BC Khimki guard, Vitaly FRIDZON, is clear on that there simply can not be “fly-by match” in the Russian Championship, the standards of which increase yearly. He also knows that until now, the Moscow Region Club’s matches against Novosibirsk’s club ended in Khimki’s victory, but this does not guarantee victory for his team on this occasion. Moreover, the Novosibirsk team has a recently acquired added value, who is known by Khimki’s players, Pavel Podkolzin.

— Besides, no one on the team considers the match against Novosibirsk as a chance to take a breather, including the fact that the standings for January and February games are clear. We still have the game against UNICS. The club has a new head coach, and where else but in the Russian Championship matches do we get a chance to develop the new combinations and mixes.

— We have to go to each game with a sense of responsibility, knowing that each opponent can surprise us. We can’t call the match against Novosibirsk, in the first round, an “easy visit.” And STK Lokomotiv won over Spartak Primorie and in Perm. What is worse is that the situation at the top of the tournament table is very tense, and we understand that losing one point is a luxury we can’t afford, even more so after the victory over CSKA.

Meet the opponent: Lokomotiv

In 1980, Lokomotiv, from the City of Novosibirsk, debuted in the Higher League of the USSR Championship, having been at that time champion of the Siberian and Far Eastern Cup. After two years of taking part in the championship, they abandoned it and played for four years in the First League of the USSR Championship. In 1985, the Siberians garnered 16th place and had to fight once again for the right to participate in the National Championship, which they were able to achieve the following year when winning the eliminatory tournament for the Whole Union opening the door to play in the First League.

Lokomotiv almost immediately became a tournament leader, and after two consecutive years conquering second place, four key players left the club. One of these, Evgeny Murzin, who later went on to shine for Kiev’s Stroitel, would become the first player for the National Team in the history of Novosibirsk basketball.

Sergey Babkov, Sergey Grezin and Sergey Berdinkov, replaced these players, becoming club leaders and later National Team players, though they remained only briefly in Novosibirsk.

In 1990 came a victory in the Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic Championship, and in 1992 they earned 5th place in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Championship, the highest the team was able to reach. After two years of participating in the Russian Championship earning 6th and 15th place, Lokomotiv did not get invited to take part in the Super League Championship, where it reached according to the results of the 1995/96 season.

Lokomotiv standings: 1997: 10th place, 1998: 18th place, 1999: 10th place.

The year BC Khimki debuted in the Elite Division of Russian basketball during the 1999/2000 championship. Lokomotiv earned 8th place, the last ranking in the D Grouping for the third stage of the championship, while Khimki earned 5th place, and were placed 9th in the results.

The Siberian club went on to B Division, where they ranked 3rd place in 2000/01, 5th in 2001/02, and lastly, having won the 2002/03 season tour, they returned to the Super League A, where they remained in 10th place twice, not participating in the playoffs.

BC Khimki and Novosibirsk have played each other 10 times in Russian tournaments and the Moscow Region has beaten them every game.

SibirTelecom Lokomotiv

4	Savelev Ivan	Guard	1987	185
5	Zhukov Evgeny	Guard	1988	200
6	Shatokhin Evgeny	Guard	1977	202
8	Sergienko Anatoly	Forward	1980	196
9	Nazarov Ivan	Forward	1986	192
10	Penkin Andrey	Guard	1984	183
11	Varlamov Sergey	Guard	1984	208
12	Pustograv Alexander	Forward	1985	201
13	Krivosheev Maxim	Center	1988	204
17	Pronin Vladimir	Guard	1975	204
19	Gorev Evgeny	Center	1982	193
23	Sevastianov Denis	Forward	1976	212
25	Vokhmianin Andrey	Forward	1981	185
99	Grezin Sergey	Forward	1971	208
	Soloviev Vladislav
	Podkolzin Pavel	Center	1985	223

Head Coach: Vladimir Koloskov
Assistant Coach: Sergey Kazarzhevsky