It was only last season that the Moscow Region teams played no less than six games together, and in all games Khimki proved the stronger team – with a dozen victories in game points.

In the two teams 14 matches, the score was: 12-2 in favor of the yellow-blues.

It was not long ago that both the Moscow Region teams got their own arenas, one in Khimki and the other in Liubertsy. During the 2003/04 season both matches of the regular season — regardless of their being played at home or away — took place at the Dynamo Sports Palace. Later, Khimki moved to CSKAs Universal Sports Complex, and Dynamo played the local games in Chekhov. It was not until they faced off in the Chekhov Olimpiysky Stadium that Dynamo’s advantage hit 1-0.

Season	Venue	Score	Season	Venue	Score
2003 — 2004	A	83-70	2005 — 2006	H	90-75
	H	99-88		A	77-65
2003 — 2004 F5-6	H	100-101	RC 06	N	81-80
	A	77-66	2005 — 2006 1/4 F	H	82-72
	H	89-72		H	85-77
2004 — 2005	A	71-79		A	81-71
	H	88-76	2006	H	73-61

Key:
Season: season in which the match took place.
No additional information: Russian Championship regular stage
F5-6: Final for 5th and 6th place in the championship
1/4 F: quarter finals of the Russian Championship
RC: Russian Cup
Venue: the court on which the match was played
H: home game for Khimki
A: away game for yellow-blues.

Meet the opponent

The team was founded in 2002, and in that same season clinched the gold in the B Division of the Higher League, giving Dynamo, by a drawing, the chance to play in the Higher League A Division. The rookie team, under the direction of Evgeny Kovalenko, grabbed sixth place in the regular championship. In the “consolation” final for fifth place, they lost to Khimki.

During the following season 2003/04 Dynamo debuted in the European arena, winning the Northern Conference of the FIBA-European Cup, while in the Final Four of the main tournament in Izmir, Turkey, they earned fourth place. The Moscow Region team lost to the German Mitteldeutscher 88-95 in the semi finals, while the game for third place was won by the Turkish Fenebahce 53-94.

In the subsequent season, Dynamo MR boosted its team with four new players, but nonetheless reached seventh place in the Russian Championship rankings. In the group stage of the Northern Conference of Cup Challenge, the second club from the Moscow Region didn’t lose not one game, and in the decisive match of that stage, beat out Lokomotiv Rostov. In the quarter finals of the tournament, however Rostov got its revenge.

Dynamo is under constant search, and changes have affected the team of players and coaches alike. During the first three seasons in the A Division, the team was directed by three different coaches.

During last season, the club debuted in the main FIBA European Cup and went on to the second stage of the tournament, earning fourth place in the group, one-upping one of its rivals, Khimki during the Final Four of the National Cup (victory in the quarter finals according to best of two games against Dynamo Moscow, and defeat in the first of the F4 against Khimki).

During this season, Dynamo MR continues to shop around in the “players market” hoping to find the optimum roster. There remains only four veteran players counting the leave-taking and return of Morgunov.

Dynamo Moscow Region Team

4	Roderick Blakney	Guard	1976	181
5	Andrius Giedraitis	Forward	1973	196
7	Igor Zamansky	Forward	1977	202
8	Sergey Demeshkin	Forward	1976	200
11	Denis Khloponin	Forward	1981	205
13	Alexei Lobanov	Guard	1977	193
15	Giedrius Gustas	Guard	1980	190
17	Andrei Komarovsky	Forward	1985	197
19	Nicolai Padius	Guard	1980	197
20	Igor Krotenkov	Center	1983	211
21	Fedor Likholitov	Center	1980	210
22	Joshua Davis	Forward	1980	203
29	Nikita Morgunov	Forward	1975	211

Head Coach: Rutenis Paulauskas
Assistant Coaches: Dmitry Shakulin, Kaliu Korstin