Disposition
Lokomotiv Kuban spent a lot of their energy against Barcelona in Euroleague Playoffs. Loko had their break with VEF, playing against which players only made as much effort as was necessary to win the game. The final match would have taken all the remaining energy if it was not for the energy shot called the historical win. Red-greens are going to St Petersburg as one of the Europe's top four teams.
Zenit is only behind Loko because of the loss in Round 1. Both teams have identical stats (22-7), which makes everything very simple - the winner will take the third place.
Zenit won six rounds straight and the last loss was at home against CSKA on March 20.
Math
Loko's top defence (71.5 points) is perfectly complemented by second best in VTB United League number of steals (8.8) and blocks (3.2).
Zenit can easily count on the effectiveness of the home games - 93.3, while the team only allows its opponents to score 75.4 on their court.
Opponent's power
The main threat for Loko defence is American guard Ryan Tulson. This season he has been averaging 17.4 points per game (twice in the last five games went over 30), he assists 3.7 times per game and almost never misses from the free throw line (97.3%).
Power check
Anthony Randolph was the hero of the Euroleague Playoff series in Krasnodar, he scored 28 points against Barcelona. The next one to fall was VEF - Anthony scored 22 points. And only in the last match Randolph was surprisingly humble - 9 points, and his title went to Chris Singleton.
Quote
|
|
Georgios Bartzokas, Lokomotiv Kuban head coach:
— We've got a very important game coming up. We have to recover from the game against Barcelona in a very short period of time. It won't be easy, but at this stage of the season everyone is required to make extra effort.
|
Previously
The win against Zenit in Round 1 (78:70) was Loko's first win in 2016, during that match Anthony Randolph scored 22 points.
Ghosts from the past
Artem Komissarov used to play for the youth team Lokomotiv Kuban 2.
State secrets
Zenit - Lokomotiv Kuban. Thursday, April 28 at 20:00.
LIVE:
Online: Lokobasket.com
Text: GAME centre on VTB United League website
Opponent's dossier
Founded in: 2014. Home arena: Sibur Arena St. Petersburg (7120)
Head coach: Vasily Karasev. Website: basket.fc-zenit.ru
Zenit on social media:
Facebook: bczenit
Твиттер: @zenitbasket
Instagram: zenitbasket
