During the Final Four, do you ever notice a banners of the club logos hanging from all four corners of the arena?
Well in 2011 there was something missing from the Euroleague’s grand spectacle, something that had been apart of the Final Four furniture for eight straight seasons: there was no CSKA Moscow banner hanging from the rafters.
It felt a little different that there were no CSKA banners and the traditional large drum that chanted “CSKA Moscow” until their throats got sore, but last year the Russian champions were inconsistent, a shadow of what they were in previous seasons. Plus injuries didn’t help either as the Russians finished bottom of Group D with 3-7 record.
They regrouped though to win the newly-named Professional Basketball League title in that season, but barring BC Khimki and Unics Kazan, there wasn’t many challengers.
The NBA lockout for this squad came as a blessing, Andrei Kirilenko returned to his home team, Nenad Krstic decided to leave the Boston Celtics and come to the Russian capital, plus they added point guard Milos Teodosic, who needs virtually no introduction to the Euro hoops world.
Not being in the 2011 Euroleague Final Four bothered CSKA Moscow, they didn’t just miss it, they were not even close, being in a group that contained Panathinaikos, Union Olimpija, Valencia, Efes Pilsen (Anadolu Efes) and Armani Jeans Milano (Emporio Armani Milano), you would expect the Russian giants to at least qualify from that group instead of the 3-7 record that actually happened.
This year is a different year, a fresh start and the beauty of their unbeaten run so far is that it hasn’t all been Andrei Kirilenko like many were predicting. There are other players that can step-up and be counted.
The statement performance came away to Panathinaikos where CSKA played as a team throughout, didn’t let their heads drop and when most teams depend on their stars to produce the goods when it matters, they went to Ramunas Siskauskas, who is now adapting to a role where he’s playing slightly lesser minutes than used to. The Lithuanian veteran drilled a corner triple, unmarked to give his side the lead in the last minute-or-so of overtime – a lead that they didn’t lose.
Not many teams can say that they went to the OAKA before 16,000 of the most passionate fans on earth and lived to tell the tale afterwards.
Among the role players that has broken through this year includes an exciting prospect in the form of Alexey Shved. The 22-year-old had a breakthrough Eurobasket and has clearly continued his form from the national squad to club level, he actually led all scorers in the opening night win against Zalgiris and playing alongside Kirilenko, Teodosic and Siskaukas – veteran players that have been there, seen it and done it – will only make the young Russian prospect better as his game matures.
CSKA also boast a European fantasy frontcourt that has clicked on all cylinders so far this season in Nenad Krstic, Viktor Khryapa, youngster Andrey Vorontsevich and Sasha Kaun, who like Siskauskas is adapting to playing lesser minutes than last season.
There is more to CSKA Moscow than just Kirilenko, so far they’ve been the most impressive team in the Euroleague and when the Final Four rolls around in Istanbul next May, could we be seeing the familar club logo that was missing in action last season?
It looks a safe bet right now, doesn’t it…
John Hobbs is TalkBasket’s Euroleague and London 2012 reporter. You can follow him on Twitter @johnswisshobbs
