Exactly five years ago, Loko won the Russian Basketball Cup

Lokobasket recalls some of the participants whose interweaving of sports destinies is inextricably linked with the current "Loco", and also about how once said, it comes to life.

The 2017/18 Lokomotiv-Kuban season went smoothly and confidently, making its way through the tournament grids of the European Cup and the Cup of Russia. It was the second tournament that became the “golden” for Sasha Obradovich’s team. It is symbolic that Loko hosted the decisive stage of the tournament in Krasnodar. The matches have become a real celebration for both the team and the fans.

The representative of the current Loko team also remembers that game, but only with notes of a certain disappointment.

экс-капитан «Локо» Станислав Ильницкий против капитана нынешнего – Дмитрия Узинского

Dmitry Uzinsky then played for Nizhny Novgorod. By the will of sports fate, it was with Stanislav Ilnitsky last summer that they “swapped” teams – changing Kazan to Krasnodar.

In fact, it's even nice that you remembered. Usually, only the winners always remain in the memory. Loko had a good team, we lost to them in the final. But it was a long time ago, so I don't remember it so often. Playing for UNICS, in the VTB United League championship, we often came to Krasnodar and the "Basket Hall" was definitely never associated with something bad. It's always great to play here, because there's a great atmosphere here.

Dmitry Uzinsky, forward of PBC "Lokomotiv-Kuban"

A lot has changed in five years at Loko – the squad, the coaches… But the chosen vector of development has only grown stronger and already takes absolutely tangible outlines. Here is another quote from Andrey Vedishchev, but said back in the 2017/18 season, right after the final siren of the decisive match of the Cup of Russia – «After eighteen years, Loko has regained the Cup of Russia. Congratulations to all our fans, partners and friends on this victory! It is valuable that there were young 17-year-old players in the Loko squad who will become new idols tomorrow and will continue the traditions of the club.».

At that time, a very young Krasnodar Alexander Shcherbenev – today the main point guard of Loko – is the leader of the team in assists (4.6 on average per game) and is among the top ten of the VTB United League championship in this indicator.

We were lucky, we were taken at the last moment and it was great to become a participant in such a big sports festival. Then on Dima (approx. club press service - Uzinsky), like many others, looked up and down. The guys have already played in the European Cup and Euroleague. It was hard to believe in those days, but today we are already playing on the same team. At Loko, young people are given a chance, they believe in us, they help us develop.

Alexander Shcherbenev, defender of PBC "Lokomotiv-Kuban"

Another winner of the Cup of the 2017/18 season was Zakhar Vedishchev, a pupil of the Loko reserve system. And today he is included in the top five players of the VTB United League championship round and has repeatedly proved that he is able to decide the outcome of matches.