CSKA will play in Group G

Euroleague Top 16 draw held in Barcelona today put our team in Group G together with Unicaja Malaga, Zalgiris Kaunas and Prokom Gdynia.

In accordance with the rules of the draw, the groups were defined as…

Group E: Barcelona, Panathinaikos, Partizan, Maroussi.
Group F: Real, Montepaschi, Maccabi, Efes Pilsen.
Group H: CSKA Moscow, Unicaja, Zalgiris, Prokom.
Group G: Olympiacos, Caja Laboral, Khimki, Cibona.

Let us remind that under the regulations of competition the first team of Group E (E1) will meet in the quarterfinal best-of-five series with the second team of Group F (F2), F1 - E2, H1 - G2, G1 - H2.

Evgeny Pashutin, CSKA head coach:

The Top 16 has no weak teams, and our recent game vs UNICS showed that any team of this level carries serious danger. With the first place in the group of the regular season we were able to avoid the meetings with other groups’ leaders. But this does not mean that everything is done - we only have earned more chances. All the vital games are ahead for us. We will study our rivals’ games closely and we will prepare for each game. Particular attention we will pay to defense which has always been good in CSKA, and will continue to improve our offense.

Unicaja is run by a famous coach Aito Reneses now. His teams were always showing an aggressive and fast basketball, and the club from Malaga was leading in his group during the first part of the season. Reneses have good deep roster with quick guards Printezis, Cook and Dixon, and that allows him to use the active forms of defense. Big men Freeland and Archibald are also worthy of respect.

We already have the experience of facing Zalgiris in two games this season. And we know that the team has character, which was shown at the final game of the Euroleague regular season. Kaunas recently changed coaches, and Ramunas Butautas wants his team to play tough, aggressive basketball. The main threat comes from the perimeter, where Brown, Pocius, Salenga, Kalnietis and recent addition Capin are dangerous.

The strength of Prokom can be proved by home wins over Real and Khimki, while in the other games vs the leaders they provided serious competition. Americans Woods, Logan, Ewing, Burrell, plus dangerous big shooter Jagla allow coach to show a quick game with plenty of peak-and-roll. Coach Tomas Pacesas is a man of character and that is transferred to his team.

Natalia Furaeva, PBC CSKA vice president:

Naturally, given the rules of the draw, we knew all our opponents. It was interesting to find out which groups’ representatives will meet in the quarterfinals. Out of curiosity, of course, as you should not run ahead, and we will seriously prepare for each game. It's nice that we will meet Zalgiris again, because CSKA has long and colorful history of relationships with the team from Kaunas. We also met Unicaja in a number of games and they were always interesting and sometimes was finished unexpectedly. Prokom is a very dangerous team this season - Polish club beat Real and Khimki at home. Nevertheless, we are set to win every game, as usual. We must play up to our level, and then we will be able to reach any goal. I’d like to note also that all the clubs unanimously agreed to transfer the income from the Top 16 first round to Haiti earthquake victims.