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The Italians will struggle in the paint again

Sassari had great rebound struggles so far and will not have it easy today against CSKA's centers, who are particularly good in offensive rebounding

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Sassari's performances this season are definitely not living up to the fact they are the Italian champions. Though it seemed they have improved compared to the last season, the team is struggling with a number of problems. The No.1 problem is rebounding, as every single opponent they met so far outplayed them in that segment. Brindisi were no exception last weekend when they recorded 42 rebounds compared to Sassari's 20 to beat them easily at home. 

- It cannot happen that our opponents from the Italian championship record more rebounds than us because they are not physically as superior to us as some of our Euroleague opponents are. We have to work on this together - Sacchetti said. 

One cannot say that his team is physically inferior because Varnado, Petway and Eyenga jump well above the rim but the bench is not good and the guards are not over 190 centimeters tall. They will struggle with rebounding again today since Hines and Vorontchevich are especially aggressive when it comes to that segment. But Sacchetti still thinks this game is a great chance for Sassari:

- We are to play a legendary club that is one of the main favorites for the title this season. We have to play our game, be aggressive and tough enough. Our dreams came true when we took on Real last season and this game with CSKA is just another dream coming true for this team.

Sassari's top player Haynes said:

- Anything can happen on the floor and we have to believe we'll win no matter how big a favorite CSKA might be. We are not a bad team either, we have three former NBA players, a number of former Euroleague players and we can stand up to them. 

Haynes said something interesting when asked about CSKA's top player:

- Teodosic? He's a great player, there is no doubt about it but I think it will be just as difficult for him to defend Logan and me. 

Sassari can stand up to CSKA only through a fast-pace game. Haynes and Logan's performances could be very important since it's obvious that Teodosic isn't really capable of playing brilliant defense. Haynes is in great form this season, which could be significant today.

The Russians came to Sardinia after finishing the two last games with 100 points each. Even though CSKA lost a great deal of players from last season, Itoudis' players keep on playing an offensive-oriented game. They hit a lot of points against Maccabi at Euroleague start and then went to beat Khimki in the VTB league derby match. Khimki put up a much better fight than Maccabi but CSKA still finsihed with 100 points. The Moscow-based team hit 59 by half time. Khimki tried to prevent them from rushing past their defense to reach the rim, which gave CSKA a lot of room from the three-point range, allowing them to go 13-for-23. 

- The players tried their best from the start. We did great in defense but in offense as well since we used a lot of different options to finish the first half with almost 60 points - coach Itoudis said.

Khimki did much better in defense in the second half, forcing CSKA into turnovers and making a comeback (85-85). They, however, went on to make some mistakes in the dramatic final moments of the game to lose. 

Khimki were the greatest test for CSKA this season. They are now to face a rather strange opponent that, according to Itoudis 'likes to gamble in defense, trying to force the opponent into turnovers to then play fast transition'. 

- We have a great deal of respect for their offensive end. 

Itoudis is known for a very thorough preparation for the game. He studies his opponent closely and this is what he thinks it's important for his team to do...

- We have to be focused in defense one-on-one and help each other throughout the game.

Hrjapa made a comeback against Khimki to get just over 4 minutes on the floor. It is obvious that he will need a lot of time to get back in shape. 

Kravcov and Freeland didn't play; the former due to foreigners rule, the latter with an injury. Kravcov made a comeback against Maccabi to hit 7 points in 9 minutes.