The Take
The VTB United League championship is full of surprises this season. All previous achievements don’t count at the moment. Everybody wants to advance to play-offs (or to get a more comfortable place in play-offs). VEF is one of contenders.
Latvians should be thankful to Loko for current chances to get to Top-8 (Krasnodar beat PARMA last round). However, they won’t show it in the game. In the previous round, they were defeated by Avtodor in overtime.
Lokomotiv Kuban must be pleased with its return to the regular championship. PARMA was hammered with a 30-point advantage of the Krasnodar team. An hour later, Zenit lost the Nizhny game, and our team climbed to the third place in the standings.
Now Loko has all chances to postpone a possible CSKA game till the final. The situation has changed and now it’s all in Loko’s hands.
Opponent
Paul Carter played fantastically in the Avtodor game (26 points). But his career high could be worthless if not Alex Perez’s nerves of steel. He netted three and turned the game to overtime. As for Mareks Mejeris, he enjoys dunking (he averages 9.1 points this season).
Loko
It seems we have a new tradition: if you praise a Lithuanian, the Lithuanian shows his best. That’s what Jonas Maciulis did in the previous game, making double-double and showing great energy. Good job Jonas!
Previously on VTB United League
In the first half of the season, Loko confidently won the VEF game at home. Dima Khvostov was on fire in Basket Hall.
Where-When
Lokomotiv Kuban plays against VEF Riga on the road on April 26th at 7:30 Moscow time.
Broadcasted by Lokobasket.com