The Take
After four games of the regular championship, Loko takes the third place in the standings, lagging one win behind CSKA and Khimki. Last round, Krasnodar defeated Nizhny Novgorod on the road.
Lokomotiv shows the best defense in the League at home, averaging 63.3 conceded points. Krasnodar scores 94 points on average in Basket Hall. Only CSKA (98), Avtodor (106), and Kalev (102) play more efficiently at home. However, the Estonians will be on the road and they are much less stable in away games.
Kalev comes to Krasnodar after a bitter defeat in Latvia. They scored 74 points there. It is 2 points less than they average in general.
As for physical resources, Loko has an advantage. After the Alba game in EuroCup, Lokomotiv didn’t have to fly anywhere. The Estonians visit home last time last Saturday. Moreover, they played five first games of the tournament on the road. However, if they win some away games, they will have a big advantage in Tallinn.
Opponent
Cape Verdean wunderkind Ivan Almeida is the fifth top scorer of the tournament at the moment. He showed the most impressive basketball in his first game for the new team scoring 36 points against Nizhny Novgorod. CSKA let him score 18 points, Avtodor – 21.
During 8 minutes on the court in the VEF game, he got 2 points. But we shouldn’t underestimate him. Maybe it’s the hush before the storm.
Loko
Isaiah Whitehead is the top scorer of Loko in the VTB League games. He is more stable than Almeida and averages more than 10 points. He is the eighth top scorer of the tournament.
Dmitry Kulagin averages 11.3 points this season. As for his statistics in Kalev games, he is the top scorer of the team. In the previous game, the captain scored 23 points.
Quotes
Old Leads
Head coach of Kalev Donaldas Kairys was an assistant coach of Loko in 2011.
Previously in the VTB League
Kalev and Loko played against each other in the opener of the VTB United League last season. Krasnodar won the game.
In the January game, Loko beat the Estonians as well (95:62).