Pre-game breakdown
CSKA and Real met in the Final Fours, including the last season. But they actually fought for the third place. It was very long time ago when the team met the last time fighting for the title. The Army Men prevailed 103-99 in overtime of the final game in Barcelona in 1969. “I wasn’t even born at the time”, Dimitris Itoudis noted during the press conference at Kalemegdan in the afternoon.
The press conference featured several funny moments. Zeljko Obradovic was an author of several episodes. When the journalists mentioned that all other coaches worked as his assistants or players, Fener’s coach said that he is “very happy to have this opportunity, first of all, to spend some time together with all of them. With Dimitris, Pablo and Sarunas. We already started last night. The younger ones will use it [to their advantage]. I am sure Saras will try also tonight to go somewhere.”
Leo Westermann underwent back surgery this week in Moscow, and has not travelled to Belgrade.
Facundo Campazzo has undergone knee surgery and missed the final two regular season games and the entire four-game playoff series against Panathinaikos.
Ognjen Kuzmic is sidelined indefinitely with a ruptured ACL in his left knee.
Pre-game quotes
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
I am proud for our organization and happy for our players that we made it to the Final Four again. We worked hard all year long, we played great in the regular season and in playoffs to be here. Now the real thing starts. We play against another great organization, great team, very well-coached. We will approach this game like the final one.
Sergio Rodriguez, CSKA guard:
It is a very special game [against Real Madrid], but when you are at this stage in Europe, you want to be here, ready for this moment at this time of the season. We have a good challenge and have to be really focused to give our best and to accomplish the goal that we set at the beginning of the season.
Referees
Sasa Pukl (Crew Chief, Slovenia), Milivoje Jovcic (Serbia), Carmelo Paternico (Italy).
“Relativity” connections
Sergio Rodriguez played for Madrid from 2010 to 2016 and in those six seasons he was named 2014 EuroLeague MVP and helped the team make four Final Four appearances and win the 2015 title. He was a teammate of current Madrid players Sergio Llull and Felipe Reyes for his entire time there, played five seasons under Coach Pablo Laso and was a teammate for five seasons with Rudy Fernandez and Jaycee Carroll. Rodriguez also played alongside Facundo Campazzo, Jonas Maciulis, Gustavo Ayon, Luka Doncic, Trey Thompkins and Jeffrey Taylor during his years in Madrid.
Othello Hunter played for Real Madrid last season and helped the team compile the best regular season record and reach the Final Four.
Semen Antonov and Trey Thompkins were teammates at Nizhny Novgorod when the club made its EuroLeague debut in 2014-15.
Nikita Kurbanov and Anthony Randolph were teammates at Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar during the 2014-15 season.
Important numbers
Coach Dimitris Itoudis has used 12 different players in the CSKA starting lineup so far this season. No player has started every game.
Nando De Colo has scored in double figures in seven straight and 15 of his last 16 EuroLeague games. He also has had a double-digit PIR in eight of his last nine EuroLeague appearances.
De Colo has made at least 1 three-pointer in each of his last seven EuroLeague games; he’s made multiple threes in six of those games and is shooting 19 for 30 from downtown (63.3%) from downtown over that stretch.
Nando De Colo is ranked third among qualified EuroLeague players this season in average performance index rating with 19.8 per game.
De Colo is second in the EuroLeague in scoring with 16.9 points per game.
De Colo is third in steals this season with 1.3 per contest.
De Colo is fourth this season in three-point shooting at 51.5%, and fourth in free throw accuracy with 94.6%. He is the EuroLeague career leader in free throw accuracy at 93.57%.
Nando De Colo has 508 points, and for the third season in a row has eclipsed 500 points. No player this century has reached 500 points in a single season more than once.
Rodriguez has hit at least 1 three-point shot in nine of his last 10 EuroLeague games.
Rodriguez has made 18 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague action.
Rodriguez is ranked ninth in assists this season with 5.0 per game, and 10th in scoring with 14.2 points per contest.
Sergio Rodriguez is in sixth place on the all-time EuroLeague assists charts with 925. Next on the list is Theo Papaloukas with 977.
Rodriguez is second in the EuroLeague this season with 2.7 three-pointers made per game, and was second in the playoffs in that category with 3.3 per game.
Sergio Rodriguez has made 90 three-pointers this season, which is the second highest single-season total. Khimki’s Alexey Shved set a new record this season with 107 triples.
In the playoffs, Rodriguez was second in average performance index rating (22.8), second in points scored (19.3) and third in assists (6.5).
Cory Higgins has collected at least 1 steal in nine straight EuroLeague appearances.
Higgins was tied for second in the playoffs in steals with 1.5 per game and tied for fourth in points with 18.8 per game.
Cory Higgins is ranked ninth in the EuroLeague this season with 14.2 points per game.
Leo Westermann has made 18 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague games dating back to last season.
Will Clyburn is fourth in the EuroLeague this season with 5.9 rebounds per game.
Clyburn was tied for second in the playoffs in steals with 1.5 per game and tied for fourth in the playoffs in offensive rebounds with 2.5 per contest.
Clyburn and Othello Hunter were the co-leaders in the playoffs with 7.8 rebounds per game.
Hunter was also the playoffs co-leader in offensive rebounding with 4.5 per contest and is third among all qualified EuroLeague players for the season with 2.7 per game.
