The Army Men used their normal routine to prepare for the away game. After the Asian tour the team had a day-off on Sunday and started preparations on Monday. The sound of Abdi Ipekci stands was used during the practice on Tuesday: the method was successfully tested last season. On Wednesday CSKA practiced before lunch and left to Sheremetyevo to take Rossiya Airlines charter flight to Istanbul.
“We start the first ever full-scale regular championship in EuroLeague against last season’s EuroCup winner Galatasaray,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “The club has a clear plan for the upcoming season, the management made several roster changes and now they have 9 foreign players on the team. Their game starts off the creation of guards Smith and Dentmon. But they also have many different weapons like shooters Guler and Diebler who both have big experience of playing in the EuroLeague. At 3-spot they have Micov who shares the time with Schilb and Preldzic. Galatasaray has the intriguing pair of tall big men in Daye and Pleiss; but they also have another combination with Thompson and Tyus, this guys are more athletic with Thompson playing well on the block. The Istanbul side will also use great support from 14-15-thousand crowd that will cheer and sing all night long. We have our injury issues but it cannot be used as any excuse. We have to defend the title and in order to do so we have to play with motivation, dedication and decisiveness. I expect it to be a very difficult game.”
Relativity connections
Hines and his Galatasaray counterpart Tibor Pleiss were frontcourt partners in the 2010-11 season with Brose Bamberg. For both of them it was their debut EuroLeague season. They won the German League and Cup double together.
Vladimir Micov played for CSKA Moscow for two seasons from 2012 to 2014, during which he reached a pair of EuroLeague Final Fours and won a pair of VTB League titles with the club. He was teammates with Milos Teodosic, Aaron Jackson, Andrey Vorontsevich and Victor Khryapa for both years, and with Vitaly Fridzon and Kyle Hine during his second season with the club.
Austin Daye and Vitaly Fridzon were teammates with Khimki Moscow Region at the beginning of the 2011-12 season.
Safak Edge played under head coach Dimitris Itoudis at Banvit Bandirma in 2013-14 season.
Past matchups
Wins-losses: 3-1.
2011-12. Euroleague Top 16
CSKA – Galatasaray: 85-70 (+15)
Galatasaray – CSKA: 68-64 (-4)
2013-14. Euroleague Top 16
Galatasaray – CSKA: 71-74 (+3)
CSKA – Galatasaray: 86-85 ÎÒ (+1)
Numbers game
Nando De Colo has recorded a performance index rating in double figures in 32 consecutive EuroLeague games.
Nando De Colo made multiple free throws in 15 consecutive EuroLeague games.
Milos Teodosic has made multiple three-pointers in 19 consecutive EuroLeague games.
James Augustine has accumulated a performance index rating of at least 10 in 13 consecutive Turkish
Airlines EuroLeague games.
Vitaly Fridzon has made 10 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague action.
Nikita Kurbanov has made 9 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague games.
De Colo is 6 three-pointers away from reaching the century mark in his EuroLeague career.
De Colo needs 6 steals to reach the century-mark for his EuroLeague career.
Milos Teodosic set a single-season EuroLeague record with 77 three-pointers made last season, breaking the previous mark of 74 by Galatasaray’s Justin Dentmon, who set it while playing for Zalgiris Kaunas in the 2013-14 season.
Teodosic is 6 three-pointers away from reaching 400 for his EuroLeague career. He ranks third on the all-time charts.
Victor Khryapa needs 2 blocks to reach 150 for his EuroLeague career. He is fifth on all time-list for blocked shots with 148, with Stephane Lasme ranked fourth with 160 and Mirza Begic third with 162.
Khryapa needs 6 more steals to crack the EuroLeague all-time top 10. He enters the game with 210 career steals; former CSKA star Trajan Langdon (216 steals) sits in 10th place.
Khryapa needs 10 more assists to reach 500 for his EuroLeague career. He is 20th on the competition’s career charts.
Kyle Hines needs 3 assists to reach the century mark for his EuroLeague career.
Short dossier
Galatasaray Istanbul, Turkey
Founded: 1911
Colors: yellow, red
Home court: Abdi Ipekci Sports Hall (12,500)
President: Dursun Ozbek
Head coach: Ergin Ataman
Website: www.galatasaray.org/basketbol
Trophy case: EuroCup winner (2016), 16-time Turkish champion (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1985, 1986, 1990, 2013), 3-time Turkish Cup winner (1970, 1972, 1995), 2-time Turkish President Cup winner (1985, 2011)
