2018–19 VTB United League

The 2018–19 VTB United League was the 10th complete season of the VTB United League. It was also the sixth season that the league functions as the Russian domestic first tier level. It started in October 2018 with the first round of the regular season and ended in June 2019 with the last game of the finals.

VTB United League
Season	2018–19
Duration	5 October 2018 – 28 April 2019 (Regular season) 3 May – 10 June 2019 (Playoffs)
Teams	14
Regular season
Season MVP	Alexey Shved
Finals
Champions	CSKA Moscow (10th title)
Runners-up	Khimki
Third place	UNICS
Fourth place	Zenit
Playoffs MVP	Nikita Kurbanov
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

CSKA Moscow is the defending champion.

Format changes

From this season, the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs. All series are played in a best-of-five format with a 2–2–1 structure.^[1]

Teams

A total of 14 teams from six countries contest the league, including nine sides from Russia, one from Belarus, one from Estonia, one from Kazakhstan, one from Latvia and one from Poland.

Zielona Góra made their debut in the competition.^[2] Polish teams returned to the competition four years after.

Venues and locations

Astana

Avtodor

CSKA

Enisey

Kalev

Khimki

Lokomotiv

Nizhny Novgorod

Parma

Tsmoki

UNICS

VEF

Zenit

Zielona Góra

Locations of teams in the 2018–19 VTB United League

Team	Home city	Arena	Capacity
Astana	Astana	Arena Velotrack	9,270[3]
Avtodor Saratov	Saratov	DS Kristall	5,500[4]
CSKA Moscow	Moscow	USC CSKA	5,000[5]
Enisey	Krasnoyarsk	Arena.Sever	4,000[6]
Kalev/Cramo	Tallinn	Saku Suurhall	5,500[7]
Khimki	Khimki	BCMO	4,000[8]
Lokomotiv Kuban	Krasnodar	Basket-Hall	7,500[9]
Nizhny Novgorod	Nizhny Novgorod	Trade Union Sport Palace	5,500[10]
Parma	Perm	UDS Molot	7,000
Tsmoki Minsk	Minsk	Minsk-Arena	15,000[11]
UNICS	Kazan	Basket-Hall	7,000[12]
VEF Rīga	Riga	Arēna Rīga	12,000[13]
Zenit Saint Petersburg	Saint Petersburg	SK Yubileyniy	6,381[14]
Zielona Góra	Zielona Góra	CRS Hall Zielona Góra	6,080

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Kit manufacturer	Main front sponsor
Astana	Emil Rajković	Túta	-
Avtodor Saratov	Evgeniy Pashutin	DiGS-Line	-
CSKA Moscow	Dimitrios Itoudis	Nike	Aeroflot
Enisey	Oleg Okulov	Nike	-
Kalev/Cramo	Donaldas Kairys	Nike	Cramo
Khimki	Georgios Bartzokas	Adidas	Gazprom Investholding
Lokomotiv Kuban	Saša Obradović	Under Armour	RZD
Nizhny Novgorod	Zoran Lukić	Nike	T Plus
Parma	Nikolajs Mazurs	Peak	T Plus
Tsmoki Minsk	Aliaksandr Krutsikau	Adidas	Green
UNICS	Dimitrios Priftis	Peak	-
VEF Rīga	Jānis Gailītis	Adidas	VEF
Zenit Saint Petersburg	Vasily Karasev	Nike	Nipigas
Zielona Góra	Igor Jovović	Spalding	Stelmet

Regular season

In the regular season, teams play against each other twice (home-and-away) in a round-robin format.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	PCT	Qualification
1	CSKA Moscow	26	22	4	2404	1969	+435	.846	Advance to playoffs
2	UNICS	26	21	5	2190	1945	+245	.808
3	Khimki	26	20	6	2230	1973	+257	.769
4	Lokomotiv Kuban	26	17	9	2171	2004	+167	.654
5	Zenit Saint Petersburg	26	15	11	2300	2180	+120	.577
6	Astana	26	15	11	2239	2169	+70	.577
7	Kalev/Cramo	26	14	12	2342	2275	+67	.538
8	Nizhny Novgorod	26	14	12	2158	2173	−15	.538
9	Enisey	26	11	15	2154	2276	−122	.423
10	VEF Rīga	26	10	16	1962	2134	−172	.385
11	Avtodor Saratov	26	9	17	2379	2478	−99	.346
12	Zielona Góra	26	5	21	2020	2330	−310	.192
13	Parma	26	5	21	2025	2298	−273	.192
14	Tsmoki Minsk	26	4	22	1959	2329	−370	.154