Othello Hunter, along with Fenerbahce’s Jan Vesely, set a new EuroLeague Playoffs record with 18 offensive rebounds.
Semen Antonov was tied for second in the playoffs in three-point shooting at 75%, making 6 of 8 shots in the series.
Kyle Hines ranks 10th in the EuroLeague this season with 1.1 steals, 10th with 0.8 blocks per game, and 10th in true shooting percentage at 63.9%.
Kyle Hines is third on the all-time EuroLeague charts with 440 offensive rebounds for his career.
Hines is fourth all-time with 180 career blocks. Anadolu Efes center Bryant Dunston is third with 188 blocks.
Kyle Hines is in fifth place on all-time Final Four rebounding list with 55. He needs 3 rebounds to tie Mike Batiste for fourth place.
Victor Khryapa is the Final Four’s all-time leading rebounder with 105 boards.
Khryapa ranks fifth in assists (45) and second in steals (22) on the all-time Final Four charts.
Khryapa needs just 2 steals to catch his former teammate and all-time leader J.R. Holden (24) for the most steals in Final Four history.
Victor Khryapa ranks 10th on the all-time EuroLeague charts with 1,068 career rebounds. Former Panathinaikos star Mike Batiste is in ninth place with 1,117.
Khryapa is ranked eighth on the all-time charts with 241 career steals. Khryapa’s former teammate J.R. Holden is seventh with 247.
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: 28-1-15
1962-63 – Euroleague. Final. Real – CSKA: 86-69 (-17)
1962-63 – Euroleague. Final. CSKA – Real: 91-74 (+17)
1962-63 – Euroleague. Final. CSKA – Real: 99-80 (+19)
1964-65 – Euroleague. Final. CSKA – Real: 88-81 (+7)
1964-65 – Euroleague. Final. Real – CSKA: 76-62 (-14)
1968-69 – Euroleague. Group stage. Real – CSKA: 67-69 (+2)
1968-69 – Euroleague. Group stage. CSKA – Real: 78-89 (-11)
1968-69 – Euroleague. Final. CSKA – Real: 103-99 2ÎÒ (+4)
1970-71 – Euroleague. Group stage. CSKA – Real: 73-66 (+7)
1970-71 – Euroleague. Group stage. Real – CSKA: 58-60 (+2)
1976-77 – Euroleague. 2nd group stage. Real – CSKA: 92-111 (+19)
1976-77 – Euroleague. 2nd group stage. CSKA – Real: 113-111 (+2)
1980-81 – Euroleague. 2nd group stage. Real – CSKA: 104-80 (-24)
1980-81 – Euroleague. 2nd group stage. CSKA – Real: 85-80 (+5)
1982-83 – Euroleague. Group stage. CSKA – Real: 90-93 (-3)
1982-83 – Euroleague. Group stage. Real – CSKA: 91-91 (0)
1984-85 – Euroleague. Group stage. CSKA – Real: 85-97 (-12)
1984-85 – Euroleague. Group stage. Real – CSKA: 84-72 (-12)
1994-95 – Euroleague. Group stage. Real – CSKA: 97-81 (-16)
1994-95 – Euroleague. Group stage. CSKA – Real: 84-82 (+2)
1995-96 – Euroleague. 3rd place game. CSKA – Real: 74-73 (+1)
1997-98 – Euroleague. 1st group stage. CSKA – Real: 90-77 (+13)
1997-98 – Euroleague. 1st group stage. Real – CSKA: 101-93 (-8)
2001-02 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 77-92 (-15)
2001-02 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 82-86 (+4)
2002-03 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 90-75 (+15)
2002-03 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 80-93 (+13)
2004-05 – Euroleague. Top 16: Real – CSKA: 94-95 ÎÒ (+1)
2004-05 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Real: 89-73 (+16)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 64-52 (+12)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 71-80 ÎÒ (+9)
2008-09 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 54-58 (+4)
2008-09 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 78-82 (-4)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16. Real – CSKA: 86-78 ÎÒ (-8)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Real: 81-72 ÎÒ (+9)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Real: 85-71 (+14)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Top 16. Real – CSKA: 93-79 (-14)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Real: 95-81 (+14)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Top 16. Real – CSKA: 87-96 (+9)
2016-17 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 91-90 (+1)
2016-17 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 95-85 (-10)
2016-17 – Euroleague. 3rd place game. Real – CSKA: 70-94 (+24)
2017-18 – Euroleague. Regular season. Real – CSKA: 82-69 (-13)
2017-18 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Real: 93-87 (+6)
Short dossier
Real Madrid, Spain
Founded: 1931
Colors: white, blue
Home court: WiZink Center (15,000)
President: Florentino Perez
Head coach: Pablo Laso
Website: www.realmadrid.es
Trophy case:
9-time Euroleague champion (1963-64, 1964-65, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1973-74, 1977-78, 1979-80, 1994-95, 2014-15);
ULEB Cup winner (2007);
Korac Cup winner (1988);
4-time Saporta Cup winner (1983-84, 1988-89, 1991-92, 1996-97);
33-time Spanish champion (1956-57, 1957-58, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1981-82, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1999-00, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16);
27-time Copa del Rey winner (1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017);
4-time Spanish SuperCup winner (1985, 2012, 2013, 2014);
4-time Intercontinental Cup winner (1976, 1977, 1978, 2015)
