Rimas Kurtinaitis, BC Khimki head coach:

— Despite the fact we will play in the Euroleague qualifying rounds, I'd like to point out that there are no weak teams there. It's not a secret, we didn't want to face BC Lietuvos Rytas or Galatasaray and I was glad we had been sown with the Lithuanians in one basket. I think we are in a quite good situation right now. Frankly speaking, I was not even bothered by the team we have to play in the qualifying round, but by the fact that we will have only one week for preparation to the first match, which starts on September 29. In fact, in September a lot of BC Khimki players will play in their national teams and not all of them will have enough time to recover and prepare for the new season. The main problem will be the establishment of the so-called team "chemistry".

As for our opponent in the first round the Polish club Turow, this year I followed Polish championship and know that this team took second place in the season and in the final series in a bitter seven-game struggle was beaten by the leader of Polish basketball Asseco Prokom, the club that proved to be Euroleague's habitué. Of course, Turow does not have vivid victories and outstanding achievements, but for us it won't be easier. If Khimki goes into the group stage, it will play either in Group D, or in group C. Meanwhile I do not want to talk about it because I used to solve problems as they arise. Again, it will not be easy for us, but everything is in our hands. There are no invincible teams.

OUR OPPONENT: PGE Turów Zgorzelec (Poland)

Founded: in 1948
Arena: Centrum Sportowe (1,500 seats)
Team colors: Green and Black
President: Jan Michalski (since November 2008)
Head coach: Jacek Winnicki (since July 2010)
Achievements: Polish championship (Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK)) silver medalist (2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2010-2011), ULEB Eurocup quarterfinalist (2007-2008)
Official website: http://www.ksturow.eu/

For one of our current players the meeting with Turow will be a special one. Actually, it's Thomas Kelati. American shooting guard owns a Polish passport and playes for the national team of Poland. He spent two seasons in Zgorzelec squad (2006-2007 and 2007-2008) and made a really invaluable contribution to the success of the very squad. Moving to the club in 2006, Thomas in the same year helped Turow for the first time break in the final of the Polish Basketball League, becoming the top team scorer and best guard.

ROSTER

There are two leaders in Turow — an American tandem of guards Torey Thomas — David Jackson. Their average figures in the last championship were: 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists for Thomas, and 10.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists for Jackson. Also in the lead roles is a German scorer, player of German national team Konrad Wysocki.

№	Player	Position	Height	Birthday	Nationality
4	Ivan Zigeranovic	C	212	1985	Serbia
5	Oskar Bukowiecki	G	186	1991	Poland
8	Mateusz Jarmakowicz	F	207	1988	Poland
9	Torey Thomas	G	180	1985	USA
10	Konrad Wysocki	F	200	1982	Germany/Poland
13	Michal Gabinski	F	201	1987	Poland
14	Robert Tomaszek	F	203	1981	Poland
15	Bartosz Bochno	G	193	1988	Poland
21	Marko Brkic	F/C	206	1982	Serbia
22	David Jackson	G	193	1986	USA
24	Michael Kuebler	G	195	1982	USA