The game vs Lietuvos Rytas will be the key one for our team to solve the task of qualifying for the VTB United League Final Four. Unfortunately the team had to fly to Vilnius shorthanded.
The Transaero flight passed the wall of snow in Domodedovo with an hour delay. Boeing took 11 players on board: JR Holden (leg) and Alexey Shved (back spasms) were added to inactive list. The roster includes team captain Victor Khryapa who went to Lithuania to support his teammates and junior team center Alexander Gudumak. Ramunas Siskauskas returned to the roster after missing a couple of games with knee problems. He plans to play against Lietuvos Rytas (the team where he became the star of European level) for the first time in Vilnius. It should be mentioned also that Andrey Vorontsevich sprained his ankle during the practice yesterday but went with the team.
“Our opponent is a totally different team from those we met in the first leg game, - CSKA interim coach Dmitry Shakulin said. El-Amin and Bajramovic are playing the key roles now with recently added Jasaitis who tries to incorporate into team game. I think we have a difficult game ahead. We will have to overcome the pressure of 11 thousands fans who understand basketball perfectly. Besides, without Holden other players will have to do a better job in organizing the offense. Hopefully, with a lot of difficulties ahead we will be able to regroup, to motivate ourselves better and to demonstrate quality basketball.”
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