An insane victory for the new UNICS in St. Petersburg. A bid for the title or just early-season momentum?

      How UNICS pulled off an incredible rout of Zenit

      The nostalgia for Dimitrievic is over. UNICS’s newcomers outshone the Macedonian on the St. Petersburg parquet

      After the “bronze” UNICS won in May, impressions of Kazan’s performance last season remained mixed. Medals had been won again, but personal disappointments dogged the team throughout the season. The nominal leaders expected to replace Nenad Dimitrievic, who left for Italy, failed to fully live up to expectations. Louis Labeyrie, who was recovering all season, declined and couldn’t get back to his level, and the newcomers signed right before the playoffs turned out not to be saviors. So fans’ calls for a major roster overhaul were quite logical. And the club listened.

      UNICS renewed about 60 percent of its roster. From the famed Tel Aviv Hapoel they managed to pull out Marcus Bingham. The equally seasoned Canadian forward Daishon Pierre arrived — who not long ago played in triumphant Fenerbahçe in the EuroLeague — as well as quality point guard Paris Lee from French Villeurbanne, with whom he had appeared in Europe’s top competition, and defender C.J. Brice. Almost all of them have smelled EuroLeague powder in their careers.

      But UNICS’s managers failed to poach their main star of recent years, Dimitrievic. As the club president Evgeny Bogachev admitted to our publication, they had been trying to persuade the player in recent months. But he insisted he would stay with clubs that play in the EuroLeague. And when Zenit came to the fore, he was tempted by the “deep pockets.” Bogachev, however, did not judge the player. “Fish look for deeper water, and an athlete — where they pay better. We don’t have the kind of resources Gazprom has,” Bogachev summed up.

      However, at least today’s game showed that Kazan fans’ sadness was premature, and perhaps it was for the best. New leaders Bingham and Lee literally shone on the KRK Arena court and were by no means inferior to Zenit’s Macedonian point guard, and perhaps even surpassed him in efficiency for their team. Nenad often switched off from the game, appearing in it in fits and starts.

      Judge for yourself: Paris Lee, who came to UNICS to fill the Macedonian’s position, scored 18 points; he had 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 1 steal. Marcus Bingham, UNICS’s best player early in the season, scored 22 points; he grabbed 8 rebounds and had 2 steals. C.J. Brice scored 22 points, had 7 rebounds, 3 assists and one steal and one block.

      Dimitrievic scored 14 points, had 2 rebounds and 4 assists. And even those modest numbers were enough for him to remain Zenit’s best performer.

      Such a powerful start from the newcomers certainly makes it unnecessary to pine for former idols. Right now UNICS’s newcomers look like the league’s main stars alongside CSKA’s veterans.

      UNICS was steadier throughout the game, surviving crises. Zenit fell apart under Kazan’s confident play

      At first nothing foreshadowed that UNICS would dismantle one of the season’s favorites so easily. The first half was fought extremely hard.

      The score was opened by the Petersburg side, but soon Bingham got into the game and restored parity — 5:5 by the 3rd minute. Shortly after, Kazan even took the lead, forcing the Petersburgers into chase mode. Dimitrievic played no small part in that mission. It was after a long-range shot by the Macedonian that Zenit retook the lead — 13:11. In the end the teams went toe-to-toe all quarter, which finished with a narrow advantage for Velimir Perasovic’s charges — 18:20.

      In the second quarter Zenit briefly went ahead again, but Bingham and Lee had their own plans for the evening. The latter got into a rhythm and started hitting threes almost flawlessly. In a couple of minutes the American-Cameroonian point guard hit as many three-pointers as UNICS had in the entire first quarter — Lee was 3-for-4 from deep. And when the score became 25:30 in favor of the Kazan team, Aleksandar Sekulić called a timeout. By halftime the teams were still trading blows — 45:45.

      But what happened in the second half can only be called a rout. Very quickly Perasovic’s team first opened a 10-point lead, then extended it to 15. The Kazan side held that comfortable margin almost until the end of the game.

      Yes, near the end of the third quarter the visitors hit an offensive slump — the ball just wouldn’t go in the hoop, while everything started falling for Zenit, allowing them to cut the deficit to 6 points. But from the start of the final period UNICS not only regained confidence, it delivered a model stretch: 11:30 — that was the scoreline of the last quarter. The main actors were the same: Bingham, Lee and Reynolds, who joined them. Toward the end Kazan simply frolicked, easily stealing balls in the middle of the court, draining long-range shots and running plays that ended in dunks and alley-oops.

      A 27-point victory over Zenit, and on their home court: nothing like this can be recalled — in the entire 11-year history of the rivalry between the two clubs there has been nothing similar.

