Tomović slams sluggish start after Loko Kuban beat Yenisey

Lokomotiv Kuban beat Yenisey 81:66 at home in the VTB United League, and coach Tomislav Tomović had little patience for the way his side started.

"Thanks to Yenisey for the lesson they taught us today. Their physicality highlighted well what we should not be — in the opening stages of the match we looked too soft, and that cannot happen again if we are aiming for something big. Injuries, illness — I do not even want to hear excuses like that. If you step onto the court in Loko's shirt, you have to give your maximum every second. So now we need to immerse ourselves in work and strive to reach the level we expect of ourselves," said Tomović.

Yenisey coach Jovica Arsić saw more to like in his side's performance, even in defeat.

"This was probably not Lokomotiv's best game, they did not show 100 per cent of what they are capable of. But to beat them even in that state, we need to play far better — quicker and with more teamwork. Unfortunately, today we drifted too much into individual play, whereas a side that is a class above needs to be beaten through collective work. That said, I will credit our team for the first 20 minutes — it is our best spell of the season so far, taking all pre-season fixtures into account. Even when we made mistakes, we made up for it with energy. We will keep working on our cohesion and try to show team basketball in the next match against Avtodor, which is very important for us in the table," said Arsić.

Lokomotiv Kuban play at home on 3 October against MBA. The result comes just over a week after new centre Gleb Firsov said the revamped roster had what it takes to challenge for first place, and Tomović's frustration with the sluggish start suggests the club still has work to do before that ambition is tested.