Everybody fights
11.03.2020
ALBA, one of the best three-point shooting teams arrives in Moscow…
ALBA, one of the best three-point shooting teams arrives in Moscow.
CSKA and ALBA last played each other in Moscow in 2014. CSKA has three participants left from that time – Coach Dimitris Itoudis and players Andrey Vorontsevich and Kyle Hines. Niels Giffey is the only player still on ALBA’s roster from that game.
CSKA had a 66-82 victory when they last met with ALBA in Round 4 of this season. That game would prove to be a fateful night for CSKA, which lost star forward Will Clyburn to a torn ACL in the second quarter.
Clyburn, Vorontsevich and Mikhail Kulagin stay out.
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
Johannes Voigtmann, CSKA forward:
ALBA big man Johannes Thiemann and CSKA sharpshooter Janis Strelnieks were teammates at Brose Bamberg during the 2014-15 season.
Coach Itoudis has used 12 different players in his starting lineups this season. Only Nikita Kurbanov has started every game.
Mike James has made at least 1 three-point shot in 21 straight games. James ranks fifth this season with 2.8 three-point shots made per game.
James has scored in double figures in each of his last 26 games. James ranks third in scoring this season with 21.1 points per game.
Mike James ranks third this season in average PIR with 20.9 per game.
James has made 12 consecutive free throws.
Darrun Hilliard has made at least 1 three-point shot in five straight and 10 of his last 11 games.
Hilliard has scored in double figures in each of his last five games.
Kyle Hines has posted a double-figure performance index rating in four straight and 11 of his last 12 games.
Kyle Hines ranks third all-time with 232 blocked shots. Injured Anadolu Efes center Bryant Dunston is second with 242 career rejections.
Hines moved into sixth place all-time with 1,289 rebounds. Georgios Printezis of Olympiacos Piraeus is fifth with 1,325.
Hines ranks second all-time with 580 offensive rebounds. Felipe Reyes of Real Madrid is the all-time leader with 702. Kyle Hines ranks fifth in offensive rebounds this season with 2.4 per game.
Hines ranks fifth all-time with 961 two-pointers made. Paulius Jankunas of Zalgiris Kaunas is fourth with 965 and counting.
Kyle Hines needs 2 more steals to reach 200 for his career.
Howard Sant-Roos has made 11 consecutive free throws.
Janis Strelnieks ranks sixth all-time in free-throw accuracy at 90.9%.
Wins/losses: 8-5
1996-97 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: CSKA – ALBA: 67-69 (-2)
1996-97 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: ALBA – CSKA: 78-76 (-2)
1998-99 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round: ALBA – CSKA: 63-70 (+7)
1998-99 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round: CSKA – ALBA: 86-75 (+11)
1999-00 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: CSKA – ALBA: 71-76 (-5)
1999-00 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: ALBA – CSKA: 81-76 (-5)
2000-01 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: ALBA – CSKA: 80-77 (-3)
2000-01 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: CSKA – ALBA: 89-86 (+3)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16. ALBA – CSKA: 57-75 (+18)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – ALBA: 80-65 (+15)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Regular Season. ALBA – CSKA: 68-84 (+16)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Regular Season. CSKA – ALBA: 95-66 (+29)
2019-20 – Euroleague. Regular Season. ALBA – CSKA: 66-82 (+16)
ALBA Berlin, Germany
Founded: 1989
Colors: dark-blue, yellow
Homecourt: Mercedes-Benz Arena (16,000)
Supervisory Board: Dr. Axel Schweitzer, Dieter Hauert
CEO: Marco Baldi
Head coach: Aito Reneses
Website: www.albaberlin.de
Accomplishments: Korac Cup winner (1995); 8-time German champion (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008); 9-time German Cup winner (1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016)
Pre-game breakdown
CSKA and ALBA last played each other in Moscow in 2014. CSKA has three participants left from that time – Coach Dimitris Itoudis and players Andrey Vorontsevich and Kyle Hines. Niels Giffey is the only player still on ALBA’s roster from that game.
