CSKA vs. Unicaja (Malaga): 95-85 (+10)
CSKA: De Colo (6 + 5 rb + 3 to + 4 pf), Teodosic (27 + 10 as + 5 to + 4 pf), Fridzon (16 + 4 rb + 4 pf), Nichols (4), Weems (16 + 5 rb + 7 as), Vorontsevich (4 + 7 rb), Kaun (8 + 3 rb), Hines (14 + 5 rb + 3 bs)…
Unicaja: Soluade (5), Vasiliadis (7 + 4 to), Toolson (6), Thomas (6 + 5 rb), Granger (20 + 10 as), Vazques (7), Kuzminskas (20 + 3 rb), Green (6 + 4 rb + 4 pf), Golubovic (8 + 9 rb)…
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
In the first half we played really good basketball both on offense and defense. We performed well, we read their defense, we got open looks and ran. Our only problem was rebounds on our glass: if I am not mistaken in the first quarter they had 7 offensive rebounds and we had 6 defensive ones. In the third quarter Unicaja got back to the game by playing defense. But with due respect to the opponents I can note the lack of concentration from our side. We could at least not to turn the ball over so often, especially taking into account that Malaga did not change its defensive system. Still we managed to keep the lead and win by playing some zone and switches. I think we deserved to win but it is obvious that we have a lot of work to do. On this stage of the season it is normal for us not to play consistently through all 40 minutes. We still need to find good chemistry and rotation, adopt our philosophy and continue winning. I would like again to thank our fans who were really loud and helped the players.
Finally, I would like to say something important for me personally and for our club. Life has its good and bad moments. And it is my obligation to say that we dedicate this win to Mr. Ivanov [the Head of Russian Presidential Administration, Head of CSKA Board lost his son in tragic accident on Wednesday]. It is very difficult time for him. And if we can give him small, small piece of happiness with our win, we would be happy. And we will continue winning.
Vitaly Fridzon, CSKA guard:
We saw Unicaja playing well even in preseason. They are the leaders of ACB that’s why we were expecting real fight. In the first half we played good but in the third quarter we probably thought that it was easy for us so we became weak a little. And they cut the difference to 4. I think we woke up on time and scored some important shots. I’m pleased with the result and wait for a hard game in Malaga.
Milos Teodosic, CSKA guard:
It was a tough game for us. Malaga is a really good team and it’s their first loss in the season. We played good basketball, maybe at some moments we did not play defense well enough and let Malaga come back. I’m happy with the way we play. We have the next game in two days. Tonight this win is dedicated to Sergey Ivanov. He is having a really hard time for his family. So as he supports us on the court we would like to support him today in such sad moment.
