Ahead of Thursday night’s trip to Olympiacos, newly crowned EuroLeague MVP for October, CSKA Moscow guard Milos Teodosic admits that after years of near misses, the team has enhanced confidence about them now that they are the reigning champions.
CSKA are currently 4-0 as they travel to Greece and are arguably head and shoulders above the other 15 teams competing right now in Europe’s premier club competition but even though they face their toughest test so far against an in-form Olympiacos side, the Serbian assist master admits that they are under more pressure every game but the confidence they gain from the victories has upped their confidence.
“Being the EuroLeague champion helps you, but it also puts pressure on us,” Teodosic said about being a champion.
“We are the defending champion and want to keep the trophy. It is going to be interesting to see how the season is going to go.
No one forgets the first time, so winning the trophy last season in Berlin is something that Teodosic will never forget. He did have to block the achievement out quickly as he joined the Serbian national team and guided them to a silver medal at the Rio Olympics but capturing the EuroLeague trophy after many years of trying was a dream come true.
“Look, the moment we won, nobody could understand how big that feeling was,” he says. “A couple of days after the final, you realise you are the EuroLeague champion and realize it is something everyone has dreamed about: players, staff, president, everybody.
“I was really proud of my team, not only because of the final; we played great all season. It was something to be really proud and happy about.”
And so far, CSKA have continued in the same vain as last season, by racking up four wins in as many games leading to Teodosic, who has been averaging 14.3 points and 9.5 assists in those four games to the monthly EuroLeague MVP award, which was surprisingly his first one since 2010, when he was with Olympiacos.
“Yes, it is true, I don’t remember when it was the last time: maybe when I was with Olympiacos?,” Teodosic rightly remembers. “The MVP of the month is a nice award for any player, but it is also a motivation to keep playing at that level, to show that you really deserved it.”
Quotes by EuroLeague.net
