Pre-game breakdown
The win in the semifinal means that the first half of Saturday becomes very loaded, because only the finalists participate in the EuroLeague events. Cory Higgins and Will Clyburn were busy with social network activities, Kyle Hines and Nikita Kurbanov visited One Team event, Sergio Rodriguez and Andrey Vorontsevich went to the fan zone in the center of Vitoria.
Dimitris Itoudis and Nando De Colo joined their opponents Ergin Ataman and Shane Larkin at the press conference. As usually, Efes’ coach moved to the center of attention – he made comparisons with the NBA, explained why the arena will support his team. “What to say? Coach Ataman said they’re gonna win, so it’s not going to be interesting,” CSKA coach joked back.
Mikhail Kulagin remains sidelined after undergoing surgery on his left foot in January.
Pre-game quotes
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
Obviously, we are very proud to be in the final. Especially the way we came back was outstanding last night. We have huge respect for all the teams here and especially for our opponent. Efes has played outstanding basketball this season and we’re ready to go… We’ve kept great offensive teams below their averages or below their potential in creativity and execution. We did it yesterday and a lot of times we’ve done it against great and talented teams. So we have the qualities to do it, but the mindset should and will be different.
Nando De Colo, CSKA guard:
We have one more to go. It will not be the easiest one. Efes had a great season; they deserve to be here and we need to respect that. The most important thing is to stay focused… We try to do our best on the court and now is the time to step up and take responsibility and that’s it. Our team knows exactly how we need to play to win and games and this is what we did in the playoffs and yesterday. Even if it was a tough game we never gave up and played until the end.
Important numbers
Head coach Dimitris Itoudis has used 12 different players in CSKA’s starting lineups this season; no player has started in every EuroLeague game.
Cory Higgins has scored in double figures in 13 straight EuroLeague appearances.
Higgins has posted a performance index rating in double figures in 12 of his last 13 appearances.
Higgins has made at least 1 three-pointer in 12 of his last 13 EuroLeague games.
Nando De Colo ranks second in the league in scoring this season with 14.73 points per game. Cory Higgins ranks third with 14.71 points per game.
De Colo is eighth this season in average performance index rating with 16.3 per game.
De Colo ranks third in free-throw accuracy this season with 94.44%.
Nando De Colo has scored a total of 164 points in the Final Four; he is tied for fifth place all-time with Dejan Bodiroga and Theo Papaloukas. De Colo needs 6 more to reach Juan Carlos Navarro (170) for fourth place. Trajan Langdon (172) is third.
In 2016, De Colo became the first player to score 30 points in a semifinal game this century. Only former CSKA star Trajan Langdon scored more in any EuroLeague Final Four game this century (32 vs Partizan, third place game in 2010). Shane Larkin tied De Colo’s mark on Friday.
De Colo moved into a tie with Nikos Galis for the lead on the all-time Final Four list with 56 free throws made. He has made 56 of 58 for his career in Final Four games.
De Colo is the EuroLeague career leader in free-throw accuracy at 93.79%.
Will Clyburn is sixth in the EuroLeague in average performance index rating with 17.5 per game this season and is fourth in rebounding with 6.9 per game.
Nikita Kurbanov is second in the league in three-point accuracy this season at 51.1%. Higgins is fifth at 47.5%.
Nikita Kurbanov has made 199 career EuroLeague appearances. The championship game will be his 200th EuroLeague appearance.
Kyle Hines is in third place on the all-time Final Four rebounding list with 71. He needs 2 rebounds to catch Matjaz Smodis for second place.
Hines is in fourth place on the all-time Final Four list with 47 two-point shots made. He needs 6 more to catch Theo Papaloukas (53) for third place.
Hines ranks fourth all-time with 207 blocked shots. Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv big man Alex Tyus is third with 209.
Hines is in second place in EuroLeague history with 511 offensive rebounds. Felipe Reyes is the all-time leader with 695.
