Jumping into summer
The difficulty of traveling to Krasnodar to play Lokomotiv-Kuban is more than compensated for by the warm, almost summer weather in the Russian South…
From the storm
CSKA did not have much time to prepare for the game with Loko. After a difficult victory over Enisey, the team held a training session in Krylatskoye, and the next morning it went to Sheremetyevo. It was important that the forecast did not fail, and the storm promised by forecasters did not hit Moscow ahead of time. Everything worked out well: there was a bit of a turbulence on takeoff, but the Aeroflot regular flight to Stavropol was quite comfortable.
As was the bus trip to Krasnodar. On the way, the team managed to watch the games of the Russian Cup Final Four, and arrived just in time for the start of the EuroLeague evening. A night at the hotel, a warm-up in the gym, a video review – and in the afternoon the red-blues were already practicing on the floor of the local Basket Hall. All thirteen players made it to the parquet – with the exception of Ruslan Abdulbasirov and Yuri Umrikhin.
“The games between Lokomotiv and CSKA are always exciting, they are filled with a tough fight,” said CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. “I think the upcoming game will be no exception. We are in good shape, and it is important for us to show the level of energy that matches this game.”
Lokomotiv: injuries and newcomers
The hard-fought victory of the Krasnodar team in Moscow (which might not have happened if Aleksa Avramovic had hit a three-pointer at the buzzer) added to their optimism, but did not become a harbinger of a long winning streak. Over the past two months, Andrey Vedischev's team stumbled in Nizhny Novgorod and Yekaterinburg, made a comeback in a game with Enisey thanks to an excellent final quarter, and lost at home to Zenit after an unexpected long-range shot by Georgy Zhbanov off the backboard.
At the same time, the “railroad workers” have to solve personnel problems. Carvel Anderson is out for the rest of the season, BJ Johnson - for an indefinite period, injuries have bothered the "big guys" Andrey Martyuk and Kirill Elatontsev - the main heroes of the two previous games with CSKA, the recovery of young Vsevolod Ishchenko, who was in the starting lineup at the beginning of the season, has been delayed.
The club has signed two rookie shooting guards: Tahjere McCall has already played in four games, although he has not yet shown any outstanding results (5.5 points per game on average), and Loko has not yet added John Jenkins to the roster, although it announced his transfer from Puerto Rican Criollos de Caguas on March 7. In order to reduce the load on the leaders, the coaching staff of the red-greens left a couple of their best scorers off the roster in the previous round - Patrick Miller (15.5 points, 6.1 assists) and Antonius Cleveland (13.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.9 steals). However, Samara was routed even without their participation. Fortunately, the Krasnodar rotation is unprecedentedly wide.
Past matchups
Win-loss ratio: 72-19,
in Moscow: 39-7, in Rostov: 9-1, in Krasnodar: 23-10, on the neutral court (Berlin): 1-0.
Game of the 2024-25 season:
27-Oct-2024. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban: 92-91 (+1)
22.12.2024. Lokomotiv-Kuban – CSKA: 69-65 (-4)
19.01.2025. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban: 104-106 (-2)
Brief dossier
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, Russia
Founded: 1946
Colors: red, green, white
Home court: Basket Hall (7,500)
President and head coach: Andrey Vedishchev
Website: www.lokobasket.com
Trophy case: Euroleague bronze winner (2016), EuroCup winner (2013), 2-times VTB United League runner-up (2013, 2023), BEKO PBL bronze winner (2011/12), Eurochallenge runner-up (2011), FIBA Europe Cup runner-up (2005), Russian Cup winner (2018)
