Loko vs Uralmash: the tremendous play-offs preview

The quarterfinal series lasts until one of the teams wins 3 times. In Krasnodar, the opponents will play at 22 and 24 May, then they will travel to Yekaterinburg, where the games will be held on April 27 and (if needed) on April 29. If it comes to a fifth game, it will be held in Krasnodar on May 2 at 2 PM.

This season, Lokomotiv and Uralmash have met 4 times and won 2 times each. The Krasnodar club finished the regular season in 4th place (32-12), the Ural club in 5th (24-20).

The winner of this pair will play in the semifinals with the winner in Zenit (1st in the regular season) vs PARMA (8th) pair. Two other quarter-final pairs are CSKA (2) vs. Pari Nizhny Novgorod (7) and UNICS (3) vs. Avtodor (6).

Statistics say that the Lokomotiv vs. Uralmash is going to be the most unpredictable quarterfinal. The opponents played 8 times in official games, and the count of victories is currently equal: 4-4.

The rivals exchanged wins last season (Uralmash won in Yekaterinburg with a score of 84:78; Loko won in Krasnodar, 98:73).

The teams also met in the quarterfinals of the 2023/24 Russian Cup. Uralmash won 80:67 on its home court; Lokomotiv was stronger in the second game, 78:68, but the Ural team went further by goal difference.

This season, the opponents have played four times.

On October 16, after three equal quarters, Lokomotiv broke the resistance of Uralmash in the 4th and won – 91:80.

On December 8, the Krasnodar club pulled ahead of Uralmash three times on the road, and the Yekaterinburg team was unable to catch up the third time, 90:83.

On March 1, Uralmash was ahead for most of the game. In the 4th quarter, Loko took the brief lead, but the dramatic clutch went to the Urals team, 79:81.

On April 13, in the final match of the regular season, both opponents no longer had any tournament goals to solve, and the coaches gave a lot of playing time to the players who usually don’t get much. By the beginning of the 4th quarter, Loko was leading quite confidently, but the Uralmash players scored several 3-pointers and took the second clutch in a row – 91:95.

It is worth noting that Uralmash played this season in the Russian Cup with the reserve team from Krasnodar, ORSS-Lokomotiv-Kuban, and again at the quarter-final stage. ORSS-Loko won the first game at home very confidently, 89:64. But in the second game, the Ural team was able to win with a difference that brought them to the Final Four – 63:91. As we see, they are tied with our reserve team in terms of victories also.

Due to the fact that the Krasnodar airport has been closed for flights for a long time, Lokomotiv has to spend much more time on the road than any of its rivals. According to calculations by our physical training coach Alejandro Garcia, since the beginning of the pre-season, the team has spent almost 17 days of pure time in transport: 116 hours on the plane, 126 hours on the bus and 21 hours on the train.

Despite this, Loko finished the regular season with 32 wins in 44 games – more than in any season of the VTB United League, including playoffs. The Krasnodar team approaches the current quarterfinals in 4th place. Playing with teams on 1-3 places (Zenit, CSKA and UNICS), Lokomotiv has a positive balance – 7 wins and 5 losses. Another 7 defeats were suffered against teams in 5th place and below.

Lokomotiv Kuban set three club records this season: 9 wins in a row at the start of the championship; the highest number of points scored in an away game (117:98 against Zenit on January 11); the highest number of points in any game (127:84 against Astana on September 25).

In the 2024/25 season, seven of Lokomotiv’s own alumni regularly play big minutes – no other club in the VTB United league uses their academy so effectively.

Patrick Miller. The 32-year-old point guard is having the best season of his career. During the regular season, the VTB United League included the player in the symbolic team of the week 8 times – only Marcos Knight from UNICS has the same number of appearances.

In January, the league recognized the Lokomotiv guard as the MVP of the month. In the 2025 All-Star Game, he became the best in assists (6). Also, Miller is the best assistant in the league (6.1 assists per game) and the best scorer of Loko (15.0 points per game – 10th in the league).

Patrick’s signature style is powerful and contact-seeking runs with the ball under the opponent’s hoop, from where he either scores himself or passes to an open teammate. The player has greatly improved his 3-point shot this season: he now scores from beyond the arc with an accuracy of 41.7% (0.7 out of 1.8 attempts on average per game) – an impressive improvement compared to 31% last season!

Antonius Cleveland. After the regular season, the Loko shooting guard is nominated for three personal awards: Best Defensive Player, Best Newcomer to the League, and Best Sixth Player. Cleveland considers himself, first and foremost, a defensive player – he is 3rd in the tournament in steals (1.9) and 8th in blocks (0.8). At the same time, his attack is spectacular: the VTB United League included Cleveland’s dunks in the weekly Top 10 Moments 14 times this season – more often than anyone else. He was also included in the Top 10 Moments of the regular season twice. The player says that in US he is called Mr. ESPN.

On average, A.C. (the nickname is derived from his initials) scores 13.4 points, makes 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Every day, Cleveland tries to learn one new word from the Russian language, which allows him to surprise journalists and fans eventually.

