Monaco — CSKA, 29 October 2021

PRE-GAME BREAKDOWN

After meeting with ASVEL, the Army Team spent the night in Lyon and in the afternoon flew to Nice by an Aeroflot charter. The team stayed at a hotel located in the port of the French town of Cap d'Ail, adjacent to the Principality of Monaco from the west. Across the street from the hotel is the Louis II football stadium, part of which is the Salle Gaston basketball arena of the Monegasques.

The roster remains unchanged. Nikola Milutinov (knee), Toko Shengelia (shoulder) and Marius Grigonis (back) continue their recovery in Moscow.

Monaco made their debut in the Euroleague this season, therefore they have never crossed paths with CSKA in official games. But in 2018, the teams met during the pre-season Gloria Cup in Belek, Turkey. Then the Muscovites won 69-58.

PRE-GAME QUOTES

Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:

It's all about stamina right now. We wanted to just walk through some things and get into the game. Monaco had an extra day because they played on Tuesday. It is a very ambitious team created for big things, it's obvious. They also have an addition, Bacon is over here ready to play. They do have two or more players on every position that can hurt you. It's not only about Mike [James] who dominates in situations on offense, they have a lot of good shooters and creators like Lee, Andjusic, Motejunas, Hall, Gray, Diallo, everybody. Overall it's a tough opponent that targets high. Definitely they have ambitions to go to playoffs.

Semen Antonov, CSKA forward:

Monaco is a very individually strong team, each player can solve the situation one-on-one, that’s why the team defense is important, you need to help each other at every moment, even when the opponent plays isolations in the last seconds. We need to bounce back, to start differently, to set the tone for the game. Then I think we will be fine.

CLOSE “RELATIONS”

Mike James played with CSKA most of the last two seasons. He was a teammate with the majority of current CSKA players and played under head coach Dimitris Itoudis.

James and Tornike Shengelia were teammates at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz for two seasons, from 2014 to 2016. Together they helped Baskonia reach the 2016 Final Four.

Leo Westermann was a member of CSKA's during the 2017-18 season. Current CSKA players Semen Antonov, Will Clyburn and Nikita Kurbanov remain from his time there.

Westermann and Marius Grigonis were teammates at Zalgiris Kaunas in the 2018-19 season.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Johannes Voigtmann has made at least 1 three-point shot in 18 of his last 19 games.

Marius Grigonis made at least 1 three-point shot in eight of his last nine games.

Alexey Shved has made at least 1 three-pointer in 22 of his last 23 appearances.

Will Clyburn has scored in double figures in five of his last six games.

Will Clyburn ranks ninth in average PIR with 16.2 per game.

Clyburn ranks fourth in scoring with 16.3 per game.

Milutinov ranks eighth on the all-time list with 464 offensive rebounds. Bryant Dunston of Anadolu Efes Istanbul is seventh with 474 and counting.

Shved ranks eighth all-time with 424 three-point shots made for his career. Jaycee Carroll is seventh with 437.

Shved enters Round 7 tied with Kyle Hines for 10th place all-time in scoring with 2,805 points. Milos Teodosic is ninth with 2,807.

Shved ranks 10th all-time with 587 free throws made for his career. Kostas Sloukas of Olympiacos Piraeus is ninth with 595 and counting.

Shved needs 1 assist to reach 800 for his career.

Marius Grigonis is ranked second all-time in free throw accuracy at 92.5%.

PAST MATCHUPS

Wins-losses: 0-0

SHORT DOSSIER

AS Monaco, Monaco

Founded: 1928
Colors: red, gold, white
Home arena: Salle Gaston (3.000 spectators)
President: Sergei Dyadechko
Head coach: Zvezdan Mitrovic
Website: asmonaco.basketball
Trophy case: Eurocup winner (2021), vice-champion of France (1950, 2018, 2019), winner of the Pro A Leaders' Cup (2016, 2017, 2018)