Astana — CSKA, 18 November 2022

PRE-GAME BREAKDOWN

There were significant changes in Astana last summer. First, the city renamed back after being Nur-Sultan for several years. Second, Valery Tikhonenko is replaced by Samson Arakelian as the head of the club. The team is back to playing here after spending last part of the season in Almaty.

CSKA went to Kazakhstan on Thursday morning. Semen Antonov (Achilles surgery) stayed in Moscow as well as Vladimir Karpenko who was sent to play for CSKA-2.

WORD TO THE COACH

Emil Rajkovic, CSKA head coach:

Astana signed two new foreigners recently, so they will have some extra energy, taking into account their home crowd also. They’ve never played with this roster, and we should not be caught by surprise. We have to stay focused to win the game.

PAST MATCHUPS

Win-loss record: 24-0
Games of 2021-22 season:

13-Feb-2022. CSKA – Astana: 84-65 (+19)
10-Apr-2022. Astana – CSKA: 48-96 (+48)

SHORT DOSSIER

BC Astana (Astana, Kazakhstan)
Founded: 2000
Colors: yellow, blue
Home court: SC Velotrack/Saryarka (9,270).
CEO: Samson Arakelian
Head coach: Oleg Kiselev
Website: pbcastana.kz
Trophy case: 10-time Kazakhstan champion (2012-15, 17-22), 9-time Kazakhstan Cup winner (2011-14,17-21), FIBA Asian Champions Cup bronze winner (2017).