Vitaly Valeryevich Fridzon (Russian: Виталий Валерьевич Фридзон, born October 14, 1985) is a Russian professional basketball. He also represents the senior Russian national basketball team. Standing at 1.95 m (6 ft 434 in), he mainly plays at the shooting guard position, but he can also play at the point guard position.

Vitaly Fridzon
Fridzon, in 2017.
Free agent
PositionShooting guard
Personal information
Born (1985-10-14) October 14, 1985 (age 39)
Klintsy, Russian SFSR,
Soviet Union
NationalityRussian
Listed height195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Listed weight81 kg (179 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2007: undrafted
Playing career2001–present
Career history
2001–2004Standart Toliatti
2004–2013Khimki
2013–2018CSKA Moscow
2018–2020Lokomotiv Kuban
2020–2023Zenit Saint Petersburg
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Russia
Summer Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2012 London
EuroBasket
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Lithuania

Professional career

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Early years

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Fridzon started his professional career in the Russian team Standart Toliatti, in 2001, and stayed with them until the end of the 2003–04 season.[citation needed]

Khimki Moscow Region

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Fridzon playing with Khimki

Fridzon then moved to the prominent Moscow-based team Khimki. With Khimki, he won the Russian Cup in 2007, and the VTB United League championship in 2011, while also being the VTB United League Final Four MVP. A year later, he won the EuroCup 2011–12 season championship, the second-tier level European continental championship, thus giving his team a spot in the upcoming EuroLeague 2012–13 season, after a year of absence from that competition. In the 2012–13 season, he averaged a career-high 11.4 points and 2.2 rebounds per game, in 24 EuroLeague games. However, Khimki didn't win any trophies that season.[citation needed]

CSKA Moscow

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On June 13, 2013, Fridzon signed a two-year contract, with the option for a third season, with the Russian team CSKA Moscow.[1] In his first season with CSKA, in the EuroLeague 2012–13 season, he averaged 7.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game, over 31 games.[citation needed]

In the 2014–15 season, CSKA Moscow managed to advance to the EuroLeague Final Four, for the fourth straight season, after eliminating Panathinaikos for the second straight season. in the quarterfinals series, with a 3–1 series win.[2] However, in the EuroLeague semifinal game, despite being dubbed by media as an absolute favorite to advance, CSKA once again lost to Olympiacos. The final score was 70–68, after a great Olympiacos comeback in 4th quarter, led by Vassilis Spanoulis.[3] CSKA Moscow eventually won the EuroLeague third place game, after defeating Fenerbahçe, by a score of 86–80.[4] Fridzon had nearly the same season, statistically speaking, like his first season with the club, averaging 7.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game, over 23 games played in the EuroLeague. CSKA Moscow finished the season by winning the VTB United League season, after eliminating Khimki, with a 3–0 sweep in the league's finals series.[5]

On June 16, 2016, he re-signed with the team, on a new two-year contract, with the option of another season.[6]

On July 25, 2018, Fridzon and CSKA officially part ways after five seasons.[citation needed]

Lokomotiv Kuban

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On July 25, 2018, Fridzon signed a two-year contract with the Russian club Lokomotiv Kuban.[7]

Zenit Saint Petersburg

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On July 18, 2020, Fridzon moved to Zenit Saint Petersburg on a one-year contract, marking his return to the EuroLeague. On June 3, 2021, Zenit announced that Fridzon's contract would not be renewed, making him a free agent once more.[citation needed]

On March 5, 2022, he has signed and joined back the team.[8]

National team career

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Fridzon with the Russian national team at the EuroBasket 2011.

Fridzon is also a member of the senior Russian national basketball team. He won a bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2011, and a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[9]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

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Denotes season in which Fridzon won the EuroLeague
* Led the league
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2009–10 Khimki 16 2 19.0 .375 .327 .964* 2.4 2.0 .4 .1 6.5 5.9
2010–11 9 7 22.5 .328 .313 .759 4.1 1.4 .7 .1 8.2 7.3
2012–13 24 5 24.0 .450 .432 .813 2.5 2.2 1.0 .1 11.4 9.1
2013–14 CSKA Moscow 31* 7 17.8 .520 .500 .853 1.5 1.1 .5 .1 7.5 6.7
2014–15 23 18 18.3 .417 .423 .872 2.3 1.4 .7 .1 7.8 6.3
2015–16 27 14 13.9 .475 .429 .833 1.7 .9 .6 .0 6.4 5.3
2016–17 35 6 12.9 .511 .417 .860 1.2 .8 .6 .3 5.9 5.0
2017–18 30 0 7.6 .372 .382 .882 .7 .4 .3 .1 2.9 0.9
2020–21 Zenit 30 3 5.4 .419 .313 .833 .6 .3 .2 1.2 0.6
Career 225 62 14.6 .446 .416 .850 1.6 1.0 .5 .1 6.1 4.9

References

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  1. ^ "Vitaly Fridzon added to CSKA roster". cskabasket.com. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  2. ^ "CSKA Moscow routs Panathinaikos to claim Final Four berth". euroleague.net. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Spanoulis comes through again as Olympiacos stuns CSKA". euroleague.net. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  4. ^ "CSKA Moscow beats Fenerbahce in third-place game". eurolague.net. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  5. ^ "CSKA wins championship!". vtb-league.com. 8 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Vitaly Fridzon to continue with CSKA". cskabasket.com. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Vitaly Fridzon joins Lokomotiv Kuban". Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Team changes". en.bc-zenit.com. March 5, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  9. ^ "Vitaly Fridzon Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
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