Khimki holds a more significant advantage in the games against Samara teams. The immediate opponent is made up of two clubs from the region: CSK VVS and Samara. Nonetheless, the face-off between the Moscow Region team and those of the banks of the Volga will take place practically on an even level, being only the first season that Khimki overcame their opponents with a whopping 49 points. In the 2004/05 season, BC Khimki took fourth place in the Russian Championship, while Samara came in at 11, both games decided in overtime. Moreover, the visiting team won not only in Moscow, but also in Samara. It's true, however, that this was only the second and last victory or CSK VVS over a Moscow Region team.

Acting coach for BC Khimki, Russell BERGMAN, understands that the team’s sweeping victories against the Samara Region teams in the current season (215 points scored in a total sum of +82) doesn’t guarantee their victory. The coach will try to bring some new game moves into play for the battle on the court.

Season	H	Score	Season	H	Score
1999-2000	V	84-64	2001-2002	H	100-87
	H	68-56		V	105-96
2000-2001	H	90-58	2002-2003	H	102-85
	V	80-92		V	91-74
2000-2001 2º etapa	V	112-104	2003-2004	H	90-81
	V	100-95		V	88-73
	H	105-84	2004-2005	V	93-87 ОТ
	H	95-89		H	84-85 ОТ
2000-2001 F7-8	V	94-81	2005-2006	H	82-74
	H	92-77		V	90-69
2001-2002	H	81-70	2006-2007	H	99-50
	V	98-69	Results	23	21-2

Meet the Opponent

In the Kuibyshevkaya (Kuibyshevkaya oblast) the sport of basketball developed in mid-century, essentially as a result of the youth being evacuated from other cities at the time of the nation’s upheavals. It took off in 1959, and the Military Center formed a good team, which garnered trophies in the Russian championships and those of the USSR Armed Forces games. Soon afterward, however, some difficulties arose and did not take off again until the 1980s and 90s in the region.

In the first Russian Championship (1992/93) the Stroitel Club of Kuibyshevsky won second place and in the following season won third. In the 1993/94 National Championship two Samara clubs participated: Stroitel and CSK VVS (after the disintegration of the USSR, the CSK of Alma Ata, under the prestigious coach Oleg Lvovich Kim, headed for the Volga region). At that time, the team had the Tikhonenko brothers in its ranks, and also Khimki’s own Vadeev, Petrenko, Meleschenko, Filippov, and Ten, as well as Zhukanenko, Konovalov, Ovchinnikov, and Strelkin.

Those years were headed upwards, and the Air Force team won the bronze twice at the 1993/94 y 94/95 championships, winning third place in the Military World Cup 1993, and second place in 1994. They garnered the silver in the International Basketball League Championship in 1994. At the same time they played national games against Stroitel, then Samara, which qualified in the Euro League. The CSK VVS, in 1997, was revamped due to financial difficulties and five years later Kim joined as head coach of the amalgamated CSK VVS-Samara team.

As a combined team they were not successful in garnering any laurels in the past few years, but undoubtedly represent a formidable opponent for any club. Samara saw the return of its players Chikalkin, Bashminov, G. Maltsev, and Petenev, and last season Oleg Kim ceded his post to the current coach Valery Tikhonenko, heading to Khimki where he serves as the reserves head coach. After a long hiatus, the team has added some foreigners from “far off lands,” as shown below.

CSK VVS Samara

No.	Player	Position	Birth date	Height	Nationality
4	Kelvin Gibbs	C	1978	200	USA
5	Pavel Ulianko	F	1979	204	Belarus
6	Evgeny Voronov	G	1986	190	Russian
7	Nikita Shabalkin	F	1986	204	Russian
8	Jaroslav Strelkin	F	1973	202	Russian
9	Gennadi Zelenskiy	G	1982	185	Russian
10	Omar Cook	G	1982	186	USA
11	Alexei Kirianov	F	1981	206	Russian
12	Valery Likhodei	F	1986	203	Russian
13	Taras Osipov	C	1983	212	Russian
14	Oleg Baranov	F	1982	200	Russian
15	Pavel Agapov	C	1986	202	Russian
20	Georgios Diamantopoulos	G	1980	195	Greece
0	Anton Glazunov	G	1986	182	Russian

Head coachl: Valery Tikhonenko
Assistant Coaches: Andrei Kibenko, Vladislav