Work on days off
A normal person's weekend isn't normal for a basketball player. This morning, our team departed for Krasnodar (for the fourth time this season) to continue the run in the VTB League playoff semifinals...
We decided to set off early Saturday morning to have some time to spare in case of travel issues to southern airports. The team departed from Sheremetyevo on Aeroflot's regular flight, although there was a slight delay, but it ultimately didn't significantly impact the travel schedule.
At the hotel in Krasnodar, the Army Men had a short meeting with fans: several teams of kids competing in the Lokobasket school league finals were also there. Naturally, lines immediately formed for autographs and photos with the visiting CSKA stars. That same evening, the red-and-blues watched the video and headed to practice at the Basket Hall, where they worked in full roster, without Ivan Zaitsev, who remained in Moscow due to injury.
"We had good result in the last game but we know we can do better," said CSKA head coach Andreas Pistiolis. "We need to step up because the series will be more and more difficult going further. We play against a very good and highly motivated team at home so we expect the continuation here to be a great fight."
Past matchups
Win-loss ratio: 80-20,
in Moscow: 42-8, in Rostov: 9-1, in Krasnodar: 27-10, on the neutral court (Berlin): 1-0.
Games of the 2025-26 season:
VTB League. 01-Nov-2025. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban: 104-64 (+40)
VTB League. 05-Dec-2025. Lokomotiv-Kuban – CSKA: 90-95 ОТ (+5)
WBC. 25-Dec-2025. Lokomotiv-Kuban - CSKA: 81-89 (+8)
VTB League. 22-Feb-2026. Lokomotiv-Kuban - CSKA: 63-92 (+29)
WBC. 11-Mar-2026. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban: 93-89 (+4)
VTB League. 07-Apr-2026. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban: 99-69 (+30)
VTB League. Semifinals. 12-May-2026. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban: 88-97 ОТ (-9)
VTB League. Semifinals. 14-May-2026. CSKA – Lokomotiv-Kuban: 84-71 (+13)
Brief dossier
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, Russia
Founded: 1946
Colors: red, green, white
Home court: Basket Hall (7,500)
President: Andrey Vedishchev
Head coach: Tomislav Tomovic
Website: www.lokobasket.com
Trophy case: Euroleague bronze winner (2016), EuroCup winner (2013), 2-times VTB United League runner-up (2013, 2023), BEKO PBL bronze winner (2012), Eurochallenge runner-up (2011), FIBA Europe Cup runner-up (2005), Russian Cup winner (2018)
