“We play another tough game against a very good team, we treat this game as a final one, as any other game in our group,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “Currently we share the first spot in the group and that says how important is the game for both teams. We lost the game over there, we know their qualities, they know us, we have to enter the game very aggressive on both ends, defensively and offensively, using the support of our fans. We call them to come and support the team.”
Two forwards – Victor Khryapa and Demetris Nichols – remain sidelined with broken bones in the wrist and foot respectively.
Important numbers
CSKA is the Euroleague’s top-scoring team with an average of 91.9 points per game. CSKA leads the league through in both three-point shots made (203) and accuracy (43.2%).
Nando De Colo leads the Euroleague in performance index rating this season with an average of 25.3 per game and in scoring with 20.8 points per game.
De Colo has made at least 1 three-pointer in nine straight and 23 of his last 24 games.
De Colo has scored in double figures in each of his last 23 appearances.
Milos Teodosic is due to play the 200th game of his Euroleague career this week. 21 players have done that before him.
Teodosic has made multiple three-pointers in each of his last 10 Euroleague games. Teodosic has made at least 1 three-pointer in 42 of his last 43 Euroleague games.
Teodosic has scored in double figures in each of his last 10 Euroleague games.
Teodosic needs 6 more three-pointers to catch retired CSKA star J.R. Holden for fourth place on the list of most three-pointers made in competition history. Teodosic enters this week’s game with 371 career threes.
Teodosic next three-point attempt will make him the fourth Euroleague player to reach 1,000 career attempts.
Kyle Hines has 138 career blocked shots and his next won will tie D’or Fischer for eighth place all-time in the Euroleague.
Hines needs 4 offensive rebounds to become 10th player to reach a total of 300 for his Euroleague career.
Vitaly Fridzon is 10 points away from reaching the milestone of 1,000 points for his Euroleague career.
The return of the “Baskonia character”
It is being a return to form season for Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz, which arrives to Megasport with a solid 7-3 record in Top 16 Group F. Everything has clicked for Laboral this season, putting together a very competitive roster that is making all fans in Vitoria return to Fernando Buesa Arena to see their team beat the best squads in Europe.
Laboral managed to keep its electric point guard duo of Mike James and Darius Adams – currently one of the best scoring playmakers in the continent, added a key backcourt piece in Jaka Blazic and above all, landed center Ioannis Bourousis, who quickly became the on-court leader of his team. Bourousis said in an interview that he feels younger than a few years ago. He has become a dominant force coming off the bench, leading the 2015-16 Turkish Airlines Euroleague in rebounds (9.5 rpg.) and helping Laboral lead in that category too (39 rpg.). Laboral lost Toko Shengelia due to injury but Davis Bertans stepped in, coming off a longtime injury to offer quality playing time at power forward. Head coach Velimir Perasovic has managed to bring the best version of some returning players – Fabien Causeur and especially Adam Hanga – to make a good team even better.
Saski Baskonia was founded in 1959 and started playing in Spain’s first division in the 1970s. The club’s first trophy did not come until 1995, when Perasovic led the team to the Spanish Copa del Rey. That team also features two players that became head coaches, Marcelo Nicola, who was with Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius this season, and Pablo Laso, who led Real Madrid to its first Euroleague title in 20 years last May. Vitoria also reached the Saporta Cup finals in 1994 and 1995 and finally lifted that trophy in 1996 after downing PAOK Thessaloniki 88-81 behind 31 points from Ramon Rivas – a 20-year celebration took place a few days back. The turn of the century led to instant success in the newborn Euroleague. Laboral has made it to the Top 16 as many as 14 times in 15 years, is looking for its 10th playoffs appearances, has been to the Euroleague semifinals five times and reached two finals, in 2001 and 2005, losing against Kinder Bologna and Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, respectively. Laborla claimed three Spanish League titles in 2002, 2008 and 2010, lifting the Copa del Rey trophy six times, too. Scouting for unknown talent was the key for Laboral to grow – players like Pablo Prigioni, Arvydas Macijauskas, Luis Scola, Tiago Splitter Andres Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto, Mirza Teletovic, Fernando San Emeterio and Jose Manuel Calderon first found continental success in Vitoria, and others like Dejan Tomasevic, Igor Rakocevic and Marcelinho Huertas played some of their best basketball in Vitoria.
