2021–22 VTB United League

The 2021–22 VTB United League was the 13th season of the VTB United League. It was the 9th season that the league functions as the Russian domestic first tier level. Two teams left the league mid-season because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

VTB United League
Season	2021–22
Duration	23 September 2021 – 17 April 2022 (Regular season) 22 April 2022 – 5 June 2022 (Playoffs)
Number of teams	10
Regular season
Season MVP	Mario Hezonja
Finals
Champions	Zenit Saint Petersburg (1st title)
Runners-up	CSKA Moscow
Third place	UNICS
Fourth place	Lokomotiv Kuban
Playoffs MVP	Jordan Mickey
Records
Biggest home win	Lokomotiv Kuban 109–57 Astana (30 March 2022)
Biggest away win	Tsmoki Minsk 44–92 CSKA Moscow (23 September 2021) Astana 48–96 CSKA Moscow (10 April 2022)
Highest scoring	Zenit 110–111 (2OT) CSKA Moscow (27 May 2022)
Highest attendance	12,231 CSKA Moscow 75–81 Zenit (5 June 2022)
Lowest attendance	290 Avtodor 81–74 Zielona Góra (11 December 2021) Excluding the games played without fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the games played with restricted attendance for the same reason
← 2020–21 2022–23 → All statistics correct as of 5 June 2022.

Teams

A total of 10 teams from three countries contest the league, including eight sides from Russia, one from Belarus, and one from Kazakhstan.^[1]

BC Khimki didn't apply for this season because of the financial difficulties.^[2]

On 24 February 2022, Estonian club Kalev/Cramo terminated their membership in the VTB United League in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[3] The next day the league confirmed receiving declaration letter from the club.^[4] On 25 February, Polish club Zielona Góra also suspended their participation in the competition.^[5][6] On 1 March, VTB United League released a statement "Zielona Góra has suspended participation in the League at the moment, the next three home games have been postponed".^[7]

Venues and locations

 

 

Astana

 

Avtodor

 

CSKA

 

Enisey

 

Kalev

 

Lokomotiv

 

Nizhny Novgorod

 

Parma

 

Tsmoki

 

UNICS

 

Zenit

 

Zielona Góra

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Locations of teams in the 2021–22 VTB United League

Team	Home city	Arena	Capacity
Astana	Nur-Sultan	Arena Velotrack	9,270^[8]
Avtodor	Saratov	DS Kristall	5,500^[9]
CSKA Moscow	Moscow	Megasport Arena	13,344^[10]
Enisey	Krasnoyarsk	Arena.Sever	4,000^[11]
Kalev/Cramo	Tallinn	Saku Suurhall	7,200^[12]
Lokomotiv Kuban	Krasnodar	Basket-Hall	7,500^[13]
Nizhny Novgorod	Nizhny Novgorod	Trade Union Sport Palace	5,500^[14]
Parma	Perm	UDS Molot	7,000
Tsmoki Minsk	Minsk	Minsk-Arena	15,000^[15]
UNICS	Kazan	Basket-Hall	7,000^[16]
Zenit	Saint Petersburg	Sibur Arena	6,381^[17]
Zielona Góra	Zielona Góra	CRS Hall Zielona Góra	6,080

Regular season

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

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	PCT	Qualification or relegation
1	CSKA Moscow	18	15	3	1596	1260	+336	.833	Advance to playoffs
2	Zenit Saint Petersburg	18	14	4	1537	1332	+205	.778
3	UNICS	18	14	4	1530	1316	+214	.778
4	Lokomotiv Kuban	18	11	7	1663	1566	+97	.611
5	Parma	18	10	8	1370	1388	−18	.556
6	Avtodor	18	9	9	1475	1559	−84	.500
7	Enisey	18	6	12	1381	1474	−93	.333
8	Nizhny Novgorod	18	6	12	1353	1418	−65	.333
9	Tsmoki Minsk	18	3	15	1225	1543	−318	.167
10	Astana	18	2	16	1212	1486	−274	.111
11	Zielona Góra	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	Retired from the league
12	Kalev/Cramo	0	0	0	0	0	0	—

