A couple of rebounds were missing
As expected, the meeting with Lokomotiv-Kuban turned out to be a real battle. With a low percentage of long-range shooting on both sides, the key factor was rebounds, which let our team down…
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar – PBC CSKA: 69-65 (-4)
Lokomotiv Kuban: Miller (8 + 4 rb + 2 as + 6 to + 4 pf), Johnson (11 + 8 rb + 2 as + 2 st + 3 to), Temirov (4 + 3 st), Martyuk (6), Kvitkovskikh (0) – start; Kosko (DNP), Cleveland (18 + 7 rb + 2 st + 4 pf), Whaley (2 + 6 rb), Yelatontsev (14 + 9 rb + 2 st), Uzinskiy (4 + 3 as + 5 pf), Anderson (0), Yemchenko (2 + 2 st + 3 to)…
CSKA: Ware (10 + 4 as + 4 st), Ukhov (3 + 4 as), Jean-Charles (4 + 3 rb + 4 to), M'Baye (10 + 4 rb + 2 as + 2 st + 4 pf), Kurbanov (3 + 8 rb + 2 as + 3 st + 4 pf) – start; Jekiri (4 + 4 rb), Avramovic (8), Gankevich (DNP), Trimble (15 + 4 rb + 3 to), Astapkovich (5 + 3 rb + 2 st), Karpenko (DNP), Antonov (3)…
Andreas Pistiolis, CSKA head coach:
Congratulations to Lokomotiv-Kuban, the opponents were more decisive in key moments. We started with the right attitude, we played tough and aggressively on both sides of the court. The second quarter was key, we continued to create high-quality shots, but missed them, thereby giving our opponents a chance. Our indecisiveness, which showed itself at that moment, gave our opponents a chance to be more aggressive. On the one hand, 69 points conceded in an away game is a good result. On the other hand, if we had five more defensive rebounds, Loko would have scored just over 50. An important moment was the two putbacks by Elatontsev, without which we could have achieved a turning point in the game, and the offensive rebound, which led to Cleveland’s second three-pointer at the end – he has not forgiven for the second time in a row.
