A heavyweight battle at the top of Group B will see second-placed Cluj (6-1) welcome undefeated reigning champ Gran Canaria (7-0).
Mihai Silvasan, Cluj: 'We do not want to create such a big event from this game'
Seasons
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The Spanish team's smooth offense is based on sharing the ball, averaging 22.6 assists per night – second-best in the competition. Andrew Albicy is the chief orchestrator with an average of 4.6 assists, and he also leads the team's hustle on defense by grabbing 2.1 steals per game. Cluj's main strength is defense, allowing just 71.1 points per game (second in the league) with a physical approach which has yielded 39.1 rebounds per night. Karel Guzman averages 5.9 boards and is in great form after bagging a double-double of 14 points and 12 boards in last week's win against Trento, earning him the MVP honor for Round 7.
Mihai Silvasan, Cluj head coach
"We are ahead of our eighth game in the EuroCup. We are definitely in a good spot and we can fight for the first place in the group. From our standpoint, we do not want to create such a big event from this game. We treat this game like we always do, even though we will probably face the best team in the EuroCup. They are the champions and they come from the best league in Europe. We want to play good quality basketball, be aggressive and fight for every ball. We want a victory!"
Jaka Lakovic, Gran Canaria head coach
"We are going to face a very hard, demanding game. Cluj-Napoca has only lost one game and it's going to be a tough game for us playing in their court."
Jarell Eddie, Cluj player
"I feel like we are excited and we prepared well. We are focused on this game and we are ready to go there and fight for a win. They are a hot IQ basketball team. They play great team basketball, so we have to be ready. I am sure it will be a great basketball game!"
Pierre Pelos, Gran Canaria player
"It's a tough game for us. It will be hard to beat Cluj-Napoca in their court. We need to be focused during the 40 minutes and play a good defense in order to have some options."