CSKA vs Loko: our last game in the intra-season cup

On March 11, Lokomotiv Kuban will play their 6th and last game in the Winline Basket Cup at the Moscow CSKA arena.

Lokomotiv and CSKA will be first teams to play all six games in the Winline Basket Cup (WBC) group stage. The Muscovites won’t budge from first place despite the outcome of this upcoming game, and we have a chance to move up to 3rd (if we win and then PARMA beats Mega) – a small, but pleasant, chance.

Another issue is that we haven’t beaten CSKA yet this season: we started on November 1st with a 64:104 away crash in the championship, then, on December 5th, there was a dramatic overtime loss, where Nikita Kurbanov and Livio Jean-Charles managed to force the game into with 0.6 seconds left in the 4th quarter; Lokomotiv ultimately lost 90:95 that evening. On December 25th, we lost to them again at home, this time in the WBC, 81:89. And just recently, on February 22nd, CSKA beat us again, 92:63.

During the international break, the Moscow club sent center Luka Mitrović to the Serbian national team. His team (as well as Tomislav Tomović‘s team, where our head coach works as an assistant) lost twice to Turkey: 78:82 and 86:94. In the first game, Mitrović scored 7 points, had 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 block. In the second game, his stats were 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.

After the championship resumed, CSKA played once, defeating Paris NN 78:62 on the road. Point guard Melo Trimble‘s performance this evening (22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals) earned him a spot on the Team of the Week.

Power forward Ivan Ukhov played one of his best games of the season against Nizhny Novgorod, scoring 17 points.

Let’s also note Jean-Charles‘ game that evening – 12 points.

Despite our results in the intra-season cup, we still have an obligation to our fans to play hard against CSKA, which, unfortunately, we didn't manage in our last game. But I believe the team will show the right reaction to that previous result, and play seriously, like a mature team, and handle the pressure.

Tomislav Tomović, the head coach at Lokomotiv Kuban PBC

Now it’s time for some interesting stats.

Lokomotiv Kuban leads the WBC in points (93.2) and assists (23.2). Interestingly, CSKA is second in both metrics (90.2 points, 22.4 assists). The Moscow club also holds second place in the intra-season cup for fewest turnovers (13.0) and fouls (21.4), while leading in rebounds (42.2).

It’s also worth noting that the rivalry between Lokomotiv and CSKA isn’t limited to the main teams these days. The youth teams are also playing against each other – back-to-back, as is usual in their league. Come support ORSS-Loko at the Basket Hall small arena at 2:00 PM on March 11 and at 12:00 PM on March 12.

And we’re rooting for the main team on March 11th. The game starts at 8:00 PM. Go, Loko!