The season in the EuroLeague is only three games old but the upcoming duel between the Bayern basketball team and Khimki Moscow can already be described as a huge matchup. Behind the undefeated duo FC Barcelona and ZSKA Moscow, six teams have the same record in the premier league table at 2-1, including the German champions and Khimki. The winner will therefore be in the upper half of the standings for the time being.
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This Thursday (24.10., 20:30 CEST), there will be an emotional reunion with Center Devin Booker, who played for the Bavarians for three years - in the BBL alone 113 games, in which he scored 1,256 points (11.1 ppg).
"When Khimki comes with Devin, we must of course ignore the great friendship with him," said Bayern-Guard Nihad Djedovic. "We are happy to see him, but we have to pay attention to all the players with them. It's a very strong team, clearly put together to get at least into the playoffs. Khimki certainly has great players and is tops in every position."
Superstar Alexej Shved is currently the top scorer in the league
The FCBB makers made no secret of the fact in the summer that they would have liked to keep Booker but the agreement that had been prepared did not ultimately come about, not least because of the financial efforts Khimki made to sign the big-man. The Moscow suburban club around its superstar and EuroLeague topscorer Alexej Shved (22.7 ppg) is certainly on the up. Playmaker Stefan Jovic was also brought over from Munich, but the Serb is currently missing because of a rib injury. Also new to the team are Russian and ex-NBA professional Sergei Karasev (from St. Petersburg), Latvian sniper Jannis Timma (Vítoria/15.7 ppg) and US center Jeremy Evans (Darussafaka Istanbul/9.9).
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In the EuroLeague they started with two home wins over Tel Aviv (89-83) and Vítoria (76-74) but last week the Russian duel with titleholder ZSKA was clearly lost 99-86. In the VTB-League, however, they are enthroned in front of their city rivals and remain undefeated (5:0) at the top of the standings. Booker was topscorer over the weekend in a 73-56 win over Astana with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Bayern head coach Dejan Radonjic says: "Khimki started the season very well and we have to be prepared for a very difficult game. Alexej Shved is not only their best and most important player, he is also one of the best players in Europe. Our focus on defense will of course be on him but Team Khimkis has much more to offer. Booker and Evans are in very good shape, and they also have Gill, Karasew, Bertans and so on. They have excellent players and I think they are much stronger than last season."
Curious: In the EuroLeague there have been four duels with Khimki so far, plus two in the EuroCup - the Bavarians won all six games.
Would you like to be part of the reunion with former FCBB public favourite Devin Booker? Then get your tickets now!
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