USH CSKA is far in terms of attendance from Belgrade Arena, where the tickets for the third Partizan – CSKA game were sold out in an hour and a half. But our team also believes that the hall in Moscow will be filled by the fans – their support will be one of the most important factors of the series which starts on Tuesday.
Both teams are eager to decide who will play in Berlin Final Four. And both teams are ready for the series. CSKA counts on team’s captain Matjaz Smodis, who missed three quarters of the game against Universitet-Ugra with pains in his neck. Slovenian forward practiced with no restriction for all the past days. Smodis is sure that the battle against Partizan will be difficult and it will took four or five games to decide the winner.
"It’s playoffs time and the competition will be very serious in all the series, - Ettore Messina said. All eight teams deserve the right to play on this stage of the season, they fought hard all year long. For sure, we remember very well both games we played against Partizan this season. So I think we will play a very difficult, balanced series, where defense will play the major role. To win we should one more time concentrate on small details and on the rebounding, because we will compete against the best rebounding team in the Euroleague. Our preparation period went well and we are ready for the challenge."
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