We have a debt

Our team is ready to face Zalgiris, the most troublesome rival of 2018.

Pre-game breakdown

Our club obtained all necessary documents to activate Joel Bolomboy in both EuroLeague and VTB United League. He is available to make his official debut on Wednesday.

Paulius Jankunas to miss the game due to back injury. He is expected to miss two weeks of action. His place on the roster is given to the junior Rokas Jokubaitis.

Interesting fact: Nando De Colo has twice earned MVP of the Round honors from games he played against Zalgiris. The came in Top 16 Round 13 of the 2015-16 season when he tallied 26 points on just 11 shots, making 3 of 4 three-pointers and all 7 of his free throws for a performance index rating of 35. In Round 5 of last season, De Colo recorded a career-best index rating of 37 in a 94-91 home win with 25 points and 10 assists.

The Army Men lost three games in a row to Kaunas side – in the end of the EuroLeague regular season, in the third place game and pre-season game in Turkey.

Pre-game quotes

Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:

We face the Final Four team, the team that is ambitious and athletic. We expect a difficult game. We have to play with maximum concentration, motivation, decisiveness and athleticism.

Joel Bolomboy, CSKA center:

I am excited to finally be a part of the team and hopefully to be able to be on the court. We are working really hard individually and as a team to be able to win every game. As soon as I come out I want to be a spark and help the team win. When I was in college I used to play against Brandon Davies, we played Zalgiris in the preseason, we watched the tapes. So we are going to be ready.

“Relativity” connections

Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius played 4 seasons for Panathinaikos (2007-10, 11-12) when Dimitris Itoudis and Andreas Pistiolis were on the coaching staff.

Leo Westermann played for CSKA last season.

Important numbers

Joel Bolomboy and Andrei Lopatin are the players on the CSKA roster without previous EuroLeague experience.

Sergio Rodriguez has hit at least 1 three-point shot in each of his last 14 EuroLeague games.

Sergio Rodriguez is sixth in EuroLeague history with 973 career assists. Former CSKA great and EuroLeague MVP Theo Papaloukas is fifth with 977 assists.

Cory Higgins has scored in double figures in 14 consecutive EuroLeague games.

Cory Higgins is ranked fourth in the league in scoring this season with 16.3 points per game.

Alec Peters has made multiple three-pointers in each of his last five games. He is shooting 15 for 26 from downtown (57.7%) over that stretch.

Will Clyburn is tied for third in the league in rebounding with 7.0 per game.

Kyle Hines is ranked fourth in EuroLeague history with 187 blocked shots. Ioannis Bourousis and Anadolu Efes Istanbul center Bryant Dunston are tied for second third with 194 blocks each.

Hines is 10 points shy of reaching the 2,000-point milestone for his EuroLeague career.

Hines is ranked 12th in competition history with 1,050 rebounds. Former teammate Victor Khryapa is ranked 11th with 1,070 boards.

Past matchups

Wins/losses (since 1999): 22-7

1999-00 – Euroleague. Qualifying Round. Zalgiris – CSKA: 84-76 (-8)
1999-00 – Euroleague. Qualifying Round. CSKA – Zalgiris: 76-64 (+12)
1999-00 – NEBL. Regular Season. Zalgiris – CSKA: 57-60 (+3)
2000-01 – NEBL. Regular Season. CSKA – Zalgiris: 84-71 (+13)
2003-04 – Euroleague. Regular Season. CSKA – Zalgiris: 90-81 (+9)
2003-04 – Euroleague. Regular Season. Zalgiris – CSKA: 75-78 (+3)
2006-07 – Euroleague. Regular Season. Zalgiris – CSKA: 59-78 (+19)
2006-07 – Euroleague. Regular Season. CSKA – Zalgiris: 88-72 (+16)
2007-08 – Euroleague. Regular Season. CSKA – Zalgiris: 78-70 (+8)
2007-08 – Euroleague. Regular Season. Zalgiris – CSKA: 60-88 (+28)
2009-10 – VTB United League. Regular Season. CSKA – Zalgiris: 90-74 (+16)
2009-10 – VTB United League. Regular Season Zalgiris – CSKA: 67-63 (-4)
2009-10 – Euroleague. Top 16. Zalgiris – CSKA: 68-83 (+15)
2009-10 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Zalgiris: 84-71 (+13)
2011-12 – Euroleague. Regular Season. Zalgiris – CSKA: 74-87 (+13)
2011-12 – Euroleague. Regular Season. CSKA – Zalgiris: 95-82 (+13)
2012-13 – VTB United League. Regular Season. Zalgiris – CSKA: 76-66 (-10)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16. Zalgiris – CSKA: 73-87 (+13)
2012-13 – VTB United League. Regular Season. CSKA – Zalgiris: 68-74 (-6)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Zalgiris: 70-61 (+9)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Zalgiris: 77-62 (+15)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Top 16. Zalgiris – CSKA: 86-88 (+2)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Top 16. Zalgiris – CSKA: 59-94 (+35)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – Zalgiris: 100-86 (+14)
2016-17 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Zalgiris: 95-86 (+9)
2016-17 – Euroleague. Regular season. Zalgiris – CSKA: 79-74 (-5)
2017-18 – Euroleague. Regular season. CSKA – Zalgiris: 94-91 (+3)
2017-18 – Euroleague. Regular season. Zalgiris – CSKA: 85-73 (-12)
2017-18 – Euroleague. 3rd place game. CSKA – Zalgiris: 77-79 (-2)

Short dossier

Zalgiris Kaunas, Lithuania
Founded: 1944
Colors: green, white
Home court: Zalgirio Arena (15.000 зрителей)
President: Paulius Motejunas
Head coach: Sarunas Jasikevicius
Website: www.zalgiris.lt
Trophy case: Euroleague champion (1999), 31-time Lithuanian champion (1946, 1950, 1952-55, 1958, 1991-99, 2001, 2003-05, 2007-08, 2011-18), 4-time Baltic League champion (2005, 2008, 2011, 2012), NEBL champion (1999), 7-time Lithuanian Federation Cup winner (2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018), Intercontinental Cup winner (1986), 4-time USSR champion (1951, 1985, 1986, 1987), USSR Cup winner