Pre-game breakdown
Four players are out for CSKA before the visit to Valencia. Three big men are injured – Pavel Korobkov (knee), Kyle Hines (calf), Othello Hunter (knee). Mikhail Kulagin is out due to illness. The club de-registered Korobkov to add CSKA-2 center Alexander Gankevich to the roster.
Valencia has similar problems. Sam Van Rossom fractured three vertebrae in Round 20 and is out for the foreseeable future. Antoine Diot is out long term after knee surgery. Latavious Williams has not yet played in a EuroLeague game this season. Sergi Garcia made his EuroLeague debut in Round 17, but has been missing in action since then due to injury. Bojan Dubljevic missed the last two games. Guillem Vives has missed the last six games.
Pre-game quotes
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
It will be another tough EuroLeague game against reigning champion of Spain, the team that is second in ACB standings right now. They are playing well at home in front of their very loud crowd so we prepare for difficult game.
Nando De Colo, CSKA guard:
Definitely it will be a special game for me, it will be my return to the arena in Valencia. We have some problems with injuries so we have to be focused, everybody have to step up in the game. We have to play together and be ready for another tough game.
“Relativity” connections
Nando De Colo played at Valencia for three years, from 2009 to 2012. He helped the team win 2010 EuroCup and made his EuroLeague debut there, De Colo was a teammate of Rafa Martinez for all three seasons.
Kyle Hines and his Valencia counterpart Tibor Pleiss were frontcourt partners during 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.
CSKA center Othello Hunter was a teammate of Valencia guard Erick Green during the 2013-14 campaign at Montepaschi Siena.
Important numbers
Coach Dimitris Itoudis has used 11 different players in the CSKA starting lineup so far this season. No player has started every game.
Kyle Hines has not missed a EuroLeague game since January 2014; his streak will be broken on 132 consecutive games for CSKA in that span.
Nando De Colo has scored in double figures and posted a performance index rating in double figures in 17 of his last 18 EuroLeague games.
Nando De Colo is ranked second among qualified EuroLeague players this season in average performance index rating with 20.1 per game. He is third in the EuroLeague in scoring with 16.4 points.
De Colo has made 42 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague action. He leads the league in free-throw accuracy this season by making 96.5% of his attempts. Nando is the EuroLeague career leader in free throw accuracy at 93.81%.
De Colo ranks second in three-point shooting at 50.0% accuracy.
De Colo is tied for fourth in the EuroLeague this season with 1.4 steals per game.
Sergio Rodriguez has made multiple three-pointers in 14 of his last 15 EuroLeague games. He is second in the EuroLeague this season with 3.1 three-pointers made per game.
Sergio Rodriguez is tied seventh with Nikos Zisis of Brose Bamberg on the all-time EuroLeague assists charts with 862.
Rodriguez has scored in double figures in five straight appearances.
Cory Higgins has scored in double figures in each of his last five EuroLeague games.
Higgins has nabbed at least 1 steal in six straight EuroLeague appearances.
Higgins has recorded a performance index rating in double figures in six consecutive EuroLeague games.
Will Clyburn is tied for third in the EuroLeague in rebounding with 6.3 rebounds per game.
Othello Hunter is tied for fifth in the league in offensive rebounds with 2.7 per game.
Kyle Hines is fourth on the all-time EuroLeague charts with 426 offensive rebounds for his career. He needs 13 more to catch Ioannis Bourousis (439) for third place.
Hines needs 16 more rebounds to become the 13th player in competition history with 1,000 boards.
Khryapa is ranked eighth on the all-time charts with 241 career steals. Juan Carlos Navarro of FC Barcelona Lassa is seventh with 246 and counting.
Khryapa is seventh on the all-time charts with 161 blocks for his career. He needs 1 more to catch Mirza Begic who has 162 in sixth place.
Past matchups
Wins/losses: 2-1
2010-11 Euroleague Regular Season
Valencia – CSKA: 82-57 (-25)
CSKA – Valencia: 73-63 (+10)
2017-18 Euroleague Regular Season
CSKA – Valencia: 94-67 (+27)
Short dossier
Valencia Basket, Spain
Founded: 1986
Colors: orange, white, black
Home court: Pabellon Fuente De San Luis (9,000)
President: Vicente J. Solà Sanz
Head coach: Txus Vidorreta
Website: www.valenciabasket.com
Trophy case: EuroCup winner (2003, 2010, 2014), Spanish League champion (2016-17), Spanish Cup winner (1998), Spanish SuperCup winner (2017)
