Pre-game breakdown
Despite the long flight, our team did not change its normal schedule. The Army Men just moved the practice to earlier time and went to Sheremetyevo at 1 pm.
Interesting fact: Alexander Gomelskiy worked in the Canary Islands in the past. He coached Tenerife for the 1988-89 season.
Pre-game quotes
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
Gran Canaria is a very enthusiastic team that has good athletes, runs the break and uses its bigs well. They try to force turnovers and play all 40 minutes – this is how they grabbed the win against Barcelona. We have to match this and also get adjusted quickly to the longest trip of the season.
Sergio Rodriguez, CSKA guard:
For me to go and play at Canary Islands is very special. It was my childhood dream. Gran Canaria is the first team I watched playing in ACB. I went there when I was 13 and I was selected to play for the regional team in the Spanish championship. It is amazing. I think they are doing great job over last 20 years. They have built great club, created great atmosphere in the gym which is one of the best in Europe. I am really looking forward to it. They won last game at home against Barcelona in EuroLeague. We play on Friday night so there is nothing else you can ask. It should be a great game and I am happy to play so close to my home.
“Relativity” connections
Daniel Hackett and Othello Hunter teamed up with DJ Strawberry in Olympiacos during 2015-16 season.
Past matchups
This is the first-ever meeting between these two teams.
Important numbers
Andrei Lopatin is the only player on the CSKA roster without previous EuroLeague experience.
Nando De Colo has made 27 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague action. He is the EuroLeague career leader in free throw accuracy at 93.74%.
De Colo has scored at least 10 points in 11 of his last 12 EuroLeague games.
De Colo needs 1 more three-pointer to reach the 200 milestone for his EuroLeague career.
De Colo is 8 assists shy of reaching 500 for his EuroLeague career; he will become the 26th player to reach that milestone.
Sergio Rodriguez has hit at least 1 three-point shot in each of his last 10 EuroLeague games.
Cory Higgins has made a three-pointer in seven of his last eight EuroLeague appearances.
Kyle Hines is ranked fourth in EuroLeague history with 184 blocked shots. Anadolu Efes Istanbul center Bryant Dunston is third with 189 blocks.
Hines is 35 points shy of reaching the 2,000-point milestone for his EuroLeague career.
Hines is tied with Maccabi manager Nikola Vujcic for 12th place in competition history with 1,037 rebounds. Former teammate Victor Khryapa is ranked 11th with 1,070 boards.
Sergio Rodriguez is sixth in EuroLeague history with 942 career assists. Former CSKA great and EuroLeague MVP Theo Papaloukas is fifth with 977 assists.
Short dossier
Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas, Spain
Founded: 1963
Colors: yellow, blue
Home court: Gran Canaria Arena (11,500)
President: Enrique Moreno
Head coach: Salva Maldonado
Website: cbgrancanaria.net
Trophy case: Spanish Supercup winner (2017)
