PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban

PBC Lokomotiv Kuban
Leagues VTB United League, Eurocup
Founded 1946
History Lokomotiv Mineralnye Vody
(1946–2003)
Lokomotiv Rostov
(2003–2009)
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
(2009–Present)
Arena Basket-Hall
 Capacity 7,500
Location Krasnodar, Russia
Team colors Red and Green
         
President Andrey Vedischev
Head coach Sergey Bazarevich
Championships 1 Eurocup
1 Russian Cup
Website lokobasket.com
Uniforms
Home
Away

PBC Lokomotiv Kuban (Russian: ПБК «Локомотив-Кубань») is a Russian professional basketball team that is based in Krasnodar. The club participates in the Russian Professional Basketball League VTB United League, Eurocup and Euroleague.

History

The history of the Lokomotiv starts back in 1946 in Mineralnye Vody. There were few volunteers to play basketball during the first after-war years – not more than 150 people.Teenagers were trained by experienced and patient mentors – railways workers Grigory Abugov and Nikolai Kharchenko. Grigory Abugov later became a famous coach, who raised a number of high-class professionals. Some of them are still in basketball as coaches.

Lokomotiv played in the first league championship for a number of years, until in 1994 it finally got into the elite of the national basketball. In 1999 Lokomotiv got the right to represent Russia in the European tournaments and won the Cup of the International Railways Sports Union.

The season 2002/2003 became the final for the team from Mineralnye Vody. Lokomotiv hardly reached the play-off,taking the 8th place out of 10, where it lost to the champion CSKA in all three matches. It became obvious to many that changes needed to be made. The decision was hence made to move the club to a more developed and economically growing area – Rostov region.

The basketball club Lokomotiv Rostov was established in 2003 in Rostov-on-Don. The project was organised by Andrey Vedischev, the world-class master of sports, bronze medallist of the European Championship and the Russian National Championship.

During the next six years the club played in the city of Don. During these years the "railways'" team was one of the strongest in Russia: regularly entering the play-off of the national championship and in the European cups. The best achievement of the Lokomotiv during these years was the 5th place in the Russian National Championship (2006/07 season) and the final of the FIBA Cup (2004/05season). In the summer of 2009 the president of the Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, made the decision to move the club from Rostov-on-Don to Krasnodar. The main reason for that was that the arenas in Rostov were not satisfying the requirements of the Russian National Championship and the European club's tournaments.

Season 2009/2010

Relocation was followed by the name change to Lokomotiv Kuban. Lokomotiv's first season in Krasnodar was under Sašo Filipovski. The season started successfully for the railways' team. Krasnodar got close to away win against CSKA in first round, then won four times in a row and settled on the second place in standings. Second half of the season was not that successful, Loko went through a few defeats and lost its position in Russian League, by the end of 2009 moved down to the middle of the standings.

Saso Filipovski was replaced by the Lithuanian national team head coach - Kestutis Kemzura.

After losing all chance of staying in EuroChallenge, railways' team concentrated on the Russian League. Under Kestutis Kemzura the team started showing stable results. Gerald Green was the most efficient player in the team after second half of the season, center Grigory Shukhovtsov got an invitation to Russian national team at the end of the season.

Season 2010/2011

The direction Kestutis Kemzura chose for the team improved its position during this season, which allowed to raise up to the fourth place in BEKO PBL and get to the finals in the Challenge Cup, where Loko lost to Krka – 77:83.

Season 2011/2012

Season 2011/2012 Lokomotiv Kuban spent under legendary coach Bozidar Maljkovic and got through to Eurocup Top-8, took bronze medals in Russian League. The right to play in second most important European clubs' tournament, the Eurocup, Lokomotiv got during the previous season, when it managed to get through to the finals of another European clubs' tournament – Eurochallenge.

The next season, the team from Krasnodar looked confident despite the fact that it was a fresher in the European Cup. Passing the group selection with the second result in the group — 4 wins in 6 matches, Lokomotiv went through to the Last 16, where it had to meet with Lithuanian Lietuvos Rytas, Italian Benneton and German Alba. In quarterfinals Lokomotiv met with Khimki, which at the end became the champion. Apart from the debut in the elite European tournament, Eurocup, the club from Krasnodar also for the first time played in the VTB United League (eastern-European championship). Lokomotiv demonstrated top-level basketball in the regular season, got to the play-offs, and ended up on the fourth place.

