May 24, 2013
Regular Season Game 1 - October 22, 2008 CET: 18:15 Local time: 20:15 - UNIVERSAL SPORTS HALL CSKA
CSKA Moscow 90 - 64 AJ Milano

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final Four 0-0
0-0 Playoffs 0-0
0-0 Top 16 0-0
0-0 Regular Season 0-0
0-0 Overall 0-0

Referees

Crew Chief
VOREADIS, LAZAROS, Greece
Referee
SPIRIDONOS, LEONIDAS, Greece
Umpire
JAVOR, DAMIR, Slovenia

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
0 Points 0
0 Rebounds 0
0 O. Rebounds 0
0 D. Rebounds 0
0 Assists 0
0 Steals 0
0 Blocks 0
0 Turnovers 0
0 2PT 0
0 3PT 0
0 FT 0
0 Index 0
Team Stats - CSKA Moscow
Team Stats - AJ Milano

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
0 Points 0
0 Rebounds 0
0 OR 0
0 DR 0
0 Assists 0
0 Steals 0
0 Blocks 0
0 Turnovers 0
0 2PT 0
0 3PT 0
0 FT 0
0 Index 0
Team Roster - CSKA Moscow
Team Roster - AJ Milano

THE TAKE

The defending champs begin their title defense on Wednesday when CSKA Moscow hosts Armani Jeans Milano at CSKA Universal Sports Hall in the Russian capital. CSKA has a fully reloaded roster for the new season, with much of last season’s squad back and a number of new faces joining. Meanwhile Milano unveils a roster drastically different than last season’s as it aims to take a step forward to challenge for a spot in the Top 16. The teams will be a little familiar with one another after meeting in a preseason game six weeks ago. CSKA was the victor that time 63-81 behind 13 points and 7 rebounds from Erazem Lorbek. David Hawkins paced Milano with 21. The visitors will need a big output from their backcourt to have a chance to challenge in Moscow, where CSKA has not lost a regular season Euroleague game in over two-and-a-half seasons, dating back to January 2006 – a streak of 16 straight wins. The visitors will employ a three-guard lineup at times, combining the explosiveness of Hawkins, the sharpshooting skills of Jobey Thomas and Marco Mordente and the savvy playmaking of Massimo Bulleri to form a dangerous combo. However CSKA counters with a lineup that can blow most others away – reigning Euroleague MVP Ramunas Siskauskas and Final Four MVP Trajan Langdon on the wings and J.R. Holden, Zoran Planinic and Nikos Zisis sharing the ball-handling. In the paint Lorbek and fellow newcomer Terence Morris join Viktor Khryapa and center Alexey Savrasenko to give head coach Ettore Messina the flexibility to play big or small with lineups that can shine on both ends of the floor. They must however overcome the absence of captain Matjaz Smodis, who is doubtful with an ankle injury. Milano will lean on Pape Sow and Mike Hall in the paint, with ace rebounder Richard Rocca Mason and the energetic Mindaugas Katelynas coming off the bench. Milano head coach Piero Bucchi, will need to keep his big men out of foul trouble to counter CSKA’s deeper frontline. Lorbek is one of five players on the CSKA roster with past experience in the Italian League, which combined with the fact that Messina is also Italian, gives the hosts a significant advantage. On the other hand, if there is a time to surprise the champs at home, it may be early in the season when they have just returned from across the ocean where they participated in the Euroleague Basketball American Tour ’08. What’s certain is that nothing is easy to predict as two teams comes together to tip-off the new season.

GAME NOTES

CSKA Moscow
  • J.R. Holden is 18 points away from becoming just the third 2000-point scorer in Euroleague Basketball.
  • Matjaz Smodis is 13 points behind Euroleague legend Dejan Bodiroga for 10th place on the all-time Euroleague scoring charts. Smodis will also tie Luis Scola for 10th place with 144 games played on the all-time Euroleague charts when he takes the court against Milano.
  • Trajan Langdon’s next successful three-point shot will give him 250 for his Euroleague Basketball career, a feat achieved by only four other players. Langdon is also only 2 steals behind Marcus Brown for 10th place on the all-time Euroleague charts in that category. He enters the season with 163 career steals.
  • Erazem Lorbek has been a teammate of two of his Week 1 opponents: David Hawkins last season at Lottomatica Roma and Marco Mordente in 2007 at Benetton Treviso.
  • Eight players on CSKA’s roster played at the Olympic Games in Beijing over the summer: J.R. Holden, Victor Keyru, Viktor Khryapa, Alexey Savrasenko and Andrey Vorontsevich played for Russia, Zoran Planinic for Croatia, Ramunas Siskauskas for Lithuania and Nikos Zisis for Greece.
  • Center Sasha Kaun and forward Victor Keyru are the only players on the CSKA roster with no previous Euroleague experience.
AJ Milano
  • Forward Mike Hall and guard Jobey Thomas are both set to make their Euroleague Basketball debuts in Week 1 at CSKA Moscow.
  • Guard Massimo Bulleri enters the season needing 1 assist to reach 200 for his Euroleague Basketball career. He needs 10 points to reach 1,000 career Euroleague points.
  • Guard Marco Mordente has the highest career three-point shooting percentage of any active player at 45.54%. He is ranked fifth all-time.
  • Guard David Hawkins is the only player in the Euroleague to finish in the top five in steals per game in each of the past two seasons. He has averaged 2.3 steals per game over that span.
  • Richard Mason Rocca led the Euroleague in offensive rebounding in the 2006-07 season, his only previous Euroleague campaign. He played then for Eldo Napoli.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

