Krasnoyarsk will host the regular season game on Wednesday.
Enisey (Krasnoyarsk) – Lokomotiv Kuban (Krasnodar)
Time: 19:30 (15:30 Moscow time)
Place: Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Arena Sever
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League website
Enisey: On Sunday, the Krasnoyarsk team confidently beat Astana on the road – 88:57, and head coach Drazen Anzulovic said that he was absolutely satisfied with the game. Enisey really acted very smoothly, especially in defense, forcing the opponents to make 22 turnovers. Now the Siberian team are waiting for a more difficult opponent – Lokomotiv Kuban, the win over Enisey was 3 years ago. However, now the chances of the Krasnoyarsk team are much higher, because Loko has not yet demonstrated the previous level. Of the interesting storylines, it is worth highlighting Darral Willis return to Krasnoyarsk: the forward played for Enisey in the previous season and now he plays quite usefully in Loko – in the last 5 games he scores 17.2 points and 8.8 rebounds. However, Enisey also have reply: center James Thompson leads the team in points (12.4), rebounds (6.3) and steals (1.4). A win over Loko will allow Enisey to come close to the 5-8 places.
Lokomotiv Kuban: The Krasnodar team, like Enisey, won in the previous game, scored the first 100 in Saratov. But Loko has only 2 days to move to Krasnoyarsk and prepare for the game and head coach Alexander Sekulic went to the Slovenian national team for the 2023 World Cup qualification games. In Krasnoyarsk, Loko will certainly try to use high-speed game, with a quick offensive possesions and pressure. Constant defensive pressure is one of key elements this season – they are in 3rd place in steals (9.1 per game). In the game with Enisey, this may become especially relevant, because the Krasnoyarsk team lose the ball almost more often than anyone – 17.3 turnovers per game. In addition to Willis, who is in good shape now, Andrey Martiuk should help – he got new csareer high, scoring 25 points against Avtodor. Do not forget about Jaylen Barford – the American guard seriously claims to be the best scorer of the season and in every game of the season becomes a problem for opponents’ defense.
