2007-08Regular SeasonRound 6
November 29, 2007 CET: 20:00
Local time: 20:00 FERNANDO BUESA ARENA

CSKA Moscow ended Tau Ceramica with a convincing 76-85 victory

CSKA Moscow ended Tau Ceramica's Euroleague-record home floor winning streak with a convincing 76-85 victory on Thursday night at the Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria, Spain. David Andersen and Trajan Langdon stepped up with 23 points apiece for the injury-riddled Russian champion, which was without four of its most important players – Theo Papaloukas, Ramunas Siskauskas, Matjaz Smodis and Aleksey Savrasenko. Tau had won 30 consecutive Euroleague home games dating back to January 2005 when it lost to the same CSKA team, though Andersen and J.R. Holden are the only CSKA players to take part in both games. With the win CSKA improved to 5-1 and took sole possession of first place in Group A. Tau dropped to 4-2 and into a tie with Montepaschi Siena for second. CSKA pulled away early with Langdon and Andersen sparking a 0-10 run, from which Tau never recovered. The Russian champs led 13-25 after 10 minutes and 35-44 at halftime before putting it away for good in the third. Andersen, who made 4 of 5 three pointers, also grabbed 10 rebounds for the winners. Marcus Goree added 12 points and Holden scored 10 for CSKA. Zoran Planinic led Tau with 15 points, Pablo Prigioni added 14, Will McDonald 13 and Igor Rakocevic and Tiago Splitter scored 12 points each.

The hosts remained scoreless for the first 90 seconds until Rakocevic and Pete Mickeal combined for a three pointer and a layup to put Tau ahead 5-2. The defenses were tough at both sides, preventing the opponents from getting easy points in the paint, but CSKA was the first one to find the right way to the basket as Langdon and Andersen sparked a 0-10 run for the visitors to force Tau’s first timeout midway through the first period. The Russian champs were strong on the offensive glass, preventing the hosts from running the court and playing their style. Although Linton Johnson nailed a three on his first attempt, Langdon responded quickly to allow CSKA keep a safe margin, 9-17, after seven minutes. Spahija tried to change the pace of the game replacing Planinic with Prigioni, but nothing worked as the visitors found open shots from the three-point line to stay ahead. Andersen and Andrey Vorontsevich hit twice from downtown to close the first quarter with CSKA leading 13-25.

Prigioni opened fire with a seven-meter three pointer, but it wasn’t enough to awake the hosts as Langdon and Zakhar Pashutin stopped the comeback with easy second-chance baskets. Tau's defensive effort increased, while the hosts tried to punish CSKA youngster Artem Zabelin feeding McDonald on every play, but his mistakes at the free-throw line allowed the visitors to keep a double-digit margin. CSKA's defense was almost perfect, as Tau's few points came slowly from the free throw line. Although CSKA’s shooting wasn’t great either, the visitors didn’t struggle to keep a safe margin thanks to several second-chance points, as they outrebounded Tau with ease. Splitter brought Tau within 32-39 with a basket-plus-free throw play, although Goree answered him with a desperate three entering the last minute. Another three, this time coming from Prigioni, was enough for Tau to reach the halftime down 35-44.

Nothing seemed to change after the break as Andersen hit another three and Goree followed him by banking a hook shot to boost the visitors' lead to 14 points. Tau was unable to find its momentum and CSKA took advantage to widen the gap to 38-56 after triples by Langdon and Nikos Zisis. CSKA took a 20-point lead midway though the third period with Tau looking dead at that point. However, 6 points in a row by Planinic and a block by Mickeal gave Tau a boost of energy for a while and forced CSKA head coach Ettore Messina’s urgent timeout. Holden took over after the break with two huge triples, but Tau managed to survive thanks to McDonald’s inside baskets and a three by Mirza Teletovic to trail 53-66 heading into the fourth quarter.

McDonald got Tau within 55-66 with a jumpe, but Andersen answered him with a three to keep the visitors calm. Although Teletovic hit from downtown on the following offense, he was unable to stop Goree at the other side. Goree collected two baskets in a row to extend the lead to 58-73, which looked like the definitive blow for the hosts. Langdon hit from downtown to confirm it, and repeated again few seconds later to earn some applause from the local crowd with CSKA leading 61-80 with four minutes remaining. With the outcome in no doubt, the the visitors enjoyed the final minutes as they celebrated a rare win in Vitoria and big victory in the race for Group A supremacy.