Source: VTB United League

Results

Home \ Away	AST	AVT	CSK	ENI	KAL	KHI	LOK	NIZ	PAR	TSM	UNI	VEF	ZEN	ZGA
Astana	—	100–83	61–86	93–85	105–78	67–76	83–93	83–89	79–71	101–71	79–83	90–77	93–91	84–70
Avtodor Saratov	64–88	—	110–116	106–91	112–109	92–100	95–102	85–91	93–76	95–99	95–111	83–85	95–94	112–106
CSKA Moscow	91–72	110–76	—	101–71	102–75	75–65	70–57	84–78	108–84	119–88	73–83	92–66	83–73	102–78
Enisey	93–84	88–84	66–91	—	80–88	67–99	86–93	92–88	83–78	80–68	78–99	75–67	85–87	109–81
Kalev/Cramo	102–74	102–113	80–85	109–91	—	85–96	81–76	94–84	93–82	108–83	95–107	75–85	96–80	80–77
Khimki	93–80	85–77	73–72	86–94	80–73	—	82–84	80–93	97–63	70–50	78–65	75–51	90–67	100–80
Lokomotiv Kuban	71–90	95–91	76–93	79–67	80–85	83–87	—	78–71	93–75	80–69	77–84	92–63	96–64	73–41
Nizhny Novgorod	85–78	75–98	89–95	79–64	68–82	93–97	75–88	—	100–98	77–70	91–85	93–83	85–83	101–61
Parma	80–85	93–105	69–79	92–88	75–105	70–80	87–95	80–85	—	92–83	68–66	73–78	78–107	72–92
Tsmoki Minsk	86–93	86–93	61–101	73–95	82–95	92–108	66–97	78–87	80–68	—	57–99	91–84	68–79	71–88
UNICS	95–98	76–63	71–68	95–92	76–74	73–58	79–75	89–64	76–82	88–69	—	89–74	74–72	86–66
VEF Rīga	71–93	89–78	80–107	68–70	82–74	67–96	75–71	65–67	76–80	70–66	52–82	—	77–86	83–57
Zenit Saint Petersburg	103–95	103–81	93–86	116–81	100–87	86–82	78–94	103–78	84–76	84–72	74–77	101–102	—	83–71
Zielona Góra	82–91	108–100	74–115	72–83	100–117	74–97	67–73	80–72	88–63	78–80	73–82	78–92	78–109	—

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

Playoffs

All series are played in a best-of-five series, with a 2–2–1 format.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
	CSKA Moscow	3
	Nizhny Novgorod	0
					CSKA Moscow	3
					Zenit Saint Petersburg	0
	Lokomotiv Kuban	1
	Zenit Saint Petersburg	3
									CSKA Moscow	3
									Khimki	0
	UNICS	3
	Kalev/Cramo	0
					UNICS	1
					Khimki	3
	Khimki	3
	Astana	0

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
CSKA Moscow	3–0	Nizhny Novgorod	87–50	86–66	80–72	0	0
UNICS	3–0	Kalev/Cramo	92–82	108–84	96–84	0	0
Khimki	3–0	Astana	82–59	94–64	88–81	0	0
Lokomotiv Kuban	1–3	Zenit Saint Petersburg	69–78	70–69	78–94	85–87	0

Semifinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
CSKA Moscow	3–0	Zenit Saint Petersburg	98–82	83–81	69–68	0	0
UNICS	1–3	Khimki	96–91	98–103	64–91	91–92	0

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
CSKA Moscow	3–0	Khimki	106–85	103–92	80–62	0	0

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Qualification
	CSKA Moscow	35	31	4	2019–20 EuroLeague
	Khimki	36	26	10
	UNICS	33	25	8	2019–20 EuroCup
4	Zenit Saint Petersburg	33	18	15	2019–20 EuroLeague wildcard
5	Lokomotiv Kuban	30	18	12	2019–20 EuroCup
6	Astana	29	15	14
7	Kalev/Cramo	29	14	15
8	Nizhny Novgorod	29	14	15	2019–20 Champions League
9	Enisey	26	11	15	2019–20 FIBA Europe Cup
10	VEF Rīga	26	10	16
11	Avtodor Saratov	26	9	17
12	Zielona Góra	26	5	21
13	Parma	26	5	21
14	Tsmoki Minsk	26	4	22

Source: VTB United League

Awards

Season Awards

Scoring Champion^[15]

• Alexey Shved – Khimki

Young Player of the Year^[16]

• Nikita Mikhailovsky – Avtodor Saratov

Coach of the Year^[17]

• Emil Rajković – Astana

Sixth Man of the Year^[18]

• Dorell Wright – Lokomotiv Kuban

Performance of the Season^[19]

• Nando de Colo – CSKA Moscow

Defensive Player of the Year^[20]

• Maurice Ndour – UNICS

Regular Season MVP^[21]

• Alexey Shved – Khimki

Playoffs MVP^[22]

• Nikita Kurbanov – CSKA Moscow

All-Tournament First Team

• Alexey Shved – Khimki
• Nando de Colo – CSKA Moscow
• Jalen Reynolds – Zenit
• Jordan Mickey – Khimki
• Othello Hunter – CSKA Moscow

All-Tournament Second Team

• Errick McCollum – UNICS
• Mateusz Ponitka – Lokomotiv Kuban
• J. J. O'Brien – Astana
• Jānis Timma – Khimki
• Arnett Moultrie – Kalev/Cramo

MVP of the Month

Month	Player	Team	Ref.
2018
October	Alexey Shved	Khimki	[23]
November	Nando de Colo	CSKA Moscow	[24]
December	Anthony Clemmons	Astana	[25]
2019
January	Jalen Reynolds	Zenit Saint Petersburg	[26]
February	Pierriá Henry	UNICS	[27]
March	Alexey Shved (2)	Khimki	[28]
April	Arnett Moultrie	Kalev/Cramo	[29]

VTB League teams in European competitions

Team	Competition	Progress
CSKA Moscow	EuroLeague	Champions
Khimki		Regular season
Lokomotiv Kuban	EuroCup	Quarterfinals
UNICS		Semifinals
BC Zenit Saint Petersburg		Top 16
Nizhny Novgorod	Champions League	Quarterfinals
Avtodor Saratov		First qualifying round
	FIBA Europe Cup	Round of 16
Tsmoki-Minsk	Champions League	First qualifying round
	FIBA Europe Cup	Regular season