In a regular season game Lokomotiv-Kuban will host Zenit.
Where:
Russia, Krasnodar, Basket Hall (capacity of 7500 spectators)
When:
February 10, 2020, 19:30 (19:30 MSK)
Broadcast:
VTB United League web-site, Match TV
Frame from past
One of nowadays CSKA leaders Nikita Kurbanov in Loko’s jersey playing against Zenit’s defence – Walter Hodge, Kyle Landry and Evgenii Valiev.
Face to face:
2018/19 season started with Lokomotiv-Kuban vs Zenit. Krasnodar left to chance to their opponents back then, taking the biggest victory of history of League’s season-openers – 96:64, +32. Second round game in Petersburg was another Loko’s confident win – 94:78. Zenit took the revenge in play-offs where teams met in first round. Despite the court advantage for Kuban, Petersburg took the series with 3-1. In the first round of current season it was Loko’s time again – victory 86:80 in Saint Petersburg.
The overall score of League’s match-ups – 9-6 – Krasnodar lead. It’s to be continued!
Past week
Zenit had a tough week playing 2 Euroleague games. On Wednesday they lost to Fenerbahce at home (68:73), and then on Friday were defeated by Panathinaikos (81:96). The high competition in table left was leaving chances for Zenit to fight for play-off spot but after this week chances became significantly lower.
Loko no longer play in Euro tournaments and their last game was on February 2 in Saratov.
Intrigue
Lokomotiv haven’t lost yet in VTB United league after Evgeny Pashutin headed the team. Because of 7-game winning streak Krasnodar now fight for the highest position. With 12-4 record they share 2-3rd spot with CSKA, who are up by additional indicators, Khimki lead (15-1). To continue fighting with 2 main favourites of the season Red-greens will have to prolong the winning streak, which is the longest for now in the League.
Zenit came to Krasnodar with 3 consecutive losses, negative record in standings (6-9) and off the play-off zone – 9th place. The intrigue for Zenit is that they have to fight for top-8 place and another loss will significantly worsen their situation.
Home court advantage
In regular season games Zenit won in Krasnodar only once – on March 25, 2017. Moreover, in 2019-20 season Petersburg play much better on the road – 5-2. It’s hard to believe it but Zenit has only 1 home victory in 8 games.
Injuries
During the season Zenit have to suffer from injuries. To date, the team plays without Mateusz Ponitka, Alex Renfroe and Colton Iverson. On Friday, Dmitry Khvostov returned after long absence.
Stats
Lokomotiv are season leaders in rebounding – 39,9 per game. Zenit with 33,5 are only 9th. Game of the week rivals are Top-3 teams in assists: 21,9 and 3rd place for Krasnodar and 22,3 and 2nd place for Zenit.
Familiar faces
Zenit’s rookies Mateusz Ponitka and Dmitry Khvostov were Lokomotiv players last season, but during 2019 off-season the team decided to part ways with them.
This game will be special for Krasnodar pupil Andrey Zubkov, who will be in Zenit’s unifrom for the first time in Basket Hall. Evgeny Voronov (2014-2016) and Anton Ponkrashov (2014) were Loko’s players too, but for such veterans these game are regular as any others. Sergey Balashov played for Krasnodar in 2016/17 season.
Grigoriy Motovilov came to Saint Petersburg with Triumph and had been part of Zenit’s system for three years – 2015 – 2018. He couldn’t become the starter and then he appeared in Superleague-1 but his successful performance on World Cup in China let him come back to League. Dmitry Kulagin spent 2014/15 season in Zenit, which was the key point for him: in Petersburg he became more serious and brought himself to another level.
Duel
Johnny O’Bryant against Andrey Zubkov
The majority of stars of Zenit and Loko are frontcourt players, which is especially important for Krasnodar who organize their game around Alan Williams, Johnny O’Bryant and Sam Dekker. Petersburg suffer from health issues of Ayon and Iverson but Zubkov recovered, he missed first months because of injuries. Forward that getting in shape scored in double figures in last 2 games – 11 points vs UNICS and 12 against Kalev. It doesn’t matter how Andrey’s teammates will play, he still will have to do a lot of job, because O’Bryant is in good shape now: 24+10 vs Enisey and 25+5 against Avtodor.
Speech:
Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
– Zenit is a strong team, they have deep roster, they play almost two fives. We must neutralize their shooters, as well as the big Ayon and Thomas. Do not forget about our guys Voronov, Ponkrashov, Zubkov, who show a good game. Despite the fact that Zenit has a number of failures now, with the help of temper they very often come back into the game, even missing serious drives. On a particular day, they can give a surprise. It is necessary to control the rythm, to impose physical contact, to act aggressively and as a team to show the defense that we demonstrate in recent games.We will give all our energy to win. We are getting ready for a very difficult game.
Zenit head coach Joan Plaza:
– The opponent has all the conditions in order to carefully prepare for us, because Lokomotiv play one game a week. They defeated us at home in the first round, they have good players, there are rookies, there is a new coach. But we still need to focus on what depends on us, control it and understand that we need victory more than they do. More than once in the season we have demonstrated that we are able to be a serious team, and we just need to prove it once again by fighting for 40 minutes, not three quarters.
