The morning practice in USH CSKA made the coaching staff sad again. Cory Higgins twisted his left ankle, Viacheslav Kravtsov was out with high temperature. Milos Teodosic was given rest, Victor Khryapa and Joel Freeland continue to work out individually, so it was problematic to find a dozen players to go to Georgia. So the team urgently added Ivan Lazarev who went on board of OrenAir plane with his new teammates.
“It’s our premiere in 2015-16 season,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “We will face the new team for the league. We studied Vita in its friendly games as well as in the recent game against Red October. As usually we have all the respect towards opponent. I am sure that Tbilisi side will improve during the season as any newcomer does. I can single out several key players, foreign and local. Carter is good on isolation plays, he can create for himself, the point guard Henry and shooter Turner are also dangerous. Ukrainian center Anikeenko can shoot from long distance, Shengelia is good mobile player, who can play on both 4 and 5-spots, Chlaidze is an interesting player, Lipovyi, the Ukrainian National Team player, is a good addition. Vita is playing fast, very aggressive offense, they are very enthusiastic about playing in VTB League. As for us, we came here with several injured players absent. But we would like to start positively, to grow as a team in official games. I would like to wish my players good health again.”
Past matchups
The teams will meet for the first time ever.
Short dossier
Vita Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
Founded: 1992
Colors: black, white
Home court: Palace of Sports (8,539)
President: Temur Datikashvili
Head coach: Pavel Googe
Website: www.bcvita.com
Trophy case: 7-time Georgian champion (1993-98, 2005)
