In the same sequence

Energy and motivation

You could say that the opponent is unlucky – after the defeat, our team will certainly be especially focused. The team is not so much preparing for the game against one of the league’s outsiders as it is analyzing its own mistakes.

Fortunately, Amath M’Baye, who fell on his back at the end of the game in St.Petersburg, did not suffer a serious injury. The forward is currently training individually, and his readiness for the next games will be assessed on a daily basis.

“This game will be an opportunity for some of our players to prove themselves,” said CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. “I hope we will see the energy and motivation needed for such a game.”

No thoughts about the present

The team from the banks of the Volga started the season quite vigorously, but by the middle of it they were faced with practically insoluble financial problems. As a result, the team's roster was down to half of the players who played in the opening rounds. The club released all the foreigners, including head coach Drazen Anzulovic, and let most of its the Russian leaders go. The only high-level veteran, Mikhail Kulagin, is nursing an injury. So the new coach Vladislav Konovalov, "raised" from the status of assistant, has to play the youth without immediate tasks.

It is pointless to evaluate the Volga team's statistics for the entire season now. Let's take a look at March alone. Here, the best scorer was Andrei Sopin, who, however, scored his 12.5 points on 26.1% of field goals. Next are the graduate of the CSKA youth team Nikita Kosyakov - 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and Ilya Platonov - 9.5 points, 4.8 rebounds.

Past matchups

Wins-losses in VTB League: 7-0

2024-25 VTB League regular season game:

01-Dec-2024. CSKA – Samara: 97-77 (+20)
18-Dec-2024. Samara – CSKA: 63-93 (+30)
05-Feb-2025. Samara – CSKA: 44-102 (+58)

Brief dossier

BC Samara

Founded: 1976
Colors: blue, white
Homecourt: Vladimir Vysotsky Palace of Sports (5,000)
CEO: Alexey Yagunov
Head coach: Vladislav Konovalov
Website: bcsamara.com
Trophy case: Russian League bronze winners (1996, 97), Superleague 1 champions (2019, 21), Russian Cup winners (2020, 22)