From Zouros to Zouros

The second visit to Istanbul for the Euroleague Top 16 game does not affect the group’s standings. It is a question of prestige for CSKA to beat Efes, especially considering the fact that this team is always ready to fight at home.

Efes one of the most difficult opponents for army men historically. It is especially difficult to deal with them in Istanbul: CSKA won only 2 of 7 games there. Coaching change in Anadolu Efes also adds some uncertainty. Ilias Zouros took over for Ufuk Sarica as the team’s head coach on Monday. It is interesting that CSKA started the Euroleague group stage by facing Zouros’ team (Zalgiris) and meets him again in the last game of the group stage.

CSKA does not have ill or injured players. The only man missed from regular rotation is Ramunas Siskauskas who is joined by Nikita Kurbanov and Dmitry Sokolov in Moscow.

“All the Euroleague games are important”, - CSKA head coach Jonas Kazlauskas said. “And I am pretty sure that both teams will try to win this one – to help build winning mentality, self-confidence and self-respect. The fact that the game does not affect teams’ standings will probably give the coaches a chance for experiments but I think that will make the game even more interesting.”