No goals, but serious play
Our team has entered the final stretch of the VTB League regular season, where the Army Men's games have no tournament significance...
Preparing for the main part of the season
The Red-Blues have already decided the outcome of the regular season championship battle, securing the top spot three rounds before the end. Therefore, in the final games, time management and developing playoff preparations will be paramount. In short, there will be a varied preparation for the main part of the season.
The victory in the WINLINE Basket Cup in St.Petersburg also came in handy. Upon returning to Moscow, the coaching staff gave the team two days off. However, already on Tuesday, most of the players were training individually in Krylatskoye – in the weight room and in the basketball gym.
“We need to focus, to change the chip and switch on the championship mode in the remaining games," notes CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. “We have to be serious, maintain our rhythm because Nizhny showed in the recent games that if you don’t take them serious, they are ready to take advantage of that.”
We're watching ours
Nizhny Novgorod, for its part, also found itself without tournament goals, having lost its chance to reach the playoffs. However, this makes its opponents even more dangerous – they play without pressure and for fun.
With the end of the season so close for the Volga team, they parted ways with their leader without any regrets, sending Kirill Popov to the still-fighting Uralmash. Without him, Pari NN's leading scorers are Ilya Karpenkov (11.6 points, 5.7 rebounds) and Alexander Khomenko (10.5 points). We're keeping an eye on the CSKA players, who are playing here on loan. Daniil Klyuchenkov is getting almost 25 minutes of playing time, recording 8.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals, and Zakhar Lavrenov has recorded a total of 6 points and 5 rebounds in 18 minutes in the past two games.
Past matchups
Win-loss record: 54-5
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)
06-Mar-2026. Pari NN - CSKA: 62-78 (+16)
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)
