Already tomorrow, April 26, the final series of the Ukrainian basketball Super League will begin, in which the giants of recent years – Dnipro and Kyiv-Basket – will meet.
It was this pair that looked like contenders even before the start of the season, so their meeting in the finals is not a surprise. At the same time, the path of both teams to the decisive series was by no means easy.
Let’s try to understand the strengths of the opponents, expectations from the confrontation and determine the favorite of the championship race.
Zabirchenko’s “hungry” youth
The capital club approaches the finals as an underdog. The main reason is youth and lack of experience. Yes, the team includes 35-year-old Maksym Sandul, who played during the “golden” Super League, as well as 25-year-old captain Denys Klevzunyk.
However, the core of the team consists of young performers: Yehor Sushkin (19), Mykhailo Bublyk (22), Yaroslav Karpyuk (22) and Artem Smityukh (21). Even younger players – Rafael Kolavole (20), Artem Romanytsia (19) and Bohdan Malych (19) – come from the bench.
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During the season, this youth showed itself. As a result – nine defeats in the regular championship, where instability, hasty decisions and a bet on emotions often played against Kyiv.
The team’s main trump card is the duo Sushkin – Bublyk. Both are regularly called up to the national team of Ukraine and are probably already ready to try themselves in foreign clubs. Most likely, these are the last matches in their native league for them, now there will be an extra chance to show themselves perfectly in the final series.
It will be more difficult for other young players, so Sandul’s experience under the basket and Klevzunyk’s versatility can play a key role.
The team is led by Dmytro Zabirchenko, who is relatively young by coaching standards (41 years old). At the same time, it is difficult to call him inexperienced: after a solid playing career, he has already managed to make Ternopil a competitive middle-class team, lead Budivelnik to the championship, and with Kyiv-Basket to win silver last season and the Ukrainian Cup this year.
Dmytro Zabirchenko
BC Kyiv-Basket
Zabirchenko is very emotional and active near the edge. His energy does not directly affect the execution of shots, but significantly adds discipline to the team, especially in defense. Kyiv-Basket allowed more than 70 points only once in five playoff games, and in the regular season had the second defensive rating in the league – 73.7 points per game.
Experience and depth of the Dnipro
The reigning champion of Ukraine has an even stronger defense – an average of 68.9 points conceded per match. In attack, the team also looks convincing: in just four playoff games, the total difference was +107.
Stanislav Timofeenko, Volodymyr Konev and Maksym Zakurdaev were the leaders of the pre-war championship of Ukraine. In the conditions of the outflow of legionnaires and part of Ukrainian performers, their class allows to consistently demonstrate a high level.
In addition to them, the Dnipro team looks much more experienced against the opponent: Serhii Zagreba (32 years old), Oleksandr Tarasenko (30), Ihor Dubonenko, Mykhailo Horobchenko and Roman Bondarchuk (all 28).
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Another important advantage is playfulness. The backbone of the team has been preserved for a long time, which has a positive effect on mutual understanding on the court.
At the same time, Dnipro does not look completely invincible. For example, Rivne was tied in the first three quarters, and only in the final ten minutes did the Dnipro people squeeze the opponent (35:13 at home and 23:13 away).
In addition, during the season, Dnipro lost to Kyiv-Basket twice – once in the regular season (66:75) and in the semi-finals of the Cup of Ukraine (66:69). This adds to the confidence that the final series will be competitive and intriguing. And last year, the championship series ended with a score of 2-1.
Forecast
Dnipro’s roster looks deeper, with more options for rotation in case one of the leaders doesn’t play well.
An additional advantage will be the factor of the home field – match No. 1 and, if necessary, the decisive third match will take place in Dnipro.
Therefore, the forecast is not easy, but the victory of Dnipro with a score of 2–0 in the series.
Where to watch
The main broadcasters of the season are Kyivstar TV and Suspilne Sport. It is on these platforms that the key matches of the series will be shown exclusively.
Probably, the matches will be available on the YouTube channel of the Basketball Federation of Ukraine.
