In the Game of the Week, CSKA will host Lokomotiv Kuban.
Location: Russia, Moscow, Megasport (capacity 13344)
Time: February 18, 2022, 19:30 (Moscow time)
Broadcasts: Match! Strana, VTB United League Website
Rivalry
CSKA versus Loko is one of the main rivalries in the recent history of Russian basketball. Loko for a long time wore the informal title of the most inconvenient CSKA opponent in the regular seasons. Since the changing to 2-round format in 2014, the Krasnodar team played at least in a draw the Army team.
The exception were 2 seasons – 2018/19 and 2019/20 – when Loko won twice (in the 2014/15 season, both games in the regular season were won by Loko). Last season, the teams got home wins. In the 1st round of the 21/22 season, CSKA won in Krasnodar – 88:69.
The rivalry history is 22-9, CSKA won more. Of the last 10 games, 9 of them ended with the Army team win.
Intrigue
CSKA and Lokomotiv Kuban are approaching another duel in unusually for them low places in the standings. The Army team (10-4) is in the 4th place, Loko in on 6th, while having 3 games in reserve compared to the competitor (6-5). This situation does not suit the teams and they will make every effort to improve their situation on Friday.
Results of the week
There is a break in the Euroleague and the EuroCup this week, so the teams had more time to recover and prepare. CSKA played on Sunday against Astana, beating them with no chance (84:65).
On Tuesday, the Kazakh team got the game with Lokomotiv, and Astana managed to defeat the Krasnodar team – 83:87.
Numbers
CSKA and Loko are in the Top-3 of the season in points scored and rebounds. The Krasnodar team are now the best scoring team in the League (91.4 points on average per game), the Moscow team are in the 2nd place (87.1). Loko are also leading in rebounds (37.9 per game), the Army team is on the 3rd place (37.2).
Loko got 3 players from the Top-4 of the season in the best scorers list: Jaylen Barford (21.6 points), Errick McCollum (21.3) and Jonathan Motley (19.0). However, Motley will not play on Friday due to injury.
Balance
Lokomotiv prepared to the game with a rare zero difference of points scored and conceded – 914/914 based on the results of ten matches.
All-Stars
A couple of days after the game in Megasport, some of the opponents will become teammates – CSKA and Loko are widely represented at the All-Star Game. Alexey Shved, Joel Bolomboy and Nikita Kurbanov will play with the Krasnodar team captain Stanislav Ilnitskiy in the Russian Stars team.
Iffe Lundberg, Tornike Shengelia and Daniel Hackett from CSKA will play with Loko leader Errick McCollum in the World Stars team
Losses
CSKA has been playing with roster problems for quite a long time. The Army team played with Astana without Will Clyburn, Tornike Shengelia, Iffe Lundberg and the recently signed Alleric Freeman.
Loko also has injured players. Motley and Stanton Kidd, who are important to the team, will not play until March.
Debut
Jaylen Barford made his debut for Loko against his former team, Astana. One of the best snipers of the season looked modest, scoring 11 points and 3 assists in 15 minutes.
CSKA newcomer Freeman has not yet played for the Army team due to injury.
Why CSKA can win
Lokomotiv recently experienced the COVID-19 epidemic, several games were postponed (the games with the Metropolitan and Astana were separated by 13 days). During this time, players lost playing shape, and the team fell out of the rhythm of the game – this was noticeable in Kazakhstan on Tuesday. Although chances of CSKA are determined not only by the opponent’s problems. The Moscow team have all the necessary resources to beat Lokomotiv. In December, Dimitris Itoudis team beat Loko in a dominant style, showing great defense, controlling the pace and development of the game from the 1st quarter.
Having won 9 of the last 10 games with Loko, the Army team prepared to the next game with a better shape, despite all the difficulties, more rested and acts as the favorite of the Game of the Week.
Why Lokomotiv Kuban can win
The absence of Shengelia and Clyburn would affect the game of any team, CSKA is no exception. In the absence of forwards, the Army team focus on backcourt players, but Shved and Grigonis lack stability, and even Hackett is not always ready to has top performances, that can save the Army team. The defense also matters in this situation, which was very noticeable in the 1st half of the game in Tel Aviv (-21, 50% from 3-point line for Maccabi). The Krasnodar team, who are willingly running into a fastbreaks, will try to put pressure on the Army team’s defense during the transition. The mood of the team after the unexpected and insulting loss in Kazakhstan also promises to be maximum.
Who to follow
Alexey Shved. The star guard is playing uncertainly this season. In the last Euroleague game with Maccabi, he did not come out in the 2nd half, giving out -26 before the halftime in +- with 0 out of 5 from the field in just 11 minutes. In the recent game with Astana, Alexey looked much more convincing: 13 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists. Shved played similar role in the December game in Krasnodar, when he became the best in the guests team, finding a balance between scoring (17 points, 5 out of 8 from 3-point range ) and in assisting (7 assists).
The result of Friday’s game will largely depend on Shved’s mood.