MESSINA, ETTORE
CSKA Moscow
"It's an opening game in the Euroleague for us and we expect it to be difficult. We know that Milan has a good team and at the moment we are far from being the team which we would like to be in the crucial part of the season. But we are getting better as we are starting to play together. We cannot compare this game to the one we played during the preseason because Milan was without Rocca, Vitali, Mordente and Bulleri, so they were just the different team."
BUCCHI, PIERO
AJ Milano
"It's a big honor for us to start this Euroleague at CSKA Moscow, the defending champion. We know that we will play in an very competitive group, but we really want to do a good european season and all the guys are focused on Euroleague. Playing in Moscow will not be easy at all, again, but we want to try to have a good start in this competition."

Players

LORBEK, ERAZEM
CSKA Moscow
"The Milano team will be very different from those we met during the preseason. They played two difficult games in the Italian League and looked good, winning one of the games. They will be tough opponent because they have a lot of talent. And David Hawkins showed his skills to Moscow fans here last season, when he was playing for Lottomatica Roma."
THOMAS, JOBEY
AJ Milano
"I am so happy to have the opportunity of playing in such an important competition as Euroleague. I expect demanding games every week against strong and deep teams, especially this week facing CSKA Moscow in its arena. It will be a special game, a good opportunity for us to prove ourselves at the highest level. We go to Russia believing that we can win the game, we are not going there for a visit."
Trajan Langdon - CSKA MoscowDefending Euroleague champion CSKA Moscow left no doubt about its status as a top contender to win it all again by thrashing Armani Jeans Milano 90-64 in the Russian capital in Group D on Wednesday. CSKA won the opening game in Group D and visits Panionios On Telecoms next week. AJ Milano will look for its first win at home against Efes Pilsen. Trajan Langdon led the winners with 18 points. Nikos Zisis contributed 15, J.R. Holden added 13, Erazem Lorbek got 12 while Ramunas Siskauskas had 11 for CSKA. Jobey Thomas and Pape Sow had 12 points apiece for AJ Milano while Marco Mordente and David Hawkins each added 11. Langdon and Terence Morris shined in the opening minutes to give CSKA its first double-digit lead, 17-6. Mordente tried to change things for Milano, and for within 28-19 midway through the second quarter. CSKA found a go-to guy in Viktor Khryapa, who buried consecutive triples and soon added free throws to make his team break the game open, 49-27,at the break. Holden took over after the break, as CSKA boosted its margin to 61-34 and did not have major problems to register its first win in the 2008-09 Euroleague season.

Langdon got CSMarco Mordente - AJ MilanoKA going with an uncontested layup that Sow matched with a smooth move in the low post. Langdon insisted with a bomb from downtown that Morris followed with a six-meter jumper for a 7-2 CSKA lead. Hawkins dunked it off a steal, but Milano did not manage to get its frontcourt involved. CSKA was its usual self in defense, forcing a 24-second turnover. Morris sank another jumper while Langdon buried his second triple for a 12-4 CSKA edge. Hawkins took over with a five-meter jumper that Ramunas Siskauskas matched with a layup. Milano called timeout but kept missing open shots. Meanwhile, Lorbek shined with a driving layup for make it a double-digit game, 17-6. Milano briefly tried a 2-3 zone defense that Morris punished with a three-pointer. Lorbek capped a 10-0 CSKA run with a jumper, but a triple by Mordente fixed the score at 22-9 after 10 minutes.

Milano tried to add more muscle inside with Mason Rocca and Mindaugas Katelynas on court. CSKA lept running its offense through Langdon, that drew a couple of fouls to sink 3-for-4 free throws. Bulleri sank a mid-range jumper while Katelynas added an off-balanced basket. Mordente struck from downtown off a CSKA timeout to get Milano within 25-16. Holden shined with a layup-plus-foul, soon sank foul shots and fed Khryapa for a corner triple to restore a 33-19 CSKA margin. Sangare hit a jumper off the dribble but Khryapa bettered it with his second three-pointer and dished an outstanding assist to Siskauskas. By the time Zisis added a fast break layup, Milano called a much-needed timeout at 40-22. An unstoppable Khryapa made free throws and Zisis added an alleyoop layup. Sow scored inside but Siskauskas nailed a corner triple and Aleksey Savrasenko made it a 25-point game, 49-24. A triple by Sangare got Milano within 49-27 at halftime.

