It never snows in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

In fact, the mercury rarely drops below 15 degrees during the customary mild winter days in that Deep South city enjoys close to the Alabama state line.

But it's a much different story in Russia, as Melvin Booker is discovering. The Russia winter is the only thing that the 32-year-old Pascagoula-born guard has struggled to handle this season in the FIBA Europe League with Moscow-based hot-shots BC Khimki.

Booker, who saw NBA action with Houston, Denver and Golden State in the mid-'90s after playing college ball at Missouri, has taken time to adjust to snow, snow and more snow enveloping the Russian capital this winter.

		Melvin Booker

"It's everywhere," Booker said to PA International. "It has been here for several months and just has not gone.

"The basketball has been an easy adjustment to make but the weather has been difficult.

"The cold weather has been the only setback. It feels like it has been snowing for months."

On the basketball court, however, it is another story.

Khimki have been on fire in 2005 and Booker has been one of the stars. In the last four rounds of the FIBA Europe League qualifying Group C, the 188 cm guard scored a total of 90 points, including a game-high 35 in a 109-88 thrashing of Strasbourg.

In the same game, Booker had nine rebounds and nine assists and never left the court.

But it has not been a one-man effort in leading Khimki to the top of the group with 21 points and a best-of-three, last 16 tie against JDA Dijon starting on February 22.

Booker admits teamwork and experience are the keys to the club's resurgence with Russia internationals Alexander Petrenko and Vasily Karasev and South American stars Oscar Torres (Venezeula) and Ruben Wolkowisky (Argentina) all playing their parts.

Petrenko is averaging 15.7 points per game.

The soon-to-be 34-year-old Karasev is playing a valuable 16 minutes a contest and is averaging 5.1 points.

Torres, the leading light at Pompea Napoli in Italy last season, is pouring in 14.3 while also grabbing 6.4 rebounds.

Olympic gold medal winner Wolkowisky is scoring at a clip of 9.6 points and pulling down 6.3 boards. He has been red hot of late with a total of 55 points in the last three FIBA Europe League games.

Booker is confident with that blend of experience and talent, Khimki are on the right track in Europe.

"We do have a good chance of winning but we are taking it one game at a time," he said.

"I feel I am playing pretty well and the team has grown in confidence by following my lead. I play whatever the defence gives me."

Booker, who won the 2003 and 2004 Turkish National Cup with Ulker Istanbul, has also been delighted with Khimki's improved domestic form.

		Oscar Torres (right) has been another key acquisition for Khimki this season

"We recently had two big victories over two Moscow teams, Dynamo and Dynamo Region, who are second and third in the Russia League," he said.

"With so many teams in Moscow, often these derbies are described as battles of Moscow."

He said there is little to compare between the NBA and Europe basketball.

"The NBA is much different to when I played (10 years ago)," said Booker.

"Today the guys are taller and jumping higher. Their athleticism is the real difference. They play above the rim.

"But there are a lot of fundamentals missing from the NBA."

A lack of fundamentals is what many basketball expert say hurt the American team at the Olympics, where they lost three games, including in the semi-finals to Argentina, and had to settle for a bronze medal.

Booker also agreed that the crowds in the NBA and Europe can differ radically.

"In the NBA they are much more laid-back," he said.

"In Europe, it is so difficult to win on the road. The crowds, especially in Italy, where I found they were the wildest, know how to support their team."

While Booker is the second oldest on the Khimki roster behind Karasev, he is not adverse to using new technology to plot his opponents' downfall.

"I'll get on the internet and find out about Dijon," he said. "I don't know much about them but I'll put together a dossier on who their players are and who I will be guarding."