History calls

Friends off the court

A lot changed at Lokomotiv last summer. Yet, the key personnel change occurred at the head coach position. Club president Andrei Vedishchev left the coaching position, giving way to Anton Yudin, a familiar face to CSKA fans, along with his already practically formed team. Yudin, who led CSKA-2 to last season's Superleague final, worked on the red-blues' staff alongside Andreas Pistiolis and Denis Godlevskiy, and is well acquainted with both the coaches and the players. However, friendships will be put aside this evening – the battle on the court will take center stage.

In this battle, the rebuilt Railwaymen will rely primarily on their former leader. Patrick Miller is still here, and he's once again leading the team, averaging 16.6 points, 7.1 assists, and 1.4 steals. Second in scoring is another Krasnodar veteran, Anton Kvitkovskikh (13.3 points, 4.4 rebounds). Next come the newcomers: long-range shooter Cassius Robertson (11.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.4 steals, 35.6% three-point shooting) and center Vince Hunter, who joined from Zenit (10.7 points, 7.3 rebounds).

Victory as a reward

“Lokomotiv is traditionally one of the strongest clubs in the league,” notes CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. “Games against this team are always difficult, and we expect a similar matchup tomorrow. We need to seize the moment and play the same good basketball we showed in previous games. I hope a large number of fans will come to support us, and we can reward them with a victory.”

To prepare for such a game (and last season, all four games against Lokomotiv were tough), the staff moved the practice to an earlier time, during the day. The red-blues worked a full session at Megasport with their full squad.

Past matchups

Win-loss ratio: 73-19,
in Moscow: 39-7, in Rostov: 9-1, in Krasnodar: 24-10, on the neutral court (Berlin): 1-0.

Game of the 2024-25 season:

27-Oct-2024. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban: 92-91 (+1)
22-Dec-2024. Lokomotiv-Kuban – CSKA: 69-65 (-4)
19-Jan-2025. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban: 104-106 (-2)
16-Mar-2025. Lokomotiv-Kuban – CSKA: 84-88 (+4)

Brief dossier

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, Russia
Founded: 1946
Colors: red, green, white
Home court: Basket Hall (7,500)
President: Andrey Vedishchev
Head coach: Anton Yudin
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)