Lokomotiv and Uralmash are the first pair of teams in the league to play all 4 scheduled regular season games against each other (at the other extreme are Pari NN and Samara, who’ve only met once so far). We also opened the season – on September 28th Uralmash won 85:86 at Basket Hall due to a buzzer-beater by Garrett Nevels.
On November 18th, Lokomotiv took revenge in Yekaterinburg, 87:69, which was all the more satisfying given that we were playing with a very limited roster, featuring only one legionnaire, Vince Hunter.
And on January 7th, our team won in Krasnodar, 77:64. This turned out to be Rostislav Vergun‘s final game as head coach of Uralmash. Lokomotiv was managed that evening by the first assistant, Janko Pejčić, and the current Krasnodar coach, Tomislav Tomović, had just arrived in Krasnodar and watched the game from the front row.
A few days after this match, Anton Yudin, who had been fired from Lokomotiv Kuban, took over as head coach of Uralmash and, let us assume, has already managed to inspire optimism among the local fans. In the new coach’s debut game, the Yekaterinburg team flattened Samara, 109:46. The outcome was clear by the 14th minute, with the score 56:19. Tyrell Nelson scored 19 points, Nevels 17, and Octavius Ellis 15.
A few days later, the Ural team came close to a sensation in an away game against CSKA. They came back from “–17” in the 4th quarter, tied the game in the final minute, but still lost 84:87 after a miracle 3-pointer by Casper Ware. The visitors’ near-successful final run was largely inspired by the efforts of Hayden Dalton (22 points) and Timofey Gerasimov (18+8 assists).
Finally, on January 24, Uralmash defeated Yenisei 92:85 at home. The score seems close, but the game wasn’t—the home team held a comfortable lead throughout decisive minutes. Ellis scored 20 points, Nevels 16, Gerasimov 15, Dalton had a double-double (14+10), and Kirill Pisklov made 3-pointers perfectly at key moments (3-of-3).
These results allowed Uralmash to catch up with Yenisei – they now share 7th-8th place in the standings with a win-loss ratio of 9-14, and this duo is closer to 6th (MBA-MAI, 11-12) than to 9th (Pari NN, 6-18).
Anton Kardanakhishvili is unlikely to play against Lokomotiv Kuban, as he’s out with a shoulder injury. However, Uralmash has settled its dispute with Vladimir Ivlev – the center had a miscommunication with Vergun, and everything seems to be fine with the new coach.
And some more interesting statistics. Uralmash is in the league’s top three only in fouls (22.4 per game, 3rd place). The same is true for individual stats: aside from Javonte Douglas (3.0 fouls, 9th-18th place in the league), no one on our opponent’s roster is in the top 10 in any metric.
This suggests Mike Moore will have a chance to continue his streak: since joining the VTB United League, the Lokomotiv Kuban forward hasn’t missed a single free throw attempt (he’s currently 6-for-6).
It’s also worth noting that the league currently has only 3 players who have made 100% of their 3-point attempts. All of them represent Lokomotiv: Ilya Popov, Pavel Ryabkov (both 2-for-2), and Zakhar Vedishchev (1-for-1).
Go, Loko!