Laboral has developed a great sports rivalry against CSKA over the years, which makes this game even more interesting. It all started in the 2003-04 season, in a Top 16 Round 5 game in Moscow. Laboral – then called Tau Ceramica – led 77-82 and had the ball with 50 seconds left but a three-point play by J.R. Holden, free throws by Marcus Brown and a dunk off an inbound pass by Theo Papaloukas gave CSKA a 84-82 and a ticket to the 2004 Final Four. Tau took revenge in the 2004-05 semifinals, in perhaps one of the most painful losses in CSKA history. CSKA entered that game with a 21-1 record, in Moscow, but Tau prevailed, 78-85, behind 23 points from Macijauskas. CSKA and Tau met again in the 2008 semifinals, in which the Russian powerhouse got a 79-83 win on its way to win the Euroleague title. David Andersen and Ramunas Siskauskas each had 16 points in that game. Laboral has not returned to the Final Four since Madrid 2008, partly because it was stopped by CSKA in the 2010 and 2013 playoffs. This is both teams’ 26th showdown – CSKA leads the all-time series 17-8. Laboral beat CSKA in both teams’ last showdown, 81-71, in Top 16 Round 5.
Tradition, two great teams in an outstanding moment and great basketball. What’s not to like about this game?
Javier Gancedo, euroleague.net for cskabasket.com
Past matchups
Wins-losses: 19-6
2001-02 – Euroleague. Top 16: TAU Ceramica – CSKA: 73-87 (+14)
2001-02 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – TAU Ceramica: 73-90 (-17)
2003-04 – Euroleague. Top 16: TAU Ceramica – CSKA: 77-80 (+3)
2003-04 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – TAU Ceramica: 84-82 (+2)
2004-05 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – TAU Ceramica: 88-83 (+5)
2004-05 – Euroleague. Regular season: TAU Ceramica – CSKA: 81-85 (+4)
2004-05 – Euroleague. Final Four. Semifinal: CSKA – TAU Ceramica: 78-85 (-7)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – TAU Ceramica: 82-76 (+6)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Top 16: TAU Ceramica – CSKA: 70-63 (-7)
2007-08 – Euroleague. Regular season: TAU Ceramica – CSKA: 76-85 (+9)
2007-08 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – TAU Ceramica: 70-62 (+8)
2007-08 – Euroleague. Final Four. Semifinal: TAU Ceramica – CSKA: 79-83 (+4)
2009-10 – Euroleague. Regular season: Caja Laboral – CSKA: 67-71 (+4)
2009-10 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Caja Laboral: 84-83 (+1)
2009-10 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: CSKA – Caja Laboral: 86-63 (+23)
2009-10 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: CSKA – Caja Laboral: 83-63 (+20)
2009-10 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: Caja Laboral – CSKA: 66-53 (-13)
2009-10 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: Caja Laboral – CSKA: 70-74 (+4)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: CSKA – Caja Laboral: 89-78 (+11)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: CSKA – Caja Laboral: 90-68 (+22)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: Caja Laboral – CSKA: 93-72 (-21)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: Caja Laboral – CSKA: 85-94 (+9)
2014-15 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Laboral Kutxa: 99-90 (+9)
2014-15 – Euroleague. Top 16: Laboral Kutxa – CSKA: 74-81 (+7)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Top 16: Laboral Kutxa – CSKA: 81-71 (-10)
Short dossier
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria, Spain
Founded: 1959
Colors: red, dark blue, white
Home arena: Fernando Buesa Arena (15,504)
President: Jose Antonio Querejeta
Head coach: Velimir Perasovic
Website: www.baskonia.com
Trophy case: 2-time Spanish champion (2002, 08); 5-time Copa del Rey winner (1995, 99, 2002, 04, 06); 4-time Spanish SuperCup winner (2005, 06, 07, 08); Saporta Cup winner (1996)
