No breaks from now on

After national team duty

The nearly two-week break for the red-and-blues hardly felt like a vacation. After the team's arduous journey out of Krasnodar (we needed a huge helping hand from Aeroflot and colleagues from Lokomotiv-Kuban to fly out of Stavropol), the players were given only three days off. Meanwhile, the national team players – Luka Mitrovic, Vladimir Karpenko, Yaroslav Nikonov, and Aleksandr Chadov – didn't get any rest at all. Mitrovic ended up playing both games for Serbia against Turkey, and although the Serbs lost twice, he was one of the team's best players. Luka started, averaging 8.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, the remaining CSKA players together with the coaching staff, were working in Krylatskoye. The team trained with ten men, while the injured Ivan Zaytsev continued his rehabilitation program.

A helping key

"Playing in Nizhny Novgorod is always difficult, especially since the hosts always play well against big teams," notes CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. "We need to show a high level of focus and motivation to win."

The Volga team does have several victories over higher-ranked teams—Zenit, BETCITY Parma, and MBA-MAI. However, they've also suffered plenty of losses this season. Therefore, Pari NN remains in ninth place in the standings and is struggling to maintain a playoff spot.

Personnel matters are also difficult. Over the course of the season, Nizhny Novgorod lost almost all of its foreign players, retaining only Norbert Lukacs (who, incidentally, played for the Hungarian national team during this break). However, there's no clear leader among the remaining players, making it difficult to predict who will shine in any given game. Three players have scored in double figures: Kirill Popov (10.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 38.6% three-point shooting), Ilya Karpenkov (10.4 points, 5.5 rebounds), and Alexander Khomenko (10.3 points).

Daniil Klyuchenkov, loaned from CSKA, has been a significant asset to the team. The young forward has played in four games, averaging 8.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 0.5 blocks in 24.9 minutes.

Past matchups

Win-loss record: 53-5

2025-26 VTB League regular season games:

15-Oct-2025. CSKA – Pari NN: 86-77 (+9)
05-Nov-2025. Pari NN - CSKA: 71-95 (+24)

Brief dossier

BC Pari Nizhny Novgorod

Founded: 2000
Colors: white, black
Homecourt: Labor Unions Palace of Sports (5,000)
President: Sergey Panov
Head coach: Sergei Kozin
Website: www.nn-basket.ru
Accomplishments: Russian Cup winner (2023), VTB United League runner-ups (2014), Russian Championship runner-up (2014), Superleague B champion (2010), Russian Cup finalists (2011)