Motivation from the preseason

One down

Despite the fact that three days earlier the team played a second leg game, now we are returning to the first leg as the schedule has not yet let CSKA play with MBA-MAI. Except for the August meeting at the very start of the preseason, in which the hosts of the Basket Hall won 83-76. It is clear that no one is drawing serious conclusions from that defeat – it was only the second friendly game under heavy load of trainings, but still, CSKA has only two defeats in the 24-25 campaign, so it makes sense to remember each one.

"We are in a good momentum now, but we have a difficult schedule," said CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. “In the upcoming game, we need, as always, to be fully focused in order to play our basketball."

The Red-Blues will be missing Ivan Ukhov, who suffered a fracture of the finger of his left hand in the game with Pari NN last Saturday.

Few, but important changes

The capital team did not experience many changes last summer, but even rare ones seem significant. First of all, the name was lengthened, the abbreviation of the Moscow Aviation Institute was added. Two graduates of CSKA, who played important roles in Vasily Karasev's rotation, left the team: Andrei Lopatin moved to UNICS, Alexander Khomenko - to Pari NN.

Now the main role in MBA-MAI is played by Andrei Zubkov, who restarted his career after a reserve position in Zenit. The experienced power forward is the only one who scores double-digit points. His averages are 15.3 points (7th in the league), 8.5 rebounds (2nd) with 20.9 efficiency points (3rd).

Without Khomenko, a significant part of the organizational functions fell on the shoulders of another graduate of the CSKA youth team, Makar Konovalov (9.5 points, 5.0 assists). Among the leaders are two more veterans, Vladislav Trushkin (9.3 points, 4.0 rebounds) and Evgeny Voronov (8.1 points). The start of the season for MBA-MAI has not been easy so far. The team began with five losses, won three of the next four and lost twice again. So far, Vasily Karasev's team is ahead of only Astana in the standings.

Past matchups

Win/Loss Ratio: 6-0

Games of the 2023-24 season:

30-Sep-2023. CSKA – MBA: 76-72 (+4)
27-Jan-2024. MBA – CSKA: 52-88 (+26)

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)