Fighting for status
Our team, the VTB League leader, arrived in Yekaterinburg to take on Uralmash, which is trying to climb into the top six...
Playing on two fronts
Last Saturday was a mandatory day off for the team. This was especially true for the young players: Ivan Zaytsev and Daniil Klyuchenkov are currently working for two teams, managing to get practice in both the main and reserve teams. On Monday, the boys helped CSKA-2 defeat Zenit's second team, and today they were already at CSKA training in Krylatskoye. The Army Men worked without Tonye Jekiri, who is working out individually, and Vladimir Karpenko, who is recovering from a muscle injury in his leg.
"Games in Yekaterinburg are always difficult and are played with great fan support," notes CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. "Uralmash is a very good team. We need to maintain the same level of focus as in previous games and play good basketball to win."
Below expected
Uralmash's season has been challenging. The team alternates between spectacular victories over strong opponents and disappointing losses, and currently sits in seventh place in the league, despite initially being projected to be in contention for a top-four spot. However, most of the regular season is still ahead.
Rostislav Vergun's team's play is driven by its backcourt. Garrett Nevels remains the team's leading scorer, averaging 18.4 points on 50.7% three-point shooting, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, followed by Timofey Gerasimov, averaging 12.4 points and 4.3 assists. Forwards Tyrell Nelson (11.3 points, 5.7 rebounds) and Hayden Dalton (10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds) add aggression to the rim. At the same time, CSKA alumnus Anton Kardanakhishvili plays an important role in organizing the game; he often starts, gets almost 24 minutes on average, and records 9.5 points with 3.9 assists.
Past matchups
Win/loss ratio: 7-0
Game of the 2025-26 season
29-Oct-2025. CSKA - Uralmash: 95-72 (+23)
Brief dossier
Uralmash Ekaterinburg
Founded: 1960
Colors: orange, black, green
Home arena: Palace of Team Sports (5,000)
President: Viktor Ganienko
Head coach: Rostislav Vergun
Website: bcuralmash.ru
Trophy case: Russian Cup winner (2025), 2-time SuperLeague champion (2022, 2023), SuperLeague vice-champion (2021), SuperLeague-2 bronze winner (2018), SuperLeague-3 champion (2017)
