Turkish joys: how "Anadolu Efes" won the Super Cup of the United League

"Anadolu Efes" became the first foreign winner of the VTB United League Super Cup. "Zenit" had previously won the trophy twice, and CSKA won it three times. In the decisive match, Istanbul beat "Lokomotiv Kuban" (88:82). Mike James, the best sniper in the history of the Euroleague, became the hero of the match and the winner of the MVP award. The decorated American scored 27 points, made five rebounds and four assists. Maxim Barashkov and Alexey Pokushevsky scored 20 points each for Krasnodar.

The path to the final

"Loko" beat CSKA Moscow (90:82) and Bosnian "Igokeya" (88:78) in the group stage. The decisive match of the group was the confrontation between Tomislav Tomovich's team and last year's winners of the tournament. Krasnodar controlled the course of the meeting for 30 minutes, and in the final quarter they were able to stop the breakthrough of the army. With the Laktasi club, "Loko" players failed in the first half, but were able to fully rehabilitate themselves after a long break.

However, in the match against CSKA, Marcos Knight aggravated his injury. And considering that Krasnodar arrived in Moscow without the injured Vsevolod Ishchenko and Trevelyn Quinn, there were only 11 basketball players in their bid for the finals. However, even with the full squad, "Loko" players would not be considered favorites of the final.

"Anadolu" has significantly updated its squad after an unsuccessful last season, inviting top stars to the team: Mike James, Dario Sharich and Matthew Strazel. Their squad also includes players who performed well last season: Bruno Fernando, Santiago Justa and Daron Russell.

All the newcomers came to the Super Bowl and showed a great game. In the first meeting, the team led by Pablo Laso defeated "Zenit" (100:76), and in the second beat UNICS (91:79). Kazan fought on equal terms with Istanbul for three quarters, but unsuccessfully played the final 10 minutes.

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Star newcomers Krasnodar and Turkish grandee "Anadolu Efes" are aiming for the main trophy of the tournament

"Loko" and "Anadolu" are the only teams of the tournament that played three days in a row. In addition, most recently, on September 9, these clubs held a friendly match in Turkey. Then the hosts were able to win (85:74), and the heroes of the meeting were Colleen Malcolm (4/4 three-pointers) and Sharich (15 points).

The former got into the application for the final, but scored only two points, but the Croatian striker caused a lot of trouble for the Russian club. By halftime, Sharic had scored nine points, made four rebounds and three steals. Maxim Barashkov was the best player in the "Loko" squad, making five of the five shots from the game. It was the forward's three-pointer in the last seconds of the second quarter that allowed Krasnodar to gain a six-point advantage (47:41).

A dramatic ending

"Loko" players confidently started the third quarter, but after two offensive misses by Gleb Firsov from under the ring, the Turkish team was able not only to catch up with the opponent, but also to take the lead after Sharic's three-point shot (53:52). "Anadol" had a maximum advantage of "+5", but after getting Barashkov with a foul and an accurate average from Miller, Laso was forced to take a timeout (60:60). After a minute break, the visitors made a loss, and Krasnodar scored two three-pointers in a row, but through Russell's efforts "Anadolu" reduced the gap to a minimum (68:67).

In the fourth quarter, "Loko" had a short rotation. Patrick Miller played almost without substitutions, Hadzhibegovic, Lopatin and Samoylenko on four fouls. Laso, on the other hand, could constantly rotate his team and eventually found the optimal combination. P.J. Dozier and Kai Jones scored the most important shots.

Nevertheless, the Krasnodar team found the strength to go to the end. They lost by three points 1.5 minutes before the end, but the team from Turkey took better advantage of their chances in the last attacks. Mike James played out in the second half and eventually finished the match with 27 points.

"Loko" came close to winning its first trophy since 2018, but the Euroleague participants were stronger. In the bronze medal match, CSKA beat UNICS heavily (79:59). ""Igocea" was stronger than "Zenit" in the match for the fifth place (83:79). The blue-white-Blues were the only team to lose all three games.

"""""The symbolic five of the 2026 Super Cup are Melo Trimble (CSKA), Andrey Martyuk (Zenit), Nate Pierre-Louis (Igocea), Jalen Reynolds (UNICS) and Alain Hadzhibegovic ("Lokomotiv Kuban"). Pablo Laso, the mentor of the winners, was recognized as the best coach.