Finishing the year and first leg

Our team landed in Belgrade today to play the last game of the EuroLeague regular season first leg against Crvena Zvezda.

After the return of Nando De Colo in the previous VTB United League game the Army Men are in almost full strength: only Pavel Korobkov remain sidelined, he just started to walk without crutches after the knee surgery. The Red-Blues are not having days off yet, they had two practices after the game vs Enisey and hope to get short vacations upon the return from Belgrade.

“Crvena Zvezda is a team with a lot of similarities from last year playoffs,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “They have the same group of guys for many years, same coach and same basketball philosophy. They play aggressive on both ends of the floor and get extra energy from the fans, especially when they play in the big gym. They already won some big games there against Maccabi and Real. They stay in playoff competition and very ambitious to finish in Top 8. So in this game we need extra energy and motivation.”

“Relativity” connections

Milos Teodosic is a product of FMP Zeleznik school which is now a Zvezda farm-team.

Joel Freeland and Zvezda center Ognjen Kuzmic were teammates at Unicaja Malaga for part of 2011-12 campaign.

Important numbers

Coach Itoudis has used 13 different players in his starting lineups so far this season; no player has started every game.

Nando De Colo has recorded a performance index rating in double figures in 39 consecutive EuroLeague games.

De Colo has made 35 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague action. And he has made multiple free throws in 22 consecutive EuroLeague games.

Nando is ranked first in EuroLeague history in free throw accuracy. He has made 92.63% of free throws, which puts him in front of Zalgiris Kaunas head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius (92.26%).

De Colo needs 4 steals to reach the century-mark for his EuroLeague career.

Milos Teodosic has hit at least 1 three-pointer in 10 straight and 30 of his last 31 EuroLeague games.

Teodosic has scored in double figures in each of his last 10 EuroLeague contests.

Teodosic has a streak of at least 5 assists in 15 consecutive EuroLeague games.

Milos ranks third all-time in assists with 1,027. Vassilis Spanoulis is in second place with 1,041 and counting.

Serbian point guard leads the EuroLeague this season with 8.2 assists per game and 35 three-point shots made.

Teodosic is second in scoring in the EuroLeague this season with 18.7 points per night, and is ranked third with an average index rating of 19.8.

Milos is fourth on the all-time scoring charts with 2,564 points.

Vitaly Fridzon has made 18 consecutive free throws in EuroLeague games.

Fridzon needs 1 rebound to reach 300 for his EuroLeague career.

Vitaly is 4 steals away from reaching the century mark for his EuroLeague career.

Victor Khryapa has 152 in blocked shots in his EuroLeague career. He is fifth on the all-time list. Kyle Hines is in sixth place with 145 blocks.

Cory Higgins is the EuroLeague career leader among active, qualified players in three-point accuracy at 50%. Higgins has made 48 triples on 96 attempts.

Victor Khryapa is 10th all-time with 218 career steals. With 2 more he can catch Jamon Gordon (220) for ninth place.

James Augustine is the EuroLeague career leader among active, qualified players in two-point shooting accuracy at 65.99%.

Kyle Hines needs 15 points to reach 1,500 for his EuroLeague career.

Hines trails injured Olympiacos forward Georgios Printezis by 7 rebounds for 20th place on the all-time EuroLeague rebounding charts. Hines enters this game with 792 boards.

Past matchups

Wins-losses: 9-0
1969-70 – European Champions Cup. Group stage. Crvena Zvezda – CSKA: 82-85 (+3)
1969-70 – European Champions Cup. Group stage. CSKA – Crvena Zvezda: 105-92 (+7)
1972-73 – European Champions Cup. Semifinals. Crvena Zvezda – CSKA: 90-98 (+8)
1972-73 – European Champions Cup. Semifinals. CSKA – Crvena Zvezda: 100-83 (+17)
1999-00 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round. CSKA – Crvena Zvezda: 86-62 (+24)
1999-00 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round. Crvena Zvezda – CSKA: 65-80 (+15)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals. CSKA – Crvena Zvezda: 84-74 (+10)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals. CSKA – Crvena Zvezda: 77-76 (+1)
2015-16 – Euroleague. Quarterfinals. Crvena Zvezda – CSKA: 71-78 (+7)

Short dossier

Crvena Zvezda Belgrade, Serbia
Founded: 1945
Colors: white, red
Homecourt: Kombank Arena (25.000), Pionir Hall (8.150)
President: Nebojsa Covic
Head coach: Dejan Radonjic
Website: www.kkcrvenazvezda.rs
Trophy case:
- Cup Winners Cup (1974);
- ABA Champion (2015, 16);
- 15-time Yugoslavian champion (1946, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 69, 72, 93, 94, 98);
- 3-time Yugoslavian Cup winner (1971, 73, 75);
- Serbian champion (2015);
- 5-time Serbian Cup winner (2004, 06, 13, 14, 15, 16)