Source: VTB League

Results

Home \ Away	AST	AVT	CSK	ENI	KAL	LOK	NIZ	PAR	TSM	UNI	ZEN	ZGA
Astana	—	61–84	48–96	80–87	−	87–83	49–69	65–82	64–65	53–84	60–94	84–70
Avtodor	83–82	—	86–102	79–80	−	95–108	100–94	70–86	95–79	81–76	75–93	81–74
CSKA Moscow	84–65	92–65	—	97–88	104–62	91–71	80–72	98–71	101–54	103–105	79–78	105–71
Enisey	76–65	95–101	62–87	—	−	82–86	87–79	61–78	86–79	80–83	56–79	–
Kalev/Cramo	85–67	93–97	67–56	81–87	—	66–86	−	53–80	−	−	74–75	−
Lokomotiv Kuban	109–57	106–83	69–88	101–93	−	—	97–70	101–74	92–87	101–94	79–106	–
Nizhny Novgorod	76–73	70–83	72–92	61–79	65–71	108–104	—	79–65	72–65	50–65	74–80	–
Parma	108–101	94–73	60–82	61–58	78–74	85–90	71–67	—	91–68	66–73	77–67	83–72
Tsmoki Minsk	66–60	64–72	44–92	72–68	93–91	79–104	53–95	75–78	—	72–92	74–90	–
UNICS	71–59	103–67	69–64	97–77	71–54	96–87	85–71	78–48	98–56	—	80–84	92–63
Zenit Saint Petersburg	69–83	74–83	81–68	89–66	75–60	91–75	90–74	82–75	93–73	97–81	—	97–80
Zielona Góra	91–83	–	59–93	–	−	90–98	77–95	–	96–64	80–85	52–79	—

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

Playoffs

Quarterfinals, semifinals, and bronze medal series were played in a best-of-five format (2-2-1). Finals were played in a best-of-seven format (2-2-1-1-1).

Bracket

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
	1	CSKA Moscow	3
	8	Nizhny Novgorod	0
						1	CSKA Moscow	3
						4	Lokomotiv Kuban	1
	4	Lokomotiv Kuban	3
	5	Parma	0
											1	CSKA Moscow	3
											2	Zenit Saint Petersburg	4
	2	Zenit Saint Petersburg	3
	7	Enisey	0
						2	Zenit Saint Petersburg	3			Bronze medal
						3	UNICS	1
	3	UNICS	3								3	UNICS	3
	6	Avtodor	0								4	Lokomotiv Kuban	1

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
CSKA Moscow	3–0	Nizhny Novgorod	78–64	91–89	88–75	—	—
Zenit Saint Petersburg	3–0	Enisey	104–55	83–75	82–55	—	—
UNICS	3–0	Avtodor	106–76	97–59	88–79	—	—
Lokomotiv Kuban	3–0	Parma	76–70	100–84	101–78	—	—

Semifinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
CSKA Moscow	3–1	Lokomotiv Kuban	93–90	86–72	82–94	94–84	—
Zenit Saint Petersburg	3–1	UNICS	65–74	76–67	68–67	75–69	—

Bronze medal series

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
UNICS	3–1	Lokomotiv Kuban	90–75	81–94	93–87	94–73	—

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7
CSKA Moscow	3–4	Zenit Saint Petersburg	83–59	82–73	79–93	111–110	95–97	63–82	75–81

^† To be played only if necessary.