J. R. Holden - CSKA Moscow Milano tried to speed up the game tempo after the break but CSKA stayed focused. Morris shined with a power basket that Hawkins matched with a turnaround jumper. Lorbek sank his trademark five-meter jumper while Siskauskas beat the guests' zone defense with an easy shot. Hawkins kept pacing Milano with a stop-and-pop jumper but a three-pointer by Langdon gave CSKA a 58-31 margin. Mordente took over with a wild three-pointer, as CSKA struggled a bit against a more aggressive 2-3 zone defense. Holden stepped up with one from downtown to make AJ call timeout at 61-34. Rocca tried to change things with his trademark running layup but Holden answered with another triple. Rocca and Hawkins combined for all points in a 0-7 run but a buzzer-beating jumper by Holden gave CSKA a 66-43 margin after 30 minutes.

The outcome was already clear but CSKA kept trying to please its many fans at Universal Sports Arena. Zisis sank a running jumper but Thomas followed free throws with a jumper to make the hosts call timeout at 69-47. Zisis stepped up again with free throws while Langdon added a three-pointer for a 74-51 CSKA margin with 6 minutes to go. Mordente stayed on fire while Mike Hall provided the game's biggest highlight with an acrobatic, 360 degrees layup-plus-foul. Milano kept trying but it was too little, too late for the guests, as CSKA had cruised to a well-deserved, convincing win.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Euroleague.net
Referees: VOREADIS, LAZAROS (GRE), SPIRIDONOS, LEONIDAS (GRE), JAVOR, DAMIR (SLO)
Attendance: 3000
By Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow22271724
AJ Milano9181621
End of Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow22496690
AJ Milano9274364
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE
CSKA Moscow
# Player Min Pts 2FG
M-A
 3FG
M-A
 FT
M-A
 Rebounds As St To Bl Fouls PIR
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
6 ZISIS, NIKOS 15:25 15 4/5 1/1 4/4       1   1     2 2 14
7 KEYRU, VICTOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 SISKAUSKAS, RAMUNAS 29:57 11 3/4 1/2 2/2 1 3 4 5 1       1 1 19
10 HOLDEN, J.R. 27:49 13 2/5 2/5 3/3   2 2 5 1 2     1 2 14
12 LORBEK, ERAZEM 26:30 12 5/5   2/2   4 4 1 3 3 1   5 3 16
14 SAVRASENKO, ALEKSEY 10:26 2 0/1   2/2   1 1 1   1     1 2 3
21 LANGDON, TRAJAN 24:29 18 1/2 4/5 4/6   3 3 1 1 4     1 4 18
23 SHVED, ALEXEY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
24 KAUN, SASHA 3:04 1 0/1   1/2 1   1         1   1  
31 KHRYAPA, VICTOR 16:50 8 0/2 2/4 2/2 2 1 3 3 1   2   1 3 15
34 PLANINIC, ZORAN 22:20 1   0/3 1/2 1 1 2 3   1     2 2 1
44 MORRIS, TERENCE 23:10 9 3/4 1/1 0/1 1 4 5       3     2 17
Team           1 3 4   2           6
Totals 200:00 90 18/29 11/21 21/26 7 22 29 20 9 12 6 1 14 22 123
62.1% 52.4% 80.8%
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Head coach: BUCCHI, PIERO
AJ Milano
# Player Min Pts 2FG
M-A
 3FG
M-A
 FT
M-A
 Rebounds As St To Bl Fouls PIR
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
5 BULLERI, MASSIMO 18:41 2 1/2 0/3     1 1 2       1 3 1 -2
6 FILLOY, ARIEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 HALL, MIKE 24:56 3 1/7 0/3 1/1 1 1 2 1   1     3 1 -6
8 SOW, PAPE 22:17 12 5/7 0/1 2/3 2 2 4     1   1 4 3 9
9 MORDENTE, MARCO 25:42 11 1/5 3/3     3 3 1 1 2   2 3   5
11 THOMAS, JOBEY 27:15 12 2/6 1/5 5/5 2   2   2 1   1 3 3 6
12 ROCCA, MASON 16:16 6 3/3     1   1   1 3 1   2 3 7
15 KATELYNAS, MINDAUGAS 16:31 2 1/3 0/1   2 1 3     2   1 1 1 -1
16 MICEVIC, MARKO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 BEARD, JOEY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 SANGARE, YOHANN 21:19 5 1/1 1/1     2 2 1   2     1   5
34 HAWKINS, DAVID 27:03 11 4/7 1/3   1 5 6 2 1 1     2 2 14
Team             1 1     2         -1
Totals 200:00 64 19/41 6/20 8/9 9 16 25 7 5 15 1 6 22 14 36
46.3% 30% 88.9%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

MESSINA, ETTORE
CSKA Moscow
"Actually the game was more difficult than the result can say. We had all the respect to Armani Jeans team and I am happy we managed to play together, to show very good level of togetherness, both on defense and on offence. Milan played much better in the second half and I expect very strong challenge from them when we will travel to their arena in December."
BUCCHI, PIERO
AJ Milano
"Our first Euroleague game was a very difficult one. It is not easy to play against such a big team like CSKA, especially on its court. Now our main goal is to recover some of our players, and first of all to recover their confidence. Yes, we are an athletic team, but the athleticism is not enough to win games. You have to play basketball, you have to put the ball into the basket. And if you miss some open shots, it becomes very difficult to get that confidence back".
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