This Sunday, April 1, Astana basketball club will hold a game on the road in the regular season of the VTB United League against the Russian basketball club «Lokomotiv-Kuban» in the city of Krasnodar.
«Lokomotiv-Kuban» - is a Russian professional men's basketball club from the city of Krasnodar, founded in 1946.
Achievements:
- Winner of the European Cup — 2012/2013
- Finalist of the FIBA Cup-2004/2005
- Finalist of the Challenge Cup-2010/2011
- Bronze medalist of the Russian championship-2012, 2015
- Silver medalist of the VTB United League — 2012/2013
- Silver medalist of the Russian Cup — 2014
Chronicle of past games:
Basketball club from Krasnodar has been participating in the VTB League since 2011. During this time, «Loco» became a silver medalist of the VTB United League (2012/2013) and also a bronze medalist in 2014/2015. As for personal games with «Astana,» the teams met on the court seven times, and only once «Astana» managed to get better over Krasnodar in the season 2014/2015 when «Astana» beat «Loko» in the home arena with a score of 81:70.
Current situation:
For two seasons the team is headed by the famous Serbian specialist Sasha Obradovic. One of the leaders of the team, American guard Mardi Collins, also continues its career in the club, who significantly improved his statistics this season. This season, the team joined the former CSKA player Dmitriy Kulagin, and the center Frank Elegar, who is well known for the games with the Estonian «Kalev» and Krasnoyarsk «Yenisey».
Standings:
The team from Krasnodar takes the fourth place in the standings of the VTB League with the result of 12 wins, 5 defeats. Basketball players of «Astana» occupy the 9th line, with an asset of 6 wins and 12 defeats.
Head coach of BC «Astana» Mikhail Karpenko:
- We have an away game against a very serious opponent, «Lokomotiv Kuban». This season, «Loco» looks very convincing and it is no coincidence that this team has spent the entire season in the European Cup without defeats setting a record of 20 consecutive wins, except for Krasnodar, no team in Europe did not succeed to repeat it. In the League, VTB Lokomotiv also looks well, with the exception of a couple of unplanned defeats, all the other matches they held at a high level. At home, Krasnodar played with a great success, because they have an excellent support of fans. The team is very athletic, uses a wide rotation, has almost two equivalent fives, play with close contact in defense, and try to defeat the opponent's attack due to this contact and tight game. Sasha Obradovic's team is very disciplined, with a large available number of options in the attack, as all players are very diverse. Practically all the players going to the court can threaten the opponent's glass, but still, I would single out the three leaders, the captain of the team Mardi Collins, Dmitriy Kulagin, the MVP of the recent semifinal matches of Eurocup, and Frank Enlegar, who very good in attack and very aggressive on rivals' glass. Also, I would say that recently the Lithuanian guard Jonas Maciulis joined the team, who has a huge experience, as he played for the National Team and for the top Euroleague clubs, which should add to this team a victorious spirit. It will not be easy for us, but we are ready to accept this challenge and will try to do our best on the opponent's court.
Where, when, at what time?
Arena: Krasnodar, arena «Basket Hall»
Time: 18:30 by the time of Astana
Broadcast: VTB United League website, BC «Astana» website, «QazSport» TV channel
