Pre-game breakdown
The Army Men are set to play two away games in a row. After the game in Catalonia CSKA will travel to Minsk to face Tsmoki in the VTB League game.
14 out of 15 players went onto the trip. Only Cory Higgins, EuroLeague’s 5th best scorer, stayed in Moscow to recover after foot injury.
Barcelona is considered one of the hottest teams in the tournament after winning 5 out 6 previous games.
Pre-game quotes
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach
Barcelona is a serious team, that has everything – experience, athleticism and ambitions, that has designated points of emphasis in their five-on-five game. We expect it to be difficult.
Sergio Rodriguez, CSKA guard:
Barcelona is a pretty good team, they are doing good things during the year. You can see how they are working from the beginning of the season and getting much better. It is always hard to play in Palau Blaugrana. We are coming off tough loss in St.Pete, we are missing players but we want to get back on the track. It is important for us. Nothing is easy in EuroLeague, we know it is going to be a very difficult game and we are going to be ready from the beginning.
“Relativity” connections
Sergio Rodriguez and Barcelona big man Ante Tomic were teammates at Real Madrid from 2010 to 2012.
Nando De Colo of CSKA and Victor Claver of Barcelona were teammates for three seasons from 2009 until 2012 at Valencia Basket. They won the 2010 EuroCup title together and in the 2010-11 season made their respective EuroLeague debuts together.
Important numbers
Coach Dimitris Itoudis will mark his 150th EuroLeague game as a head coach in Round 20.
Coach Itoudis has used 11 different players in CSKA’s starting lineups this season; no player has started in every EuroLeague game.
Will Clyburn has scored at least 10 points in 15 straight EuroLeague games.
Clyburn has collected at least 1 steal in 12 consecutive EuroLeague games.
Will Clyburn is third in the league in average PIR with 20.0 per game this season.
Clyburn also ranks second in scoring with 15.1 points per game and Cory Higgins is fifth with 14.7.
Clyburn ranks fourth in the league this season in rebounding with 6.9 per game.
Nando De Colo has made at least 1 three-pointer in seven of his last eight EuroLeague appearances.
De Colo has made 9 straight free throws in EuroLeague games. He ranks first in the league this season in free throw accuracy with 94.6%.
Cory Higgins ranks third in the league this season in three-point accuracy at 53.7%.
De Colo is the EuroLeague career leader in free throw accuracy at 93.74%.
Kyle Hines is tied with Alex Tyus for third in EuroLeague history with 196 blocked shots. Anadolu Efes big man Bryant Dunston is second with 208 and counting.
Hines is third in EuroLeague history with 477 offensive rebounds.
Hines is ranked 11th in competition history with 1,081 rebounds. Mike Batiste is 10th with 1,117.
Sergio Rodriguez ranks fifth on the EuroLeague all-time charts with 1,020 assists for his career. Barcelona point guard Thomas Heurtel is fourth in competition history with 1,096 career assists and counting.
Nikita Kurbanov needs 2 more steals to reach 100 for his EuroLeague career.
Daniel Hackett needs 15 assists to reach 500 for his EuroLeague career.
Othello Hunter needs 1 more two-point shot to reach 500 for his EuroLeague career.
Past matchups
Win-loss record: 18-14
Short dossier
Barcelona, Spain
Founded: 1926
Colors: balaustine, violet, gold
Home court: Palau Blaugrana (8,250)
President: Josep Maria Bartomeu
Head coach: Svetislav Pesic
Website: www.fcbarcelona.cat
Trophy case:
- 2-time Euroleague champion (2003, 2010);
- 2-time Saporta Cup winner (1985, 1986);
- 2-time Korac Cup winner (1987, 1999);
- 18-time Spanish champion (1959, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014);
- 24-time Copa Del Rey winner (1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1959, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2018)
- 6-time Spanish Supercup winner (1988, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015)