VTB League teams in European competitions

Team	Competition	Progress
CSKA Moscow	EuroLeague	Regular season (teams were suspended)
UNICS
Zenit Saint Petersburg
Lokomotiv Kuban	EuroCup
Nizhny Novgorod	Champions League	Regular season
Kalev/Cramo		Regular season
Avtodor	FIBA Europe Cup	Second round
Parma		Second round
Tsmoki-Minsk		Regular season
Enisey		Qualifying rounds

Awards

Season awards

Award	Player	Team	Ref.
Regular Season MVP	Mario Hezonja	UNICS	^[18]
Playoffs MVP	Jordan Mickey	Zenit Saint Petersburg
Scoring Champion	Errick McCollum	Lokomotiv Kuban	^[19]
Young Player of the Year	Andrey Martyuk	Lokomotiv Kuban	^[20]
Coach of the Year	Dimitrios Itoudis	CSKA Moscow	^[21]
Performance of the Season	Anthony Hickey	Astana	^[22]
Sixth Man of the Year	Billy Baron	Zenit Saint Petersburg	^[23]
Defensive Player of the Year	Jordan Mickey	Zenit Saint Petersburg	^[24]
Newcomer of the Year

MVP of the Month

Month	Player	Team	Ref.
2021
September/October	Gabriel Lundberg	CSKA Moscow	^[25]
November	Mario Hezonja	UNICS	^[26]
December	Kenny Chery	Avtodor	^[27]
2022
January	Jeremiah Hill	Parma	^[28]
February	Alex Poythress	Zenit Saint Petersburg	^[29]
March	Alexey Shved	CSKA Moscow	^[30]
April	Billy Baron	Zenit Saint Petersburg	^[31]

References

1. Арасланов, Марат. "«Заявки на следующий сезон прислали все клубы, кроме «Химок». Это очень грустная новость»". www.championat.com (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-06-04.
2. Гусейнов, Микаил. "«Химки» не выступят в Единой лиге ВТБ в следующем сезоне". www.championat.com (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-06-04.
3. "Official statement by the club regarding the participation in VTB League after actions taken by Russian Federation". bckalev.ee. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
4. "Kalev withdraws from the VTB United League". vtb-league.com. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
5. "Oświadczenie klubu w sprawie występów w lidze VTB". basketzg.pl. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
6. "Zielona Gora joins Kalev/Cramo in departing the VTB United League". eurohoops.net. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
7. "VTB League 2021/22 season continues". vtb-league.com. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
8. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. Arena Velotrack Capacity: 9270 spectators
9. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. DS Kristall Capacity: 5500
10. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
11. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. Arena.Sever Capacity: 4000 spectators
12. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Saku Suurhall» Capacity: 7200 spectators
13. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Basket-hall» Capacity: 7500 spectators
14. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Nizhniy Novgorod Trade Union Sport Palace» Capacity: 5500 spectators
15. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. «Minsk-Arena» Capacity: 15,000 spectators
16. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. Basket-Hall Capacity: 7000 spectators
17. "VTB United League". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 30 November 2017. SK Yubileyniy Capacity: 6381 spectators
18. "Марио Хезонья — MVP регулярного сезона" (in Russian). VTB United League. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
19. "Эрик Макколлум — обладатель приза «Самый результативный игрок сезона-2021/22»" (in Russian). VTB United League. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
20. "Андрей Мартюк – лучший молодой игрок Лиги в сезоне 2021/22" (in Russian). VTB United League. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
21. "Димитрис Итудис — лучший тренер сезона 2021/22" (in Russian). VTB United League. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
22. "Энтони Хики — обладатель награды «Лучший перфоманс сезона-2021/22»" (in Russian). VTB United League. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
23. "Билли Бэрон – лучший «шестой» игрок в сезоне 2021/22" (in Russian). VTB United League. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
24. "Джордан Мики – лучший защищающийся игрок в сезоне 2021/22" (in Russian). VTB United League. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
25. "Iffe Lundberg becomes the first MVP of the 21/22 season". VTB United League. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
26. "Mario Hezonja is the MVP of November". VTB United League. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
27. "Kenny Chery is the MVP of December". VTB United League. 30 December 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
28. "Jeremiah Hill is the MVP of January". VTB United League. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
29. "Alex Poythress is the MVP of February". VTB United League. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
30. "Алексей Швед — MVP марта" (in Russian). VTB United League. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
31. "Билли Бэрон — MVP апреля" (in Russian). VTB United League. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.

External links

• Official website