Hines has moved into eighth place in competition history with 1,147 total rebounds. Kerem Gonlum is seventh with 1,189.
Sergio Rodriguez has moved into third place on the all-time Final Four charts with 48 assists. Sergio Llull is second with 52 and counting.
Rodriguez has 19 three-pointers made in Final Four history, tied for 10th place all-time.
Rodriguez ranks fifth all-time with 1,093 assists; Former CSKA great Milos Teodosic is fourth with 1,126.
Rodriguez is in ninth place all-time with 375 three-point shots made. CSKA great J.R. Holden is eighth with 377.
Rodriguez needs 5 steals to reach 200 for his EuroLeague career.
Andrey Vorontsevich has made 13 straight free throws in EuroLeague games dating back to March 2017.
Past matchups
Wins/losses: 18-9
1992-93 – European Cup. Group stage: Efes Pilsen – CSKA: 85-82 (-3)
1992-93 – European Cup. Group stage: CSKA – Efes Pilsen: 87-96 (-9)
1997-98 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round: CSKA – Efes Pilsen: 77-73 (+4)
1997-98 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round: Efes Pilsen – CSKA: 71-63 (-8)
1998-99 – Euroleague. 1/8 finals: Efes Pilsen – CSKA: 73-58 (-15)
1998-99 – Euroleague. 1/8 finals: CSKA – Efes Pilsen: 98-105 2ÎÒ (-7)
2000-01 – Suproleague. Third place game: Efes Pilsen – CSKA: 91-85 (-6)
2002-03 – Euroleague. Top 16: Efes Pilsen – CSKA: 71-69 (-2)
2002-03 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Efes Pilsen: 66-54 (+12)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: CSKA – Efes Pilsen: 66-57 (+9)
2005-06 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals: Efes Pilsen – CSKA: 71-75 (+4)
2008-09 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Efes Pilsen: 90-68 (+22)
2008-09 – Euroleague. Regular season: Efes Pilsen – CSKA: 55-74 (+19)
2010-11 – Euroleague. Regular season: Efes Pilsen – CSKA: 86-72 (-14)
2010-11 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Efes Pilsen: 78-69 (+9)
2011-12 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Anadolu Efes: 96-68 (+28)
2011-12 – Euroleague. Regular season: Anadolu Efes – CSKA: 65-82 (+17)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Anadolu Efes: 90-71 (+19)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16: Anadolu Efes – CSKA: 63-60 (-3)
2014-15 – Euroleague. Top 16: Anadolu Efes – CSKA: 69-78 (+9)
2014-15 – Euroleague. Top 16: CSKA – Anadolu Efes: 88-81 (+6)
2016-17 – Euroleague. Regular season: Anadolu Efes – CSKA: 87-93 (+6)
2016-17 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Anadolu Efes: 80-77 (+3)
2017-18 – Euroleague. Regular season: Anadolu Efes – CSKA: 80-98 (+18)
2017-18 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Anadolu Efes: 110-79 (+31)
2018-19 – Euroleague. Regular season: CSKA – Anadolu Efes: 102-84 (+18)
2018-19 – Euroleague. Regular season: Anadolu Efes – CSKA: 78-80 (+2)
Short dossier
Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Turkey
Founded: 1976
Colors: white, blue
Home Court: Sinan Erdem Dome (16,000)
President: Tuncay Ozilhan
Head Coach: Ergin Ataman
Website: www.efesbasket.org
Trophy case:
- Korac Cup winner (1996);
- 13-time Turkish champion (1978/79, 82/83, 83/84, 91/92, 92/93, 93/94, 95/96, 96/97, 2001/02, 02/03, 03/04, 04/05, 08/09);
- 11-time Turkish Cup winner (1994, 96, 97, 98, 2001, 02, 06, 07, 09, 15, 18);
- 9-time Turkish President Cup winner (1986, 92, 93, 96, 98, 2000, 06, 09, 10)
