Lokomotiv Kuban will host CSKA in the Game of the Week.
Place: Russia, Krasnodar, Basket Hall (capacity 7,500 fans)
Time: February 10, 2023, 20:00 (Moscow time)
Broadcast: TV Start, Match! Igra, League Website
Rivalry
CSKA versus Loko is one of the main rivalries in the recent Russian basketball history. The Krasnodar team was one of the most inconvenient opponent for CSKA for a long time. Since a format change in 2014, Lokomotiv in most cases played against the Army team at least in a draw.
In the previous season, the Moscow and Krasnodar teams played 6 times – 2 in the regular season and 4 in the playoffs. And if during the regular season CSKA won easily (88:69 and 91:71), then in the semifinals Loko battled: the team almost started the series with a win (90:93) and won at home (94:82). However, CSKA got this series – 3-1.
This season
In the 2022/23 season, both games ended with CSKA wins. The first game was at the very start of the season in Krasnodar and started well for the hosts: Dmitrii Uzinskii and Aleksandr Shcherbenev made a 10-1 run. The first quarter ended with Loko 8-point lead – 22:14.
But the Krasnodar team stopped: CSKA shooters found their shots, the guests scored 26 points in the quarter and led after the first half – 40:36. In the second half, the Moscow team started to use Nikola Milutinov more often and he became the key player of the game, having made his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. CSKA won by 20 points – 84:64.
After 2 months, the teams had a game in Moscow, and this time from the very start, the Army team took the lead. In fact, the Krasnodar team was forced to battled the whole game (several times Loko was close to take the lead), then the guests had no strength left for the fourth quarter.
In the final quarter, CSKA had a 13-point lead and even despite a poor scoring, got the 17th win in a row – 94:80. At the same time, Alexey Shved and Nikola Milutinov did not play and Livio Jean-Charles became the team’s leader: the French bigman had the best game in the League, scoring 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Since then
For 2 months since the last rivals’ game, the teams’ places have remained the same: CSKA is the first, Loko is in fifth in the standings.
The Army team set a new League record for the number of wins with 24 games at the start of the season. But already this week CSKA lost at home to Zenit, losing for the first time with Emil Rajkovic as a head coach in the regular season. That did not prevent the Moscow team to take the first place.
Loko is on the good move: at the second stage, the team beat Zenit and UNICS on the road. The Krasnodar team was close to defeat Pari NN this Tuesday, but they missed a 9-point lead in the last minute of the fourth quarter. Now Loko and Nizhny Novgorod share the 4th place, but the Volga team is ahead (3-0 rivalry history this season).
In many ways, Loko wins are connected with DeVaughm Akoon-Purcell game – the forward played 5 games for Loko and averaged 15.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2 assists.
Debut
Okaro White is another Loko newcomer. Okaro is already known for playing for UNICS: in the 2020/21 season, he helped the Kazan team to reach the League final for the first time since 2016. White averaged 11.7 points and 5.2 rebounds.
White has already arrived in Krasnodar and attended the Loko game versus Pari NN, he underwent a medical examination and gave an interview to the team’s media, in which he expressed confidence that his new team would soon return to the winning path.
Standings place
CSKA leads the season with 24 wins in 25 games, and even with losses in the remaining 7 games of the regular season, the team will not fall below the third place in the standings. There are 2 wins between CSKA and UNICS.
Loko shares the fourth place with Pari Nizhny Novgorod. 4 wins to reach Zenit and 1 win ahead from MBA.
Numbers and leaders
Immediately 2 CSKA players are in the best scorers list: Alexey Shved is the third with 17.0 points per game, Nikola Milutinov is the eighth with 15.5 points. Loko also has 2 players in the Top 10 – Jaylen Barford (16.9) and DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (15.3).
Nikola Milutinov leads the best rebounders list (8,7). The Krasnodar team had Darral Willis (7,1), but the forward is no longer in the team. Therefore, Chris Horton and Andrey Martiuk will fight with the Serbian center – this bigmen duo makes 11.9 rebounds per game.
Alexey Shved is one of the best assistants in the League: he makes 7.9 assists per game. Shved holds the season high in assists – 16 against Zenit in the last game of the first stage of the regular season. And in general, CSKA’s offense is depend on the Russian guard: 39% of their points are scored after Shved shots or assists. Only 2 players have a greater impact on the performance of their team – Thomas Heurtel from Zenit and Justin Roberson from PARMA-PARI.
In Loko, Aleksandr Shcherbenev assists more often than others (4.7 per game), but only 25% of their points are scored by the team with the young point guard participation. In this regard, Jaylen Barford is more involved in the offense (34.5%).
As for teams stats, CSKA has a clear advantage over Loko. The Army team scores more (97.4 points – 80.0) and defend better (74.5 points against 77.2). Also, the Moscow team rebounds better (38.6 – 36.8) and assists more often (24.5 – 18.4).
Loko is much stronger in steals – 9.1 steals against 7.1 by CSKA.
Charity
Loko announced that the game against CSKA will be charity. All proceeds from ticket sales will go to kids’ basketball development.
The All-Star Game
9 Loko and CSKA players will participate in the All-Star Game 2023.
Jaylen Barford, Samson Ruzhentsev, Anton Astapkovich, Nikola Milutinov and Andrey Martiuk were selected to the New School team, and Alexey Shved, Nikita Kurbanov and Casper Ware were selected to the Old School team.
Samson Ruzhentsev will also participate in the R7 Slam Dunk Contest and Dallas Moore will compete in the Olimpbet Three-Point Contest.
The All-Star Game will be at VTB Arena in Moscow on February 19 in New School against Old School format. The final All-Star Game rosters have already been announced. You can buy a ticket to the All-Star Game on the website https://tickets.vtb-league.com/
