“Milan has a very talented roster, they play much better when energized by their crowd,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis. “They show high-scoring basketball, they average more than 90 points at home. So we have very difficult game in front of us.”
It looks even more difficult considering the team’s roster problems. Besides Nando De Colo (thigh) and Pavel Korobkov (knee) the team lost Milos Teodosic. The point guard wanted to play but he felt pain in Achilles. Doctors insisted that he stays in Moscow to do rehab and avoid serious injury.
Still there is the chance to see Joel Freeland on the floor for the first time since February. The Brit was practiced hard recent weeks and cleared to play by doctors and coaches. The decision to play him will be taken before the game.
“Relativity” connections
CSKA big man James Augustine and Milan’s Zoran Dragic were teammates at Khimki Moscow Region last season.
CSKA forward Nikita Kurbanov was a teammate of Milan players Mantas Kalnietis and Krunoslav Simon at Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar during the 2014-15 season.
Nando De Colo earned Top 16 Round 7 MVP honors in the 2014-15 season after shining in CSKA’s 97-75 victory over EA7 Emporio Armani. He tallied 18 points, 7 assists and 4 steals for a performance index rating of 29.
Important numbers
Nando De Colo has recorded a performance index rating in double figures in 39 consecutive EuroLeague games.
Milos Teodosic has made at least 1 three-pointer in 28 of the last 29 EuroLeague games.
Teodosic has a streak of at least 5 assists in 13 consecutive EuroLeague games.
De Colo is in the first place in EuroLeague history in free throw accuracy. He has 92.63%, in front of Zalgiris Kaunas head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius (92.26%).
Milos Teodosic ranks third all-time in assists, with 1,011. He leads EuroLeague this season with 8.2 assists per game after Round 10.
Milos Teodosic scored 31 points in Round 10, and moved into fourth place on all-time scoring charts with 2,527 points.
Cory Higgins ranks first in competition history in three-point shooting accuracy at 51.81%.
Victor Khryapa is the 10th place all-time with 218 career steals. Next in front of him is Jamon Gordon (220 steals) in ninth place.
James Augustine is the EuroLeague career leader among active, qualified players in two-point shooting accuracy at 65.97%.
Milos Teodosic became sixth man to reach 2,500 for his EuroLeague career last week.
De Colo needs 4 steals to reach the century-mark for his EuroLeague career.
Vitaly Fridzon needs 7 assists to reach 200 for his EuroLeague career.
Kyle Hines needs 6 blocks to become only the sixth man to reach 150 blocks in EuroLeague action.
Past matchups
Wins/losses: 5-6
1965-66. European Champions Cup. Semifinal. CSKA – Olimpia: 57-68 (-11)
1982-83. European Champions Cup. Final Round. Olimpia – CSKA: 94-86 (-8)
1982-83. European Champions Cup. Final Round. CSKA – Olimpia: 79-78 (+1)
1996-97. Euroleague. Preliminary Round. Adecco – CSKA: 87-74 (-13)
1996-97. Euroleague. Preliminary Round. CSKA – Adecco: 70-55 (+15)
2008-09. Euroleague. Regular Season. CSKA – Armani Jeans: 90-64 (+26)
2008-09. Euroleague. Regular Season. Armani Jeans – CSKA: 80-79 (-1)
2010-11. Euroleague. Regular Season. CSKA – Armani Jeans: 73-88 (-15)
2010-11. Euroleague. Regular Season. Armani Jeans – CSKA: 71-65 (-6)
2014-15. Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – EA7 Milan: 97-75 (+22)
2014-15. Euroleague. Top 16. EA7 Milan – CSKA: 79-88 (+9)
Short dossier
EA7 Milan, Italy
Founded: 1936
Colors: red, white
Home court: Mediolanum Forum (11,200)
Owner: Giorgio Armani
President: Flavio Portaluppi
Head coach: Jasmin Repesa
Website: www.olimpiamilano.com
Trophy case: 3-time Euroleague champions (1966, 87, 88), 3-time Cup Winners Cup champions (1971, 72, 76), 2-time Korac Cup winners (1985, 93), Intercontinental Cup winners (1987), 27-time Italian champions (1936, 37, 38, 39, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 72, 82, 85, 86, 87, 89, 96, 2014, 16), 5-time Italian Cup winners (1972, 86, 87, 96, 16), Italian SuperCup winners (2016)
