The Army Men had a rare day off on Friday and got back to practices afterwards. The away roster will miss Vitaly Fridzon (broken finger) and Ivan Strebkov (works out with junior team).
“We are up 2-0 in series and we played good basketball in two home games,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “But we don’t expect it to be easy in Athens. Actually nothing is easy in our life. Maybe some of our wins look easy, but the reason for that is our dedication, hard work and serious approach. We are experienced enough to understand that it will be a fight over there. We have to take care of our game issues and remember that Panathinaikos plays much better at home. Slaughter and Bochoridis may get back to lineup, PAO will play aggressive and use the energy from its amazing fans. We have to have more possessions and in order to reach this goal we need to take care of the ball and win the rebounding battle.”
“Close” relations
Coach Itoudis spend 12 seasons as an assistant coach at Panathinaikos (1999-2012). He helped the club win 5 Euroleague championships, 11 Greek League titles and 7 Greek Cups during that span. Dimitris Diamantidis and Antonis Fotsis played under his command.
Andreas Pistiolis was an assistant coach for PAO as well (2007-12).
James Gist (N 58) was chosen right after Sasha Kaun (N 57) during 2008 NBA Draft. Sonny Weems (N 39) was also drafted that year.
Pavel Korobkov played for Lokomotiv-Kuban junior team in 2009-10 season, the year, when Gist played for Krasnodar main team.
From 2007 to 2011 (with exception of 2008-09 season) Lukas Mavrokefalidis played for Olympiacos together with Milos Teodosic. In 2011-12 season the center defended Spartak St.Petersburg colors with Alexei Zozulin.
Janis Blums was a teammate of CSKA guard Aaron Jackson at Gescrap Bilbao from 2010 to 2012.
CSKA athletic coach Kostas Chatzichristos worked with Vladimir Jankovic in Panionios from 2007 t0 2012.
Past matchups
Wins/losses: 17-15
1981-82 – European Champions Cup. Group Stage: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 87-83 (-4)
1981-82 – European Champions Cup. Group Stage: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 83-80 (+3)
1994-95 – European Championship for Men’s Clubs. Semifinal Round: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 101-77 (-24)
1994-95 – European Championship for Men’s Clubs. Semifinal Round: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 77-70 (+7)
1995-96 – European Championship for Men’s Clubs. Semifinal: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 71-81 (-10)
2000-01 – SuproLeague. Regular Season: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 69-57 (+12)
2000-01 – SuproLeague. Regular Season: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 89-81 (-8)
2001-02 – Euroleague. Regular Season: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 85-91 (-6)
2001-02 – Euroleague. Regular Season: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 83-80 (-3)
2003-04 – Euroleague. Regular Season: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 58-69 (+11)
2003-04 – Euroleague. Regular Season: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 75-68 (+7)
2004-05 – Euroleague. Regular Season: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 73-85 (+12)
2004-05 – Euroleague. Regular Season: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 75-72 (+3)
2004-05 – Euroleague. 3rd place game: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 91-94 ÎÒ (-3)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Regular Season: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 92-82 (-10)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Regular Season: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 84-89 (-5)
2006-07 – Euroleague. Final: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 93-91 (-2)
2008-09 – Euroleague. Final: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 73-71 (-2)
2010-11 – Euroleague. Regular Season: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 74-60 (-14)
2010-11 – Euroleague. Regular Season: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 68-72 (-4)
2011-12 – Euroleague. Regular Season: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 76-78 ÎÒ (+2)
2011-12 – Euroleague. Regular Season: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 91-75 (+16)
2011-12 – Euroleague. Semifinal: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 66-64 (+2)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Panathinaikos: 86-69 (+17)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16: Panathinaikos – CSKA: 63-69 (+6)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals. CSKA – Panathinaikos: 77-74 ÎÒ (+3)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals. CSKA – Panathinaikos: 77-51 (+26)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals. Panathinaikos – CSKA: 65-59 (-6)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals. Panathinaikos – CSKA: 73-72 ÎÒ (-1)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals. CSKA – Panathinaikos: 74-44 (+30)
2014-15 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals. CSKA – Panathinaikos: 93-66 (+27)
2014-15 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals. CSKA – Panathinaikos: 100-80 (+20)
Short dossier
Panathinaikos Athens, Greece
Founded: 1908
Colors: green, white
Home court: O.A.K.A (18,700)
President: Emmanuel Papadopoulos
Head coach: Dusko Ivanovic
Website: www.paobc.gr
Trophy case:
- 6-time Euroleague champion (1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2011),
- International Cup winner (1996),
- 34-time Greek champion (1945-46, 1946-47, 1949-50, 1950-51, 1953-54, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1966-67, 1968-69, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1976-77, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1983-84, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2013-14),
- 15-time Greek Cup winner (1979, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1993, 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015)
