The Army Dozen: how CSKA managed to turn the tide of the final series

The Army team defeats Zenit in the final series for the first time and becomes the 12-time champion of the VTB United League. In addition, CSKA won the title on the floor of Megasport for the first time. Zenit put up maximum resistance to the hegemon of our basketball, even took the lead in the series, but Bacon and company were not enough for the end. It is difficult to single out one leader from CSKA. Each match had its own hero, who dragged the team on himself. That's how titles are won.

The lost ending

After exchanging wins in Moscow, the teams actually started the finals anew (2-2). Zenit still had the advantage of its floor, CSKA still had to win at least one match in St. Petersburg. However, if the blue-white-blues were the favorites at the start of the decisive series (shortly before the first game, Andrei Vatutin, the president of the army, listed more than five reasons why the pole position was in the hands of the guys of Chavi Pascual), then by the fifth match the scales seemed to tilt towards Moscow.

Zenit, exhausted by the seven-match thriller with Lokomotiv Kuban, began to lose fighters. Sergey Karasev played only in the first game, Georgy Zhbanov (the team's motor) missed the fourth match, Alexey Shved took to the capital's floor on injections (in fact, three losses against one opponent, who lost Nikita Kurbanov due to a broken arm). As a result, CSKA's crushing victory in the match at number four and at least a moral advantage.

However, everything was in the hands of the regular season winners. Zenit spent the first three quarters very focused, and at the beginning of the fourth quarter they made a breakthrough.:2. The advantage of the blue-white-blues was "+13", but in the end it was not possible to keep it. The remaining seven minutes turned out to be simply amazing in the performance of the CSKA players in the fight, dedication, and important balls at the right moments. They not only won back a strong lead, but also managed to win in regular time. Alex Avramovich and Livio Jean-Charles made a great cut, putting a great block shot to Hunter at the crucial moment of the ending. So CSKA took the lead in the confrontation to four wins (3-2).

"We need another victory," CSKA coach Andreas Pistiolis said after the game in the Northern Capital. — You need to keep your concentration. Zenit is not a team that will give up. This is a high-level team, with high-level players and coaches.

It is clear that such an insulting defeat affected the Zenit players, but their experienced coach was not discouraged.

"We have probably the most important game of the year ahead of us," said Xavi Pascual. — We have to play the way we have been playing all season. It is necessary to be focused and not lose concentration from the first to the last second, avoiding a large number of losses. You need to act confidently in both defense and offense. In this case, we can count on a favorable outcome. Our goal is to bring the series back to St. Petersburg.

Melo — in history

However, Pascual failed to reach his players. His team had conceded 52 points before the break. The hosts scored 7/11 three-pointers, and also showed a high percentage of average shots (46%). Centers Tony Jackiri and Jean-Charles dominated the ring, not giving their opponents a chance to breathe. Alexey Shved and Andrey Vorontsevich tried to carry Zenit, but it wasn't enough.

Of course, a 13-point gap did not look like a verdict, but in order to recoup the tired guest roster, it was necessary to perform a miracle. It didn't happen. With every passing minute, the Army team only increased their advantage, and as a result, they won the second major victory in this series. This is how the Army team was able to defend last year's title and become champions of the VTB United League for the 12th time. In many ways, this became possible due to the preservation of the champion's backbone.: Uhov, Ware, Mbye, Jackiri, Jean-Charles, Astapkovic and Melo Trimble made crucial contributions to this success. Alexa Abramovich also had a great semi-final series with UNICS, as well as two crucial finals matches. So the Serbian star deserved his gold.

—The last 47-48 minutes of this series were completely for CSKA,— emphasized RFB President Andrei Kirilenko. — I don't know what happened to Zenit, but after missing a 13-point advantage in the fifth match, they still couldn't come to their senses. The army men were head and shoulders stronger. Moreover, I cannot single out one or two specific players from the winners. Everyone who went out on the parquet floor made a difference, and of course, this is the merit of Andreas Pistiolis. The Greek coach transformed the team.

Trimble became the first player to win the Playoff MVP award twice in a row (the second after Milos Teodosic to take this prize twice).

"Of course, I'm happy to receive this award for the second season in a row," Trimble said. "However, this is a credit to all my partners. They created a lot of opportunities for me, helped me defend. I'm happy for our team, everyone knows that defending the title is much harder than winning it for the first time.

Zenit deserves plaudits for this season, too. The Blues won the regular season despite losing their key point guard, Xavier Moon, to a serious injury, and then beat Loko in a crazy seven-game series, returning to the finals two years later. Bacon rightfully won the regular season MVP award. Thanks to the St. Petersburg club, we were able to enjoy Alexey Shved's game again. This defeat should make the team even stronger.