Andrei Martyuk. An alumnus of the Lokomotiv Kuban Academy, he was named the Best Young Player of the VTB United League in 2022 and 2023, won the Best Athlete of Kuban 2022 people’s award, participated in the All-Star Games twice (2023, 2024), and was named the MVP of the Month in the VTB United League in December 2023.

He started the 2024/25 season inconsistently, but gradually achieved good form. Martyuk was especially good against CSKA on January 19 (106:104) – 27 points and 10 rebounds, but after that he was forced to miss two months (8 games) due to an injury. In April, Martyuk is again gaining close to his best. The three-point shot is becoming an increasingly important tool in the 211-centimeter center’s offensive arsenal: on April 5, he scored 3 out of 3 against UNICS (Loko won 94:82), and on April 10, he scored 4 out of 5 against MBA-MAI (again a win, 96:86). Andrei’s statistics for the regular championship is 9.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks.

Lokomotiv coaches usually give good minutes to all 12 players in the game roster. Therefore, only two players on the Krasnodar team spend an average of more than 20 minutes on the court (Miller and Cleveland). In third place on the team is Kirill Yelatontsev (19.54). The 22-year-old center won the Best Young Player of the VTB United League award last season and is among the nominees this year.

Yela averages 7.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks (2nd in the league). In the first part of the season, he made 5 three-pointers in a row without a single miss, which allowed him to lead the championship in this indicator. Now Kirill’s percentage of long-range shots has dropped, but still remains impressive – 53.3%.

Tahjere McCall. The 30-year-old shooting guard joined the team in February 2025. In the 11 games he has played since then, he has proven himself to be a master of the defensive game, as evidenced by his 1.9 steals per game (tied for 3rd in the league with Antonius Cleveland). Also, he scores 8.5 points and makes 3.6 assists.

Fun fact: Tahjere’s father was a locomotive engineer in Philadelphia.

Vladislav Yemchenko. On April 10, was out of the roster for the game against MBA-MAI – this was the first time in 3 seasons that the graduate of the Lokomotiv Kuban Academy missed a VTB United League game. He usually plays as a point guard. He is regularly called up to the Russian national team, where he was recently appointed captain. Towards the end of the season, Yema got into good shape; his statistics are 7.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists.

Dmitry Uzinsky. The Lokomotiv captain doesn’t have impressive statistics (3.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 0.8 steals), but the small forward’s value to the team lies in his defensive actions and the energy he brings every time he appears on the court. It speaks volumes that Uzinsky is one of the bast two-point shooters in the entire league: 64.5% accuracy.

Kirill Temirov. The guy from Kropotkin town went through all the stages of the Lokomotiv Academy, and is valued by coaches for his fearlessness and dedication. The small forward played as team captain several times this season. Also, he was the captain of the Lokomotiv Kuban youth team, which won the U21 championship in the 2022/23 season. This season, Temirov averages 5.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals.

Aleksandr Gudumak. The power forward joined Lokomotiv in the winter from Samara and has noticeably added attacking options and defensive power to the Krasnodar team. He was voted by fans to participate in the 2025 VTB United League All-Star Game. He averages 6.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and shoots three-pointers with an elite accuracy of 42.9%.

Danil Sheyanov. The small forward started the season as captain of the reserve team, ORSS-Loko, and excellently used his chance being invited to the main team. The Loko alumnus spends his 11 minutes per game quite usefully: 4.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.6 blocks. The 21-year-old player’s distinctive feature is his jumping ability – he has already managed to get into the Top 10 Moments of the week in the VTB United League with his dunk.

John Jenkins. The most recent newcomer to Lokomotiv joined the team in March and have played in 6 games. In 2012, he was drafted in the NBA under the 23rd number – above Draymond Green and Khris Middleton. He played 179 games in the NBA, including 8 in the playoffs. His best feature is considered to be a long shot – and Jenkins for Loko hits it with an accuracy of 38.1%, which is an important adding to his 5.5 points per game. In his debut game for the Krasnodar club, he scored 3 three-pointers, which helped us defeat Pari NN (95:83). There is reason to believe that the shooting guard still has a lot of potential to show us.

On March 16, 2025, Uralmash won the Russian Cup for the first time in their history. The team finished the regular season with 24 wins in 44 matches, securing 5th place 5 games before finish.

Uralmash is coached by Belarusian specialist Rostislav Vergun. Teams under his rule have won the Belarusian league 6 times. He has been heading Uralmash since December 2023, combining this work with coaching the Belarusian national team.

Jeremiah Martin. The 28-year-old American point guard has played 21 games in the NBA (including 3 in the playoffs), but his best times came in Europe. Playing for the Polish WKS Śląsk Wrocław ni the 2022/23 season, he was included in the symbolic five of the league. The following season, he was signed by Krasnoyarsk Yenisei, playing for which Martin received an invitation to the All-Star Game of the VTB United League-2024.