      Does this mean UNICS is ready to go for a second set of VTB United League gold medals in its history? The showdown with CSKA will tell. But at the start of the season Kazan looks like the main rival to the “Army” club in the fight for the Cup.

      Why did Zenit falter? Perasovic worked more subtly than Sekulić

      Obviously Sekulić has serious work to do to rebuild the team after Javier Pascual’s departure. Zenit looked good in the first half but fell apart after the big break.

      It must be understood that Zenit so far lacks the right psychology, and here questions arise about the coaching craft. Velimir Perasovic’s squad is also reassembled, but it twice rode out crisis periods in the game and returned to its previous scoring tempo.

      We’ve already noted that the newcomers fit in brilliantly. Bingham scores a lot, but also defends excellently. After Bako’s departure, such an acquisition is a qualitative step forward.

      The pair of defenders — Paris Lee and C.J. Brice — tore Zenit’s defense apart, missing almost nothing, and Zenit’s defense could do nothing about it. That the Americans and the Canadian were able to endure the match at the same pace speaks not only of their individual skill but also of how Perasovic can maintain balance. The Croatian specialist has a reputation far from being a soft coach; he is quite strict and demanding. At the same time he somehow doesn’t force players into a single system, allowing them to create and blossom.

      So in this duel of Balkan coaches the Croatian from Kazan came out on top.

      Photo: unics.ru

      More news about the event:

      - UNICS passed the 100-point mark for a game for the second time this season

       UNICS secured its second victory at the start of the VTB United League regular season; for the second straight game the Kazan club topped 100 points. 23:12 04.10.2025 Kazanskie Vedomosti — Kazan

      - Did Perasovic build a championship UNICS? Kazan dismantled Zenit with its former star

       The team scored a record 104 points against a member of the “big four”

       Photo: 18:24 04.10.2025 Realnoe Vremya — Kazan

      - The crazy victory of the new UNICS in St. Petersburg. A claim to the title or opening-season euphoria?

       What allowed UNICS to deliver an incredible rout of Zenit

       Nostalgia for Dimitrievic is over. 18:13 04.10.2025 IA Tatar-inform — Kazan

      - We crush Zenit in the away match of the week

       Kazan’s UNICS left no chance for the reigning runner-up Zenit in the week’s central match, crushing the hosts by +27 points and simultaneously scoring their second straight century — 104:77. 18:05 04.10.2025 BC Unics Kazan — Kazan

      Regional news on the topic:

      - “Zenit fell apart — defense needs serious work,” an expert summed up the match

       Renowned Russian commentator and expert Vladimir Gomelsky commented on the VTB United League regular-season game between Zenit and UNICS, which ended 104:77 in favor of Kazan (20:18, 25:27, 29:21, 23:55). 04.10.2025 Sport Weekend — St. Petersburg

      - Basketball club Zenit lost to UNICS by a crushing score of 77:104

       Photo: BC Zenit

       Basketball club Zenit could not hold the lead in the home match against UNICS. 21:34 04.10.2025 Moy Rayon — St. Petersburg

      - Basketball Zenit at home lost to UNICS — 77:104

       Photo BC Zenit

       The first half was even. Neither team led by more than 5 points. 21:31 04.10.2025 Radio Zenit — St. Petersburg

      - UNICS confidently beat Zenit away and ended their winning streak

       The Petersburg club could not cope with the guests’ attack: a heavy defeat

       Photo: Baltphoto

       The match in Petersburg ended with an unexpected result. 19:47 04.10.2025 Peterburg2.Ru — St. Petersburg

      - Presenting the opponent. “Nadezhda” (Orenburg region)

       After the game in Krasnoyarsk and a couple of days at home, “Samara” set off again: on October 5 our girls will play in Orenburg. 13:14 04.10.2025 Basketball club Samara — Samara

      - Football club “Kurgan” closes the season of big football

       On Saturday, October 4, the Kurgan team will play the final game of the season — a home match of the 22nd round of the Third League championship against Tobol’s “Tobol”. 13:10 03.10.2025 Department of Physical Culture and Sports — Kurgan

      - Yenisei basketball players started the new VTB United League season with a loss

       In their first match, the Krasnoyarsk team played away against Lokomotiv-Kuban from Krasnodar. 13:56 03.10.2025 RIA RedYar-Inform — Krasnoyarsk

      - Yenisei basketball players started the new VTB United League season

       In their first match, the Krasnoyarsk team played away against Lokomotiv-Kuban from Krasnodar. 09:25 03.10.2025 KraySport.Ru — Krasnoyarsk

      - FC “Buryatia” will play their penultimate match of the season

       It will finally be held at the Central Stadium of Buryatia

       On October 3 at 18:30 the penultimate match of FC “Buryatia” in the 2025 season of the Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts championship will take place. 10:26 03.10.2025 IA Baikal-Daily — Ulan-Ude