Thursday, November 29, 2007
Natxo Mendaza, Vitoria
No results found.
Referees: JUNGEBRAND, CARL; SUTULOVIC, ZORAN; SAHIN, TOLGA
Attendance: 9600
By Quarter1234
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz13221823
CSKA Moscow25192219
End of Quarter1234
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz13355376
CSKA Moscow25446685
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 PRIGIONI, PABLO 24:34 14 0/1 2/4 8/8 1 2 3 2 2 1   1 2 4 18
6 GARCIA, ANDER DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 RAKOCEVIC, IGOR 31:38 12 2/3 2/6 2/2   1 1 3 2 2       3 14
9 VIDAL, SERGI 9:52     0/1         1         1   -1
10 PLANINIC, ZORAN 23:51 15 6/9 1/3         3   2   1 2 3 11
11 FERNANDEZ, LUCHO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 TELETOVIC, MIRZA 23:56 6   2/7     2 2 1         3 1 2
13 JASAITIS, SIMAS 7:03         1   1               1
21 SPLITTER, TIAGO 27:06 12 4/7   4/7   6 6 1 1 1 1   2 6 18
33 MICKEAL, PETE 23:02 2 1/3 0/1   1 2 3       1   3    
43 JOHNSON, LINTON 16:04 2 1/2     1 3 4     1     2 1 3
45 MCDONALD, WILL 12:54 13 4/6   5/8                 3 4 9
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 76 18/31 7/22 19/25 5 19 24 11 5 7 2 2 18 22 79
        58.1% 31.8% 76%
Head coach: SPAHIJA, NEVEN
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
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 KURBANOV, NIKITA 4:37 2 1/1     1   1           1   2
6 ZISIS, NIKOS 28:45 6 2/5 0/2 2/2   1 1 5 2       3 3 9
7 KASHIROV, ANATOLY 1:59 2 1/1   0/1                 1 1 1
10 HOLDEN, JR 35:15 10 2/5 2/6 0/1   2 2 5 1       2 3 11
11 PASHUTIN, ZAKHAR 16:31 2 1/1 0/2   1 2 3 1 1 1     4    
13 ANDERSEN, DAVID 27:33 23 3/8 4/5 5/6 2 8 10 2 1   1   3 4 31
15 ZABELIN, ARTEM 5:21 2 1/2       1 1           3   -1
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 8:41 3   1/3                   2   -1
21 LANGDON, TRAJAN 37:22 23 2/3 6/10 1/2 1 2 3   1 1     1 2 21
22 GOREE, MARCUS 33:56 12 4/9 1/1 1/2 4 3 7 2   1 1 2 2 5 16
23 SHVED, ALEXEY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           2 2 4               4
Totals 200:00 85 17/35 14/29 9/14 11 21 32 15 6 3 2 2 22 18 93
        48.6% 48.3% 64.3%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE

Head Coaches

SPAHIJA, NEVEN
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz
"As a coach, in my experience, I knew that a situation like this was going to come. I think that the biggest problem was before the game, when we knew that four CSKA players wouldn't play. In the end, CSKA had nothing to lose. They played a great game and deserved the win. They have big excuses if they lose: if they win, it would be a big surprise. I prepared the team for this, but this is a sport and there is nothing mathematical. Anyway, if we must lose a game, I prefer to lose it tonight rather than doing it later, in a most decisive stage. We learned a lot of things tonight: names don't play, players do. Everything we wanted to do, we didn't. Everything CSKA wanted to do, they did. We are going to analyze what happened and try to solve the problems for the next game. I'm sorry for the fans tonight, as they supported us in a great way."
MESSINA, ETTORE
CSKA Moscow
"We are pretty happy for the win tonight, especially because we came here without four players, but we found the help we needed from the youngsters, who made an excellent job. We played a smart game, we took advantage of Goree playing at the low post, of Andersen shooting from outside against Tiago Splitter. Our perimeter players played at a good rhythm all game, not forcing too much and keeping the right pace. Holden also played a very good defensive game, stopping Rakocevic thanks to his quickness. We knew that we had to raise our level a lot and that we had to make them play at lower level to be able to fight for the win tonight. We took advantage of the fact that we missed four playes to play relaxed, with no pressure. The season is quite long and this game won't change anything. The next game we will play against them will be completely different. I hope we can recover some of our injured players step by step for the following games."

Players

SPLITTER, TIAGO
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz
"We didn't play as we planned tonight. Maybe the fact that they missed four important players gave them the strength they needed and it pressed us a little bit more when we saw that we couldn't make our game. We couldn't find our momentum despite fighting all game long. Anyway, it's still early in the season and this is only a game."
ZISIS, NIKOS
CSKA Moscow
"For sure, nobody in Europe expected this thing to happen tonight. Tau is one of the best teams in Europe, especially playing at home. You can lose the control of the game in one minute. I think that we started great, we stopped Tau from getting easy buckets that they always have from the pick-and- roll game and from fast transitions. The coach said today that it was very important to make a good start and we managed to do it. We got a lead in the beginning and never looked back. It's early in the season and our target is to be in Madrid: we have a long road to make it. For sure, when you play against a team that misses so many important players and that teams starts well, it's very important psychologically: you can feel a bit depressed. Tau is a great team, and anyway, this game means nothing because there is a long road to travel in order to be back in Spain."
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