The Yellows fired second coach already this season: the position was at hands of Erez Edelstein and Rami Hadar. Now they are waiting for another announcement. Most probably, Ainars Bagatskis will take over. The Latvian is helping David Blatt in Darussafaka currently, he is known to the Russian fans by his work in Nizhny Novgorod BC. Bagatskis is not announced officially so Lior Lubin will direct the team during CSKA game.
It is interesting that Maccabi was in similar situation a year ago, when the Army Men came to Tel Aviv: it was Zan Tabak’s turn to debut as a head coach here.
“We play against very talented team,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “Even though they had bad results and overcame the third change of the coach, we are not blind, we know the level of talent they had, they are motivated, they have high quality offense, they have individuals that can do anything on any given night. That is proved by their results: they played great on the road against Olympiacos, at home against Fener, on road against Zalgiris, on road against UNICS, they won some tough games. Definitely we want to be careful in the game against them. We have to be on track, concentrated and healthy. We are preparing for the battle, for tough game. Nothing is going to be given. We always want to go on the court and earn it with our performance, contribution to the game, motivation and concentration as I always say.”
The Army Men will play shorthanded again. Nando De Colo, Milos Teodosic and Pavel Korobkov stayed in Moscow to recover after injuries.
“Relativity” connections
Sonny Weems played three seasons with CSKA, from 2012 through 2015.
Milos Teodosic and Maccabi manager Nikola Vujcic were teammates at Olympiacos Piraeus for two seasons, from 2008 to 2010.
CSKA forward Semen Antonov and Maccabi guard Gal Mekel were teammates at Nizhny Novgorod during the 2014-15 season. Semen Antonov and Victor Rudd were teammates at Nizhny last season.
Nikita Kurbanov of CSKA and Maccabi scorer Andrew Goudelock were teammates at Unics Kazan during the 2013-14 season.
Important numbers
Coach Itoudis has used 13 different players in his starting lineups so far this season; no player has started every game.
Nando De Colo has recorded a performance index rating in double figures in 39 consecutive EuroLeague games.
De Colo has made 35 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague action. And he has made multiple free throws in 22 consecutive EuroLeague games.
Milos Teodosic has hit at least 1 three-pointer in nine straight and 29 of his last 30 EuroLeague games.
Teodosic has scored in double figures in each of his last nine EuroLeague contests.
Teodosic has a streak of at least 5 assists in 14 consecutive EuroLeague games.
Vitaly Fridzon has made 13 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague games.
De Colo is tied for the league lead with an average performance index rating of 23.6 this season.
De Colo is ranked first in EuroLeague history in free throw accuracy. He has made 92.63% of free throws, which puts him in front of Zalgiris Kaunas head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius (92.26%).
De Colo needs 4 steals to reach the century-mark for his EuroLeague career.
Milos Teodosic ranks third all-time in assists, with 1,022. Vassilis Spanoulis is in second place with 1,032 and counting.
Teodosic leads the EuroLeague this season with 8.5 assists per game.
Milos Teodosic is in fourth place on the all-time scoring charts with 2,543 points.
Milos Teodosic leads all players in the EuroLeague this season with 32 three-point shots made.
Victor Khryapa has 152 in blocked shots in his EuroLeague career. He is fifth on the all-time list. Kyle Hines is next, tied for sixth with Zalgiris center Robertas Javtokas with 144 blocks.
Cory Higgins is the EuroLeague’s all-time leader in three-point shooting accuracy at 51.61%.
Victor Khryapa is 10th place all-time with 218 career steals. With 2 more he can catch Jamon Gordon (220) for ninth place.
James Augustine is the EuroLeague career leader among active, qualified players in two-point shooting accuracy at 65.98%.
Nikita Kurbanov needs 2 rebounds to reach 300 for his EuroLeague career.
Aaron Jackson needs 3 steals to reach 100 for his EuroLeague career.
Vitaly Fridzon needs 4 rebounds to reach 300 for his EuroLeague career, and 4 assists to reach the 200-assist milestone.