CSKA had a 66-82 victory when they last met with ALBA in Round 4 of this season. That game would prove to be a fateful night for CSKA, which lost star forward Will Clyburn to a torn ACL in the second quarter.
Clyburn, Vorontsevich and Mikhail Kulagin stay out.
Pre-game quotes
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
We will play against the team that plays highest tempo from the beginning until the end regardless the lineup on the floor. We respect their principles of game. Everybody is a threat, everybody fights aggressively. We expect a tough game. We cannot underestimate ALBA at all, even though they are not in the playoff zone, they fight in all games.
Johannes Voigtmann, CSKA forward:
They are the team that have strengths different from other teams. They play very fast, they share the ball, their system is different. It is going to be tough one for us. We will try to control the tempo, if we control it, we have a pretty good chance. We need the win like in every game, we will play our style of basketball and don’t get too much into their style.
Close relations
ALBA big man Johannes Thiemann and CSKA sharpshooter Janis Strelnieks were teammates at Brose Bamberg during the 2014-15 season.
Important numbers
Coach Itoudis has used 12 different players in his starting lineups this season. Only Nikita Kurbanov has started every game.
Mike James has made at least 1 three-point shot in 21 straight games. James ranks fifth this season with 2.8 three-point shots made per game.
James has scored in double figures in each of his last 26 games. James ranks third in scoring this season with 21.1 points per game.
Mike James ranks third this season in average PIR with 20.9 per game.
James has made 12 consecutive free throws.
Darrun Hilliard has made at least 1 three-point shot in five straight and 10 of his last 11 games.
Hilliard has scored in double figures in each of his last five games.
Kyle Hines has posted a double-figure performance index rating in four straight and 11 of his last 12 games.
Kyle Hines ranks third all-time with 232 blocked shots. Injured Anadolu Efes center Bryant Dunston is second with 242 career rejections.
Hines moved into sixth place all-time with 1,289 rebounds. Georgios Printezis of Olympiacos Piraeus is fifth with 1,325.
Hines ranks second all-time with 580 offensive rebounds. Felipe Reyes of Real Madrid is the all-time leader with 702. Kyle Hines ranks fifth in offensive rebounds this season with 2.4 per game.
Hines ranks fifth all-time with 961 two-pointers made. Paulius Jankunas of Zalgiris Kaunas is fourth with 965 and counting.
Kyle Hines needs 2 more steals to reach 200 for his career.
Howard Sant-Roos has made 11 consecutive free throws.
Janis Strelnieks ranks sixth all-time in free-throw accuracy at 90.9%.
Past matchups
Wins/losses: 8-5
1996-97 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: CSKA – ALBA: 67-69 (-2)
1996-97 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: ALBA – CSKA: 78-76 (-2)
1998-99 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round: ALBA – CSKA: 63-70 (+7)
1998-99 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round: CSKA – ALBA: 86-75 (+11)
1999-00 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: CSKA – ALBA: 71-76 (-5)
1999-00 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: ALBA – CSKA: 81-76 (-5)
2000-01 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: ALBA – CSKA: 80-77 (-3)
2000-01 – Euroleague. Qualification Round: CSKA – ALBA: 89-86 (+3)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16. ALBA – CSKA: 57-75 (+18)
2012-13 – Euroleague. Top 16. CSKA – ALBA: 80-65 (+15)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Regular Season. ALBA – CSKA: 68-84 (+16)
2013-14 – Euroleague. Regular Season. CSKA – ALBA: 95-66 (+29)
2019-20 – Euroleague. Regular Season. ALBA – CSKA: 66-82 (+16)
Short dossier
ALBA Berlin, Germany
Founded: 1989
Colors: dark-blue, yellow
Homecourt: Mercedes-Benz Arena (16,000)
Supervisory Board: Dr. Axel Schweitzer, Dieter Hauert
CEO: Marco Baldi
Head coach: Aito Reneses
Website: www.albaberlin.de
Accomplishments: Korac Cup winner (1995); 8-time German champion (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008); 9-time German Cup winner (1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016)