He joined Uralmash in the summer of 2024. This season, he became the best scorer of the regular season (18.2 points) and was also invited to the All-Star Game, but missed it due to injury. In addition to points, he leads Uralmash in assists (4.7), steals (2.0 – 2nd in the league), plus/minus (+5.8) ​​and efficiency index (20.8 – 2nd in the league).

Hayden Dalton. The 29-year-old power forward from has no experience playing in the NBA or the NCAA, but he fits greatly in European basketball. He came to the VTB United League from Hapoel Holon, where he became the champion of Israel in 2023. Until the middle of the current season, he played for BC Samara, where he was in the Top 3 in all 5 key stats (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks). For Uralmash, he makes 12.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.1 passes, 0.5 blocks. It was mostly Dalton’s efforts that helped Uralmash achieve the necessary difference in the score at the end of the second cup match against ORSS-Loko.

Octavius ​​Ellis. A 32-year-old center, like J. Martin, was born in Memphis. He is the cousin of NBA player Monta Ellis. However, Octavius ​​was not selected in the NBA draft and went to Europe. In the fall of 2017, he played several games for Yenisei Krasnoyarsk, after which he played in Greece, Türkiye, Italy and China.

He joined Uralmash in September 2023. In March 2024, he was named Player of the Month in the VTB United League, and before that (in February) he participated in the All-Star Game. Due to injury, he missed a significant part of the 2024/25 season, but returned in the second half and helped the team win the first Russian Cup (according to the rules of the Cup, only two legionnaires are allowed in the roster; Uralmash chose Dalton and Ellis). The player’s statistics for the current season are 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.7 blocks.

Javonte Douglas. A rare example of loyalty to one team for a foreign player: Douglas has been playing for Uralmash since 2020, so the 32-year-old player’s collection of titles includes two gold medals in the Russian Superliga (the second-strongest division in the country, after the VTB United League). He plays as a power forward. This season, he leads his team in rebounds (6.3), scores 11.4 points, makes 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals. In terms of average time on the court (28 minutes), he is second to Martin (who has 30 minutes). In February 2025, he became one of three Uralmash players called up to the VTB United League All-Star Game.

Belarusian Yauheni Beliankou also plays for Uralmash, but players from the Republic of Belarus are not considered legionnaires in the VTB United League championship (of which no more than six are allowed in the application). Beliankou plays 19 minutes per game this season, resulting in 6.2 points and 3.1 rebounds.

Anton Glazunov. The 38-year-old point guard is the captain of Uralmash and one of the oldest players in the league. This season is his 10th for the Yekaterinburg team (though not in a row). His trophies include the 2006/07 FIBA ​​Challenge Cup, two Russian Cups and five Superliga championships. In February 2024, he took part in the VTB United League All-Star Game. This season, he plays an average of 15 minutes, scoring 3.4 points and making 2.8 assists.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev. One of two Uralmash players with a Russian passport who spend more than 20 minutes on the court per game. He won the VTB United League with Khimki (2011) and UNICS (2023). He plays point guard and is considered a great master of defense. Despite his height of 190 cm, he won the slam dunk contest at the All-Star Game in 2019. He was also called up to the All-Star Games in 2021 and 2025. His statistics this season are 6.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists.

Anton Kardanakhishvili. The 23-year-old point guard is among the contenders for the title of the best young player of the VTB United League. A product of CSKA, he started the current season at BC Samara, but in February, along with a group of other players, he moved to Uralmash. He plays an average of 22 minutes for his new team (more than any other Russian), scoring 7.5 points, making 2.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists.

Ilya Popov. The 210-centimeter center also transferred to Uralmash from Samara in February 2025. Soon after, he participated in the VTB United League All-Star Game for the first time in his career. On April 13, in a game against Lokomotiv (which the Urals team won with a score of 95:91), he set personal records for points scored (26) and efficiency ratio (40). On average, he scores 9.6 points and makes 3.3 rebounds for Uralmash.

Kirill Pisklov. The shooting guard holds the highest sports rank in Uralmash – Honored Master of Sports of Russian Federation. He received it for winning silver medals in 3×3 basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics. At that time, Pisklov was already playing for Uralmash. This season, he averages 4.4 points, scoring 3-pointers with the highest accuracy in the team – 42.2% (0.9 out of 2.1 attempts). He is married to Veronika Oganyan, a handball player for Kuban Krasnodar.

Oleg Akramov. A CSKA alumnus plays for Uralmash on loan. This is the 22-year-old small forward’s first season at the VTB United League level. In 2020, he was named the MVP of the Russian U17 Championship, and in 2021, the MVP of the Russian U19 (DYBL) Championship. His statistics for Uralmash are modest: 2.6 points in 7 minutes. But having received 27 minutes of play against Lokomotiv on April 13 (95:91), he set a career record for points (18), and also scored a half-court buzzer-beater. At the post-game press conference, Oleg said that he had specially trained such throws the day before.

Let us remind you that the games in Krasnodar are scheduled on April 22 at 8 PM and April 24 at 8 PM.

At the first of them, Loko will play in a new uniform, dedicated to the intensity of the fight in the playoffs. See you in the stands of the Basket Hall!