Vitaly Fridzon is 5 steals away from reaching the century mark for his EuroLeague career.
Kyle Hines needs 28 points to reach 1,500 for his EuroLeague career.
Past matchups
Taking into account two technical defeat suffered in 70s due to political situation, CSKA prevailed in 20 games out of 38.
1974-75 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: ÖÑÊÀ – Maccabi: (òåõ. ïîðàæåíèå CSKA)
1974-75 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: Maccabi – CSKA: (òåõ. ïîðàæåíèå CSKA)
1976-77 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: CSKA – Maccabi: 79-91 (-12)
1976-77 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: Maccabi – CSKA: (òåõ. ïîðàæåíèå CSKA)
1980-81 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: CSKA – Maccabi: 83-81 (+2)
1980-81 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: Maccabi – CSKA: 85-74 (-11)
1982-83 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: CSKA – Maccabi: 80-84 (-4)
1982-83 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: Maccabi – CSKA: 69-78 (+9)
1984-85 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: CSKA – Maccabi: 81-87 (-6)
1984-85 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: Maccabi – CSKA: 67-79 (+12)
1988-89 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: CSKA – Maccabi: 92-97 (-5)
1988-89 – European Champions’ Cup. Group stage: Maccabi – CSKA: 94-90 (-4)
1994-95 – European Championship for Club Teams. Semifinal Round: CSKA – Maccabi: 87-78 (+9)
1994-95 – European Championship for Club Teams. Semifinal Round: Maccabi – CSKA: 92-89 ÎÒ (-3)
1996-97 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: CSKA – Maccabi: 89-80 (+9)
1996-97 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: Maccabi – CSKA: 77-78 (+1)
1997-98 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round: CSKA – Maccabi: 71-63 (+8)
1997-98 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round: Maccabi – CSKA: 87-69 (-18)
2000-01 – Suprolague. Semifinal: Maccabi – CSKA: 86-80 (-6)
2001-02 – Euroleague. Top 16: Maccabi – CSKA: 69-68 (-1)
2001-02 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Maccabi: 81-77 (+4)
2003-04 – Euroleague. Regular season: Maccabi – CSKA: 84-87 (+3)
2003-04 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Maccabi: 80-83 (-3)
2003-04 – Euroleague. Semifinal: Maccabi – CSKA: 93-85 (-8)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Final: CSKA – Maccabi: 73-69 (+4)
2006-07 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: CSKA – Maccabi: 80-58 (+22)
2006-07 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: Maccabi – CSKA: 68-56 (-12)
2006-07 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: CSKA – Maccabi: 92-71 (+21)
2007-08 – Euroleague. Final: Maccabi – CSKA: 77-91 (+14)
2009-10 – Euroleague. Regular season: Maccabi – CSKA: 71-54 (-17)
2009-10 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Maccabi: 77-72 (+5)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Maccabi: 100-65 (+35)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Top 16: Maccabi – CSKA: 76-81 (+5)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Semifinal: CSKA – Maccabi: 67-68 (-1)
2014-15 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Maccabi: 99-80 (+18)
2014-15 – Euroleague. Regular season: Maccabi – CSKA: 61-84 (+23)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Maccabi: 100-69 (+31)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Regular season: Maccabi – CSKA: 82-88 (+6)
Short dossier
Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel
Founded: 1932
Colors: yellow, blue
Home court: Menora Mivtachim Arena (11,000)
President: Shimon Mizrahi
Interim coach: Lior Lubin
Website: www.maccabi.co.il
Trophy case: 5-time Euroleague champion (1977, 81, 2004, 05, 14), Suproleague champion (2001), Adriatic League champion (2012), Intercontinental Cup winner (1980), Israeli champion (1954, 55, 57-59, 62-64, 67, 68, 70-92, 94-2007, 09, 11, 12, 14), Israeli Cup winner (1956, 58, 59, 61, 63-66, 70-73, 75, 77-83, 85-87, 89-91, 94, 98-2006, 10-15)
