	Kevin Jones	Lokomotiv Kuban	[25]

Statistics

Statistical leaders

Category	Player	Team	Average
Efficiency	Nick Minnerath	Avtodor Saratov	20.6
Points	Nick Minnerath	Avtodor Saratov	23.3
Rebounds	Frank Elegar	Enisey	9.0
Assists	Quino Colom	UNICS	8.4
Steals	Dijon Thompson	Nizhny Novgorod	2.8
Blocks	Mickell Gladness	Kalev/Cramo	1.5
Turnovers	Demonte Harper	Zenit Saint Petersburg	3.4
2P%	Artsiom Parakhouski	UNICS	.732
3P%	Petr Gubanov	Nizhny Novgorod	.562
FT%	Sergey Karasev	Zenit Saint Petersburg	.923

Source: VTB United League

Individual game highs

Keith Langford set a new all-time scoring record for the VTB United League by scoring 42 points on October 31.^[26]

Category	Player	Team	Statistic
Efficiency	Keith Langford	UNICS	47
Points	Keith Langford	UNICS	42
Rebounds	Frank Elegar	Enisey	19
Assists	Stefan Marković	Zenit Saint Petersburg	17
Steals	DeAndre Kane	Nizhny Novgorod	8
Blocks	Artsiom Parakhouski	UNICS	5
Three pointers	Jānis Blūms	VEF Rīga	8
Turnovers	Demonte Harper	Zenit Saint Petersburg	8

Source: VTB United League

Attendance data

Attendances include playoff games:

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Parma	61,390	7,316	3,920	5,116	n/a†
2	Lokomotiv Kuban	65,312	7,139	2,161	4,354	+31.2%†
3	Zenit Saint Petersburg	61,105	5,690	1,700	3,594	+22.5%†
4	Avtodor	31,800	4,000	1,800	2,650	−17.5%†
5	Khimki	37,730	3,500	1,400	2,219	+10.6%†
6	CSKA	39,337	4,500	700	2,185	−14.4%†
7	Enisey	21,200	2,700	900	1,631	−8.3%†
8	UNICS	20,282	3,200	950	1,449	−27.7%†
9	Kalev	13,585	3,700	500	1,132	+18.7%†
10	Tsmoki-Minsk	13,270	2,005	730	1,106	−17.7%†
11	VEF	10,500	2,000	400	808	+20.6%†
12	Nizhny Novgorod	9,126	1,300	500	761	−33.7%†
13	Astana	9,055	1,315	250	697	−36.0%†
	League total	393,692	7,316	250	2,187	+31.0%†

Source: VTB League