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Shall we play the capital championship?
This year, the phrase Moscow Derby has depreciated a little. After all, last season there were two teams in the capital, and this season Runa joined CSKA and MBA. There hasn’t been such an abundance of clubs in the city since the distant 1998/99 season, when the Army Team was accompanied by the now defunct Spartak and Sportakademklub.
Until recently, the red-blues were the only club in the capital, and only meetings with Khimki and Triumph Lyubertsy were eligible for the derby with some extent. But now – also with some extent - it is quite possible to single out a separate standings for the Moscow Championship.
We are preparing on all fronts
The team's first home game is a special and important event. The basketball players have been preparing for it since Tuesday, first in Krylatskoye, and then in Megasport, where they practiced on Thursday and will have another session today.
One of the main tasks was to recover the injured trio. Melo Trimble, Anton Astapkovich and Livio Jean-Charles have made significant progress and are in various stages of readiness, and a decision on their participation will be made by the coaching and medical staff before the game. One way or another, this week Emil Rajkovic still had at his disposal the guys from CSKA-2 involved in the SuperCup - Ivan Zaitsev and Pavel Zakharov.
The club is also seriously preparing for the start. Outside of basketball, the main event is the meeting with the fans, and we welcome everyone immediately after the end of the game.
A matter of principle
It is not about a significant number of MBA players (and even the head coach!) that played for the main and youth teams of CSKA. For the “citizens”, who last season earned a reputation as a threat to authorities, the Army Team still remains an unconquered peak. In all four games of the previous regular season, the red-blues won by double-digit margins.
At the recent VTB League SuperCup, Vasily Karasev’s team managed to “drag” CSKA into overtime. However, to do this they needed to hit an incredible 19 three-pointers. “We set the task, first of all, to follow our game plan,” says Emil Rajkovic. – It’s about, first of all, defense. We have to control what we can control – not to allow open shots to their shooters.”
Therefore, both sides have something to prove: the hosts will try to defend better on the perimeter and maintain the existing status quo between the clubs, and the guests will try to take the next step.
Brief dossier
MBA Moscow
Founded: 2011
Colors: white, red
Home arena: Basket Hall Moscow (5,000 spectators)
President: Tatyana Kocharyan
Head coach: Vasily Karasev
Website: mbabasket.pro
Achievements: vice-champion of the Major League (2014)
