Yenisei vs Loko: the mission is to limit Krasnoyarsk main duo

At March 5, Lokomotiv-Kuban in Krasnoyarsk will finish its road game series. The opponent is Yenisei, with whom the score in victories in the season is 1-1.

It will be hot in Krasnoyarsk tomorrow. Not only because the games between Yenisei and Loko this season are thrilling and rich for spectacular episodes. But also because both teams have lost all their games in the second stage of the championship. So, there is no doubt that the opponents will be super motivated.

Disposition

Both teams have recently faced UNICS, and both lost. While Loko kept suspense until the final seconds (76:80), Yenisei suffered a heavy defeat – 84:107. Then, after a three-week break, the Krasnoyarians had another loss with a three-digit number of points conceded – 82:101, now against PARMA. After that, Yenisei went down to 6^th position. Loko, in turn, after two misfires at the second stage, fell to 4^th place.

Their leaders

Yenisei plays quickly and effectively – they are among the three best attacking teams in the league, scoring an average of 84.1 points per match.

The scoring leaders – not only of Yenisei, but of the whole league – are guards Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Jeremiah Martin. The former has taken the lead in the championship sniper race since the beginning of the season and holds it by an impressive margin (25.6 points), while the latter is 4^th with 18.0 points. They are also the main creators for the team – together they complete 8.5 assists per game.

Martin is also in the Top 3 in the league in steals. And in the post, Mikael Hopkins dominates with 7.1 rebounds and 11.4 points per game.

Jeremiah Martin and Xavier-Rathan-Mayes are the main engines of Yenisei. We need to limit them, don’t let them feel confident, make everything hard for this duo. Of course, they have a big help from Euhen Beliankou; there are also notable big guys Mikael Hopkins and Sergei Balashov; Bo Beech is a very good shooter; young guy Vladimir Karpenko gets good minutes and plays more and more confidently. So, these are the players we really need take care of. We should to go to the game with a defensive mindset. The game won’t be easy, but we came here to get a win. So, we will play hard to get a victory.

Jurica Žuža, Lokomotiv-Kuban PBC assistant coach

Where to watch

The game will be shown live by our media partner “Krasnodar” TV, and will also be available on “Match! Igra” and “Start”, as well as on lokobasket.com and the VTB United League website.