Season 2012/2013

Evgeny Pashutin takes the position of the Loko’s head coach for season 2012/13 – the specialist that had been working on similar posts in Spartak, CSKA and UNICS. According to the aims and objectives set for the club, roster was improved significantly. Nick Calathes, Mantas Kalnietis, Alex Maric, Derrick Brown, Alexey Savrasenko, Simas Jasaitis, Valery Likhodey joined the team. During the season Richard Hendrix was called to strengthen the roster. In Eurocup final, in Charleroi, on April 13, 2013, the club from Krasnodar won Spanish Bilbao – 75:64, and thus not only earned the most prestigious trophy in its history, but also the ticket to Euroleague for the next season.

Season 2013/2014

In season 2013/14 the team debuted in Euroleague, got thorugh to the Top 16, fighting against the strongest European teams. Derrick Brown was announced the Euroleague MVP of November. VTB United League playoffs stayed in our minds as the series with CSKA, which Loko started with two wins. However, the Moscow club took the final three games, and Lokomotiv left the championship at quarterfinals. At the end of the season club’s management decided not to sign a new contract with the head coach Evgeny Pashutin.

Season 2014/2015

The new coach Sergei Bazarevich joined the team during the off-season, together with the club's management he started forming the new roster. Marcus Williams, Alex Maric, Valery Likhodey and Simas Jasaitis left the team. At the same time, Anthony Randolph, Malcolm Delaney, Aaron Miles, Nikita Kurbanov, Evgeny Voronov and Nikita Balashov were called to strengthen the team. One of the main priorities mentioned by the president of the club was getting back to Euroleague by winning the Eurocup or going through to VTB United League finals.

Honours and achievement

Domestic

International

Regional

Season by season

Season Tier League Pos. Postseason Russian Cup European competitions
2010–11 1 PBL 3 Semifinalist Semifinalist 3 EuroChallenge – Runner-up
1 VTB United 4 Fourth place
2011–12 1 PBL 4 Semifinalist – 2 Eurocup – Quarterfinalist
1 VTB United 3 Runner-up
2012–13 1 PBL 4 – – 2 Eurocup – Champion
2013–14 1 VTB League 3 Quarterfinalist style="background: style="background:silver" | Runner-up 1 Euroleague – Top 16

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G 0 United States Delaney, Malcolm 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 26 – 11 March 1989
F/C 3 United States Randolph, Anthony 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 25 – 15 July 1989
G 4 Russia Grigoryev, Maksim 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 25 – 25 April 1990
PF 5 United States Brown, Derrick 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 106 kg (234 lb) 27 – 9 August 1987
F/C 7 Republic of Macedonia Hendrix, Richard 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 118 kg (260 lb) 28 – 15 November 1986
PG 9 Lithuania Kalnietis, Mantas 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 28 – 6 September 1986
PG 11 United States Miles, Aaron 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 79 kg (174 lb) 32 – 13 April 1983
SG 15 Russia Kolyushkin, Maxim 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 78 kg (172 lb) 24 – 11 December 1990
PF 17 Russia Balashov, Nikita 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 23 – 19 June 1991
SG 18 Russia Voronov, Evgeny 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 28 – 7 May 1986
F 20 Russia Zubkov, Andrey 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 23 – 29 June 1991
C 21 Russia Zhukanenko, Alexey 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 110 kg (243 lb) 28 – 18 May 1986
F 41 Russia Kurbanov, Nikita 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 28 – 5 October 1986
G/F 44 Croatia Simon, Krunoslav 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 29 – 24 June 1985
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • United States Russell Bergman
  • Serbia Saša Grujić
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: August 27, 2014

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Richard Hendrix Alexey Zhukanenko Nikita Balashov
PF Derrick Brown Anthony Randolph Andrey Zubkov
SF Krunoslav Simon Nikita Kurbanov
SG Malcolm Delaney Evgeny Voronov Maksim Grigoryev Maxim Kolyushkin
PG Mantas Kalnietis Aaron Miles

Management

Coaching staff

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:

Notable coaches

References

    External links