Pre-game breakdown
The Army Men are missing two point guards – Janis Strelnieks and Dani Hackett stayed in Moscow to rehab after injuries together with Will Clyburn. Andrey Lopatin and Alexander Khomenko will play in the away game too – for CSKA-2 in Russian Superleague 1.
The team worked under normal schedule: the Red-Blues practiced at USH CSKA in the afternoon, went to Sheremetyevo and boarded Aeroflot charter flight to Munich.
After a three-game losing streak capped by a 30-point road loss against Zvezda, Bayern this week let go head coach Dejan Radonjic and replaced him with assistant Oliver Kostic.
Pre-game quotes
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
It is hard to miss players, and it happened all of the sudden on the same position. We are obliged to go there and fight, hustle more. We face the adversities and we are going to overcome them. Bayern is a very ambitious club, they’ve changed the coach recently so I expect them to be extra motivated, this is what happens usually after coaching change. We have to match this motivation.
Mikhail Kulagin, CSKA guard:
I am very glad to be back after long absence and tough recovery. I can’t say that it’s hard to come back because this is my fifth season with CSKA, so I know the system. It will be more difficult to play against Bayern away. They have a good team that defends and shoots threes well. We studied their game thoroughly, we are ready and we will give our fight.
“Relativity” connections
Daniel Hackett was a teammate of Bayern’s Maodo Lo and Leon Radosevic at Brose Bamberg during the 2017-18 season.
Mike James and Greg Monroe defended Phoenix Suns colors in the beginning of the same season.
Johannes Voigtmann and Danilo Barthel grew up with Frankfurt Skyliners, playing together from 2012 to 2016.
Important numbers
Coach Itoudis has used 10 different players in the starting lineup this season. Only Nikita Kurbanov has started every game.
Mike James has made at least 1 three-point shot in 10 straight games. He ranks sixth this season in three-point accuracy at 47.6% and fourth with 2.9 three-point shots made per game.
James has scored in double figures in each of his last 15 games. He is second this season with 20.6 points per game.
James had recorded a performance index rating in double figures in 15 straight games. He ranks third this season in average PIR with 21.5 per game.
Kyle Hines ranks third all-time with 223 blocked shots.
Hines ranks second all-time with 545 offensive rebounds. Felipe Reyes is the all-time leader with 695.
Hines ranks seventh all-time with 1,221 rebounds. Georgios Printezis of Olympiacos is sixth with 1,285 and counting.
Kyle Hines needs 9 more steals to reach 200 for his career.
Janis Strelnieks ranks fifth all-time in free-throw accuracy at 91.2%.
Daniel Hackett has had at least 1 steal in seven of his last eight games.
Hackett needs 15 rebounds to reach 500 for his career.
Johannes Voigtmann is 7 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
Past matchups
Wins/losses: 5-0
2013-14. Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Bayern: 61-86 (+25)
2013-14. Euroleague. Top 16. Bayern – CSKA: 77-70 (+7)
2018-19. Euroleague. Regular Season. Bayern – CSKA: 79-93 (+16)
2018-19. Euroleague. Regular Season. CSKA – Bayern: 77-70 (+7)
2019-20. Euroleague. Regular Season. CSKA – Bayern: 79-68 (+11)
Short dossier
Bayern Munich, Germany
Founded: 1946
Colors: red, white
Home court: Audi Dome (6,700)
President: Uli Hoeness
Head coach: Oliver Kostic
Website: www.fcb-basketball.de
Trophy case: 5-time German champion (1954, 1955, 2014, 2018, 2019), 2-time German Cup winner (1968, 2018)
