Hardening with the Hammer
The second round of the VTB League regular season will find our team in Perm, where the red-and-blues departed today on an Aeroflot flight...
The journey continues
Our team's very long (including preseason) away streak continues. And it won't end in Perm—next week, CSKA also visits St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, the team trained in Krylatskoye after returning from Samara and a well-deserved day off. Moreover, today they practiced with a full roster – Ivan Zaitsev and Daniil Klyuchenkov were brought back from the youth team's Far East tour for this purpose.
Our runaway trip continues in Perm. We will play at the tough court, with a very live gym and against a highly motivated team. We have to show our 100 per cent to win this one.
In search
Last summer, the Perm team underwent significant changes, partly out of necessity. The team lost four (!) of its top scorers: Garrett Nevels (15.8 points) moved to Uralmash, Royce Hamm (15.6) to Lokomotiv-Kuban, Samson Ruzhentsev (13.8) returned to CSKA, and Stanley Whittaker (13.1) moved to Turkish Petkim Spor.
The revamped team began the season with a pair of road losses – to UNICS (83-103) and Pari NN (69-73). Of the new four foreign players, only two have so far pleased head coach Evgeny Pashutin. Brendan Adams leads the team in points (20.0), while Victor Sanders leads the team in assists (6.0, plus 11.5 points). Meanwhile, key roles in the frontline are played by 20-year-old center Gleb Firsov (13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds), who averaged just over five minutes per game last season, and CSKA youth team graduate Alexander Shashkov (8.0 points, 67% three-point shooting).
The club also added a sponsor to its name, and is now called BETCITY Parma. All that remains is to find their footing on the basketball court. Pashutin's charges will surely be aided in this by the always-packed Molot (Hammer) Sports Palace.
Past matchups
Win/loss ratio: 21-3
VTB League game of the 2024-25 season:
20-Oct-2024. Parma – CSKA: 82-95 (+13)
28-Nov-2024. CSKA - Parma: 110-91 (+19)
11-Jan-2025. Parma – CSKA: 64-101 (+37)
25-Mar-2025. CSKA - Parma: 94-85 (+9)
Brief dossier
BETCITY PARMA Perm
Founded: 2012
Colors: blue, white
Home court: UDS Molot (7,000 spectators)
CEO: Alexander Bashminov
Head coach: Evgeny Pashutin
Website: parmabasket.ru
Achievements: 2-time Russian Cup winner (2016, 19), SuperLeague 1 bronze medalist (2016)
