“We will play already the third game against Brose Baskets this season and we have full respect to our opponents,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “They are doing good in Euroleague and they actually have the same record as we do in the Top 16. They won the road game against Olympiacos, they demolished Zalgiris, they had a good chance against Real and they kept it close against Khimki. Brose Baskets is a well-coached team that plays good basketball, so we have to stay on our path for all 40 minutes of the game. It will be our second game at Megasport, we enjoyed almost a sellout against Barcelona when our fans created a great atmosphere and provided huge help to the team. I hope that on Thursday they will be with us again and push us to victory.”
The Army Men had three full practices since they beat Vita on Sunday, two of practices were on Megasport floor. Pavel Korobkov will be out after knee surgery, Joel Freeland (leg) remains questionable.
Close “relations”
Kyle Hines began his Euroleague career with Brose Baskets Bamberg during the 2010-11 season. He helped Bamberg to the German League and Cup double that season.
Nikos Zisis played two seasons for CSKA between 2007 and 2009. Only forwards Victor Khryapa, Andrey Vorontsevich and Nikita Kurbanov remain from his time at the club. Together they won the Euroleague in 2008.
Zisis was a teammate of Nikita Kurbanov during the 2013-14 season at Unics Kazan.
Janis Strelnieks was a teammate of Nikita Kurbanov during the 2012-13 season at Spartak St. Petersburg.
Important numbers
CSKA is the Euroleague’s top-scoring team with an average of 89.9 points per game.
Nando De Colo leads the Euroleague in performance index rating this season with an average of 22.7 per game and in scoring with 19.1 points per game.
De Colo has scored in double figures in each of his last 17 Euroleague appearances.
De Colo is the Euroleague’s career leader in free throw accuracy. He’s shooting 93.2 %, having made 220 free throws out of 236 attempts over 59 games for Valencia Basket and CSKA.
Milos Teodosic has made multiple three-pointers in each of his last four games.
Teodosic has made at least 1 three-pointer in 37 of his last 38 Euroleague games, De Colo – in 17 of 18, Andrey Vorontsevich – in 14 of 15.
Teodosic has dished at least 5 assists in each of his last seven Euroleague appearances.
Cory Higgins has made at least 1 three-pointer in nine of his last 10 Euroleague appearances. He is shooting 17 for 31 from downtown (54.8%) over that stretch.
Nikita Kurbanov has made 12 consecutive free throws in Euroleague games, De Colo – 11.
Victor Khryapa is 4 assists away from cracking the competition’s career top 20. He enters this game with 474 career assists; Gianluca Basile (478) sits in 20th place.
Past matchups
Wins/losses: 10-0.
2005-06 – Euroleague. Top 16: Brose Baskets – CSKA: 64-75 (+11)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Brose Baskets: 76-64 (+12)
2011-12 – Euroleague. Regular Season: CSKA – Brose Baskets: 94-74 (+20)
2011-12 – Euroleague. Regular Season: Brose Baskets – CSKA: 78-81 (+3)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Regular Season: CSKA – Brose Baskets: 76-67 (+9)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Regular Season: Brose Baskets – CSKA: 89-97 (+8)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Brose Baskets: 90-83 (+7)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16: Brose Baskets – CSKA: 58-78 (+20)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Regular Season: CSKA – Brose Baskets: 83-77 (+6)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Regular Season: Brose Baskets – CSKA: 88-100 (+12)
Short dossier
Brose Baskets Bamberg, Germany
Founded: 1955
Colors: red, white
Homecourt: brose Arena (6,900)
President: Norbert Sieben
Head coach: Andrea Trinchieri
Website: www.brosebaskets.de
Trophy case: 7-time German champion (2005, 07, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15), 4-time German Cup winner (1992, 2010, 11, 12)
