At home against powerhouse opponent

Our team hosts Barcelona in the opening game at Megasport.

Pre-game breakdown

The Army Men got a day off after the Eastern trip and went back to practices at Megasport.

Mikhail Kulagin continues post-injury rehab, he works out individually.

Alexander Khomenko is practicing with the main team but he did not participate in the last practice before the game. Coaches let him play for the CSKA-2 in the game against JBA Team.

Pre-game quotes

Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach

We start another tough and long EuroLeague season. Barcelona is a new team, that changed many players, that has quality and depth on every position, which is very ambitious. It is a premiere and it is important to play with maximum focus and determination. I know that the gym will be full, so we need to use the cheer and support from our fans. I ask them all to be as loud as possible.

Kyle Hines, CSKA center:

It’s the first game of the new EuroLeague season. It is very important for us to set the tone and start the season in a right way. Barcelona is a very good team, they have many experience, very good players on both side of the ball. They play very aggressive, so the key for us not only to match their energy and aggressive play but also just to play well in first opportunity to play here in front of our home crowd, in the opening game. Hopefully it will be a good test to see how our preseason went on.

“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

Alec Peters, Andrei Lopatin and Ivan Ukhov are due to make their respective EuroLeague debuts.

Nando De Colo has made at least 1 three-pointer in each of his last nine EuroLeague games; he’s made multiple threes in seven of those games.

De Colo has made 15 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague action.

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

Cory Higgins has made a three-pointer in each of his last five EuroLeague appearances.

De Colo is the EuroLeague career leader in free throw accuracy at 93.66%.

Kyle Hines is ranked fourth in EuroLeague history with 182 blocked shots. Anadolu Efes Istanbul center Bryant Dunston is third with 188 blocks.

Hines is 65 points shy of reaching the 2,000-point milestone for his EuroLeague career.

Sergio Rodriguez is sixth in EuroLeague history with 934 career assists. Former CSKA great and EuroLeague MVP Theo Papaloukas is fifth with 977 assists.

Rodriguez is set to play in the 200th game of his EuroLeague career. He’ll become the 31st player to do so.

His next blocked shot will be the 100th of Andrey Vorontsevich’s EuroLeague career.

With his next three-pointer, Cory Higgins will reach the century mark for his EuroLeague career.

Past matchups

Win-loss record: 17-14

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)