Lokomotiv Kuban — CSKA, 13 October 2022

PRE-GAME BREAKDOWN

Moving to Krasnodar now, when most of the airspace in the South-West of the country is closed for flights, becomes a challenge for any team. The Red-Blues set out on a route checked back in May, during the semi-final series of the VTB League. The whole Tuesday was used for the trip: we left at 10 am from CSKA LFC, flew on an Aeroflot charter to Stavropol, had a bite to eat at a local fast food and hopped onto the bus. At 11 pm the team checked into the hotel to rest after a difficult tour. Today, the players worked twice - at noon they warmed up in the hotel gym, and in the evening they had normal practice at the Basket Hall.

13 players went on the road - only Vladimir Karpenko remained at the disposal of the youth team, in which he had already played two high-scoring games.

Loko experienced minimal changes last summer, reducing the number of foreigners and giving more leading roles to their own alumni. In the summer, the team was headed by the well-known coach Alexander Sekulic, who led the Slovenian national team at the last EuroBasket.

WORD TO THE COACH

Emil Rajkovic, CSKA head coach:

Loko is a very energetic team that has some quality players like Barford, like Shcherbenev who obviously improved this year, other guys. The things we are focusing on is their running game and effort on the offensive rebound. We must focus on defense and impose our style of game.

PAST MATCHUPS

Wins/losses: 62-12,
In Moscow: 35-3, in Rostov: 9-1, in Krasnodar: 17-7, on neutral arena (Berlin): 1-0.
Games of the 2021-22 VTB United League season:

05-Dec-2021. Lokomotiv Kuban – CSKA: 69-88 (+19)
18-Feb-2022. CSKA – Lokomotiv Kuban: 91-71 (+20)
05-May-2022. CSKA – Lokomotiv Kuban: 93-90 (+3)
07-May-2022. CSKA – Lokomotiv Kuban: 86-72 (+14)
10-May-2022. Lokomotiv Kuban – CSKA: 94-82 (-12)
12-May-2022. Lokomotiv Kuban – CSKA: 84-94 (+10)

SHORT DOSSIER

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, Russia
Founded: 1946
Colors: red, green, white
Home court: Basket Hall (7,500)
President: Andrey Vedishchev
Interim head coach: Aleksandr Sekulic
Website: www.lokobasket.com
Trophy case: Euroleague bronze winner (2016), EuroCup winner (2013), VTB United League runner-up (2013), BEKO PBL bronze winner (2011/12), Eurochallenge runner-up (2011), FIBA Europe Cup runner-up (2005), Russian Cup winner (2018)