In a regular season game Lokomotiv-Kuban will host CSKA.
Where:
Russia, Krasnodar, Basket Hall(capacity 7500 spectators)
When:
March 9, 2020, 15:00 (15:00 MSK)
Broadcast:
United Legaue web-site, Match TV.
Frame from the past
In 2015/16 acting CSKA captain Kyle Hines don’t want to share the ball with Kirill Fesenko and Evgeny Voronov.
Face to face:
CSKA vs Loko – one of the main match-ups of Russian basketball. Kuban representatives pretend to be the most uncomfortable opponent for CSKA in regular seasons. Since the format has changed to 2-round championship in 2014 Red-greens finished the series at least tied. The exception was past year, when CSKA won twice. In 2014/15 both regular season games were taken by Loko.
In the first round CSKA won in Moscow with score of 81:72. Overall series score is 19-8 CSKA leads.
Last week
Last week CSKA played 2 Euroleague games – they beat Zenit (86:78) in Moscow and Panathinaikos (97:66) in Greece. The Red-blues clinched play-off spot and got in good shape.
Lokomotiv finished playing in eurocups and last game they played on February 29 against Nizhny Novgorod (93:96).
Intrigue
Lokomotiv-Kuban (13-5) and CSKA (14-4) fight for the 2nd place. Duo outpaced fourth UNICS (11-6) but can’t catch up leading Khimki (17-1). Teams will likely finish the regular season at one of these spots. In this case their match-up is crucial for both teams in the end of the season.
After Evgeny Pahutin’s return Loko took 8 consecutive wins, losing only one game last week in Nizhny Novgorod. In the end of February coach received contract re-signing offer for three years. The success in game vs CSKA would be the proof of the way they have chosen.
Arena factor
Lokomotiv beat CSKA last time in Krasnodar in 2016 (83:74). Last Loko’s win over CSKA was far enough too – January 7, 2018 in Moscow (90:79).
Sold Out
Loko announced that sold out is expected (7500 spectators). The majority of tickets were sold in first days after they became available.
Stats
Lokomotiv and CSKA are season leaders in rebounds. Krasnodar’s average result is 40,4, CSKA have 37,6.
The Red-blues hold 2nd spot in 3-point percentage – 40,5. Kuban are only 11th (34,0).
Familiar faces
Dmitrii Kulagin and Vitaly Fridzon are the only ex-CSKA players in Lokomotiv. Only one ex-Loko player plays for CSKA now – Nikita Kurbanov in 2015 came back to Moscow after strong season in Krasnodar.
Loko’s head coach Evgeny Pashutin has strong connections with Red-blues. Pashutin used to play for CSKA and later was an assistant and headed them.
Duel
Johnny O’Bryant vs Mike James.
O’Bryant and James play at different positions but it doesn’t disturb Krasnodar’s big from handling with functions that CSKA guard got used to. Loko’s player even outpace Mike in three-pointers per game (2,1 vs 1,9) and isn’t bad at sharing the ball (2,6 assists vs 4,5). No matter what are their positions, two ex-NBA players could be the key-characters of the game of the week.
